1. Icebreaker

1. 1. Icebreaker • If you were marooned on a deserted island … • which three people would you want with you? They can be dead, alive, or imaginary. • which three CD’s would be essential relaxation and entertainment? • which three household items couldn’t you live without? • . • If I was marooned on a deserted island … • Three people – J.R.R.Tolkien, Axl Rose, Mother Theresa • Three CD’s – John Coltrane anything, OK Computer, Appetite for Destruction • Three household items – Bed, Fridge, Ipod

2. COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS Network 18 – CFN#11 – R.O.C.K.S. (Reflection, Outcomes, Collaboration, Knowledge, Standards) Session Five – Team planning and reporting Wednesday 24th February 2010 Presenter: Mr. Chris Lowrey AUSSIE Literacy Consultant chris.lowrey@aussiepd.editure.com

3. Our Visions Morning Our vision is to develop an effective learning community that is collaborative and respects each other personally by having a clear structure and positive attitude and working through a process of building understandings for conducting effective Instructional Rounds. By following a structure and working through processes of successful learning we aim to hone life long leaders who aspire to appreciate differentiation and aim to exceed expectations when considering academic goals. Afternoon Our vision is to share our school community experiences and be willing to enhance our teaching practice through networking and sharing our learning's transparently, to grow both personally and professionally through the process of Instructional Rounds. We understand the need to collaborate, to listen while others express their private thoughts and have ours respected reciprocally. The outcome of improving teaching practices will be at the forefront of our work and while accepting there will be challenges, we aim to turn these into our next goals in order to develop outcomes and successful thinkers and achieve measurable results that inform practice in our schools.

4. Overall Professional Learning Unit • Collaborative professional learning • Facilitating collaborative professional teams • Supportive conditions for collaborative professional learning • Using data • Team planning and reporting • Assessment as professional learning • Classroom walk through • Differentiated coaching • Professional learning showcase

5. Contents 1. Icebreaker 2. Homework activities and discussion 3. So you have your Theory of Action and Problem of Practice – what next? 4. Team Planning template 5. Ramping up our descriptive note taking … the Marzono protocol 6. Reading – Richard Du Four ‘Professional learning Communities’ 7. Next Steps - Looking together at practice to improve practice.

6. 2. Homework reading • ‘The Learning Principle– Data Analysis is a courageous look in the mirror’ • What are the keys points? Data analysis is … • Opening doors, opening minds • A mandate for data • Becoming a learning school • Data use reflection guide.

7. 3. So you have your Theory of Action and Problem of Practice …what next? Presenting our ‘Theories of Action’ and ‘Problems of Practice’ for discussion with the group Looking at team planning templates to decide which to use. Look through: Sample team plan, actions planned, descriptive notes Choose a team planning template; either 9.2 or 9.3 Team summary template

10. 4. Team Planning template Using team-planning template together with your problem of practice, complete as much information as possible; ensure to list three definite, doable strategies for and with each other. Work in Triads or school groups– one speaker, one discussant, one note taker

13. 5. Data How will we collect it, what does it mean? What is your problem of practice? What sorts of data can you/will you collect? How can we measure it?

14. 6. Ramping up our descriptive note taking – the Marzano protocol Read Marzano document using Data protocol. Debrief and discuss, emphasizing descriptions of categories of observations Practice the types of ways of recording in Marzano’s questioning categories.

20. 7. Reading – Richard Du Four ‘Professional learning Communities’ Read Du Four document on ‘Professional learning communities, check with our ‘Culture of Candor’ tool and subsequent list. From handout teachers read Richard Du Four’s summary of a ‘Professional Learning Community’ with the aim of getting a deeper understanding of what they are trying to achieve.

21. 8. Next steps – Making descriptive comments from classroom observations • Continue taking descriptive notes, confirming or realigning our Theory of action and Problem of Practice. • Complete reading • Enact three areas to address problem of practice • Use Marzano’s categories when collecting questions.

22. So until March 19th… The instructional rounds methodology has transformed how principals and teachers in our our district conduct our instructional tours. Elmore's process focuses us on what students are doing rather than the traditional view of what teachers do. Looking critically at the work, or passivity, of students truly indicates the quality of program and potential for learning. Tony Roebrick