h.+PLC's+-+Professional+Learning+Communities

Professional Learning Communities (PLC’S) understand the considerable influence teachers have on student’s success. They “look inwardly” at the impact of their instruction to meet student needs. All teachers and educational associates participate in a Professional Learning Community (PLC). To provide the greatest impact on student learning, a Professional Learning Community relentlessly seeks clarity in answering four questions: The responses to the four questions guide all aspects of teacher’s day-to-day practice, instruction, allocation of resources, and staff development. Through staff collaboration, a collective commitment to improvement of instruction, critical analysis of student outcomes and development SMART goals, staff pursue better practices to improve student learning. // Source // : DuFour and Eaken (1998) //Professional Learning Communities at Work//. At Twin Lakes Community School, PLC’s are structured according to grade levels and curriculum areas: PLC’s meet both informally as well as formally throughout the year. The plan this year is to focus on student reading and on student math skills with the six math strands as outlined in the Math curricula. PLC’s collaboratively review the assessments teachers will use to measure their students’ success and what they will do if students are not mastering the necessary strategies. An intervention plan will cover those students experiencing difficulty to ensure all students eventually find success and competence.
 * __ Working Together to Create and Collaborate with Colleagues __**
 * What do we want students to learn?
 * How will we know when each student has learned it?
 * What will we do to facilitate learning?
 * What will we do when students have not learned?
 * Literacy Pre-K to Gr. 6 7 to 9 10 to 12
 * Numeracy Pre-K to Gr. 6 7 to 9 10 to 12
 * Practical & Applied Arts 7 to 12
 * Science Pre-K to Gr. 6
 * In Professional Learning Communities, teachers… **
 * Work collaboratively on problems that focus on student’s learning.
 * Feel a collective responsibility for the growth and learning of all teachers and students in the school.
 * Understand that no individual has all the answers but that each has important knowledge to contribute.
 * Focus on jointly creating new knowledge and see their own and their students’ learning as an ongoing process.
 * Work in cohorts of colleagues and with groups of students whom they get to know well over time.
 * Have structured time to observe and reflect on each others work and serve as critical friends in support of each other.
 * Commit to shared norms, with shared responsibility for growth in learning of all teachers and students in the school.
 * Build understanding of each others styles and techniques so they can learn from one another and compliment each others work…
 * Value open and regular communication that are the foundation of trust, shared goals and professional norms among teachers, administrators, students, parents and community members.