PLC's....working smarter, not harder.

Todd Gray is constantly reminding us to be the tortoise and we are seeking ways as a system that we can continue to work smarter, not harder...to maximize our own resources in order to positively impact student learning. PLC's are a high leverage distributed leadership model that we all need to take a closer look into.

Professional learning teams provide a powerful mechanism for improvements in teaching and learning. Developing successful PLC's is difficult and it requires intentional effort from teachers and administrators. We know that different teams, develop at different rates and with different personalities, and most pass through the continuum of a focus on teaching to a focus on learning.

Novice PLC teams are likely asking questions such as, "what exactly do they want us to do?" PLC's can seem pointless especially for teams who lack clear guidelines. Setting norms might be step one for a PLC in this stage.
A common next question teachers ask is, "what are you doing in your classroom?". There is great value in these conversations as sharing practice helps to make instruction transparent. Sometimes teams fail to move past this sharing of instructional practices that focuses on individual efforts rather than a collective effort of effective instruction.
As PLC's learn to work together, different members will take on responsibility for lesson planning and sharing of the work. This is a great step, built on trust, and it helps teams lighten the load. At this juncture, teams can grow comfortable with sharing planning but the next critical step would be to focus on results. This is where we ask the question, "are students learning what we want them to learn and how do we know?"

New thinking related to student outcomes forces teams to ask, "what does mastery look like?" What evidence is necessary for documenting success? Using data effectively is not an intuitive process and many of us need experience and support with this. Schools that provide structures and tools for effective data analysis are rewarded with highly successful PLC teams driven by results! On highly functioning PLC teams, collective intelligence provides a never-ending source of support and allows the talents of our SDW colleagues to help us work smarter in the best interests of each learner in our system.

As we all take a collective responsibility for student success, we understand the value of not doing things alone or in isolation any longer. This professional ownership is what defines accomplished educators. It is what every PLC team should be striving for in the School District of Waukesha.