350 likes | 527 Views
Learning By Doing Putting the Pieces Together. Kristine Servais Kellie Sanders. Participants will:. To help leaders develop a common vocabulary and a consistent understanding of PLC concepts.
E N D
Learning By DoingPutting the Pieces Together Kristine Servais Kellie Sanders
Participants will: • To help leaders develop a common vocabulary and a consistent understanding of PLC concepts. • To present a compelling argument for the implementation of PLC’s that will benefit students and educators. • To help leaders assess the current reality in their own schools and districts • To convince educators to take purposeful steps to develop their capacity to function as a PLC.
Who are we? Guiding Questions: • What is your educational background? • What leadership qualities do you bring to today? • Identify recent successes as a leader? • Identify recent leadership challenges? Identify a name or symbol that represents you as a group
Academy Features Today will offer you: 1. Models, Resources, and Frameworks for Leadership Growth and Development 2. A Day of Teaming and Teaming Strategies 3. Interacting, Networking, and Collaborating with Colleagues in and outside district 4. Reflective Practice: Individually and Collectively 5. Best Practices in Teaching: Music, Engagement, Multi-media, Peer Recognition, etc. 6. Recognizing and Celebrating Success
Four Square Activity Team Name & Symbol Our Current Reality Problem-solving: What do we do When students Don’t learn? Promises to Ourselves And Each Other
What are PLC’s • A Focus on Learning • Collaborative Culture & Teams • Collective Inquiry into Best Practice • Action Orientation • A Commitment to continuous improvement • Results Oriented • Celebrating our Successes
Creating Shared Meaning:Vision, Mission, and Goals • Vision: A futuristic picture of the ideal; it is what we aspire to become • Mission: Prioritized and purposeful actions we will take to make the vision a reality • Goals: specific and measurable plans of how we will achieve our mission • S.M.A.R.T. Goals www.franklincovey.com Purpose
S.M.A.R.T. GoalsIdentify a goal shared by the team • Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Realistic • Time-framed
Vision, Mission and GoalsProcess • Development: Collectively define a shared vision • Articulation: Collectively plan, energize, and discuss ways to move closer toward the vision • Implementation: Collectively take time, action, and effort toward the goals • Stewardship: Sustain the focus and momentum to keep moving toward the vision; modify and make adjustments as needed
Creating a Focus on Learning • What is it we want our students to learn? • How will we know when each student has learned it? • What do we do when students don’t learn? • “Keep, Drop, Create” Activity Learning
Failure is Not an Option: Six Principles that Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools~ Alan Blankstein ~ • Common mission, vision, values, and goals • Ensuring achievement for all students: Systems for prevention and intervention • Collaborative teaming • Using data to guide decision making and continuous improvement • Gaining active engagement from family and communities • Building sustainable leadership capacity The Hope Foundation www.communitiesofhope.org
Goals to transform diverse schools(Rank 1 for achieving, 2 work in progress, 3 area of deficiency) ___ Improve academic achievement. ___ Develop an effective writing program based on the 90-90-90 schools research ( www.makingstandardswork.com ) ___ Develop an effective English-language development program.. ___ Change faculty meetings into productive student-centered learning experiences. ___ Change professional development days to focus on student achievement. ___ Improve the quality and fairness of teacher collaboration. ___ Focus on the emotional and psychological needs of students and faculty during a turnaround. ___ Celebrate success during your first sixty days of the turnaround. ( www.turnaroundschools.com ) ___ Develop a teacher accountability system. ___ Develop reading and writing campaigns. ___ Develop a teacher/student recognition program. ___ Learn how to "coach" teachers for improved student achievement
Building a Collaborative Culture • Develop team purpose and identity • Define guiding principles • Identify performance goals and action strategies • Determine team roles and responsibilities • Establish meeting management;www.effectivemeetings.com • Identify communication techniques: Internal and External • Establish methods of accountability Culture Apollo Clip: Go For Launch & Square Hole/Round Peg
Creating a Results Oriented PLC • Data Walls: Reeves • RTI: FLEX, Progress Monitoring • Focus Walks: Instructional Inventory • School Improvement Plan: Link school goals to team goals • Celebrate successes Results SMART Goal Worksheet
SMART Goal Template Template to consider: We will improve __________________________ (specific and measurable item) by _________________________________________ (what strategies will be used to succeed in this area) by _________________. We will assess our success by (when) ______________________________________. (what type of measurement will be used)
Using Relevant Information to Improve our Results “ An astonishing number of educational leaders make critical decisions…on the basis of information that is inadequate, misunderstood, misrepresented, or simply absent” Reeves, 2002, p. 95
Using Relevant Information to Improve our Results Resources: • Understanding By Design: Backwards Planning • Marzano What Works in Schools • Schmoker Results: The Key to Continuous School Improvement • Bernhardt, V.: The School Portfolio Toolkit--CD Rom
Consensus and Conflict • Androgogy • Littlejohn Process for Tungsten • Decision Making Models • Change Process: fist to five Consensus Dead Poets Society: Conformity Walk Charles Gardner: Six Strategies to Change People’s Thinking Pg. 173
Crucial Conversations(Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler) • Clarify what you want and what you don’t want to result from conversation. • Attempt to find mutual purpose • Create a safe environment for honest dialogue • Use facts • Share your thought process that has led to conversation • Encourage recipients to share their facts and thought process. Pick a partner and discuss a crucial conversation
The Challenges of Creating PLC’s • Change Literature/Cultural Shifts • Substantive First and second order change • RTI and shifts in S.E. • Changing Leadership Challenges
First-Order Change • It is an incremental change • It’s the next most obvious step to take in a school or district • Teaches us what our current strategies are doing for us. Marzano, Waters, and McNulty: School leadership that works: From research to results
Monitoring Culture Beliefs Knowledge of C.A.I. Involvement of C.A.I. Focus Order Affirmation Communication Input Relationships Optimizer Flexibility Resources Contingent rewards Situational Awareness Outreach Visibility Discipline Change Agent Leadership:First-Order Change
Second-Order Change • This involves major departures from the expected, both in defining a problem and finding a solution to that problem. • Deep change • Examples: poverty, failing schools, national debt, war, prejudice, AIDS, etc.
Leadership for second-order change • Being knowledgeable about the initiative will affect C.I.A. • Being the driving force behind the new innovation and inspiring others (optimizer) • Being research savvy and fostering such knowledge among staff. (intellectual stimulation)
Leadership for second-order change (Cont.) • Challenging the status quo and moving forward with no guarantee of success. • Continually monitoring and evaluating the innovation • Flexibility by being directive and nondirective • Actions are consistent with beliefs relative to the innovation.
How influential is the principal in the change process? Marzano found in his leadership study that “A highly effective school leader can have a dramatic influence on the overall academic achievement of students” (2005, p. 10).
Culture Purpose Learning Results Are we ready to accept this challenge? Improvement Respond Consensus Challenges
The Purpose of Celebrations “Without celebration, we are robbed of our life and vitality that energizes the human spirit. Latent and underdeveloped though it might be, there is within our nature as human beings an inherent need to sing, dance, love, laugh, mourn, tell stories, and celebrate. ….There is no culture in the world that doesn’t embrace some form of festivity. To deny our need to celebrate is to deny a part of what it means to be human…..When we work in an environment where we are not encouraged to express this festive nature, our celebrative faculties, like unused muscles, begin to atrophy.” (Southwest Airlines; Nuts, p. 177)
Why should we celebrate? SUPPORT Thankful Affirming Fun Rituals Recognition Gift Giving Hope CARING Interactive Momentum Food & Music Relationship Building Culture Building Reinforcing Applause
Recognition Resources • Fish – Lundin, Paul, and Christenson • Play, Make Their Day, Be There, Choose Your Attitude • Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others – Kouzes and Posner • Pay attention • Personalize recognition • Tell the story • Celebrate together • Set the example • If you Don’t Feed the Teachers, They’ll Eat the Students-Neila Connors • The Precious Present-Spencer Johnson
How do we recognize and show support of others? • Thank-you notes • Praise • The gift of time • Music • Care package • Themes • Symbolic gifts/awards • Support partners • Pay Attention—To more than birthdays! • Closing ceremonies The Courage to Lead-p. 149-150
Celebrating Successes of the Day • Recognize the gifts we gave each other • Valued Leadership • Caring and Collaboration • Overcoming Adversity • Humor • The Spirit of Teamwork • Leadership Growth and Development • Communication • Reflective Practice • Risk-taking and Courage
Please Stay in Touch Dr. Kristine Servais kservais@noctrl.edu 630-637-5746 Kellie Sanders ksanders@learningcommunity202.org 815-439-2885