Theory of Action and the PLC

Have you found that your experience in a PLC may be different from a colleague's experience?  That is because PLCs go through different stages.  When first starting in a Professional Learning Community, the focus is often on the adult practice.  Educators may begin by sharing teaching strategies or practices with colleagues.  "This is what/how I teach."  As the PLC evolves, the conversation shifts to student learning.  "I taught it this way, and here is how students achieved."  Sometimes, this conversation leads to questions such as "does my assessment really match my instruction?" or "am I assessing what I really want the students to know and be able to do?"  These questions take PLCs further on their journey.  Ultimately, PLCs begin analyzing valid student data to improve teaching practice and student achievement, reflecting each step of the way.

I have linked an article by Parry Graham and Bill Ferriter that was published by the National Staff Professional Development Council.  They write about the "7 Stages" of PLCs.  Some schools are using this framework to collect data on the evolution of their PLCs.  If you feel like your PLC is not gaining any momentum, this article might provide ideas for moving forward by reading about the other stages.  I have also linked a flier on "All Things PLC" that gives a short overview of highly effective  PLCs based on the work of DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker.

PLCs are a powerful way for educators to collaborate around high leverage practices linked to the school's Theory of Action.  Have you PLCed today? 

SDW Energized by Positive Growth

As the energy increases around Waukesha ONE next week, so has our district's overall organizational health!

We are celebrating an 85% response rate from our survey, which is almost 20% higher than the benchmark response rate from organizations our size. Thank you for your feedback as we continue to engage all staff around input in order to help increase employee performance, engagement and productivity. We know that an increase in adult self-efficacy and performance leads directly to an increase in student success!

Our district saw strong gains in five highlighted areas. This means specifically that we saw a 5% or higher increase in the rating from the following areas:

* Employees feel well informed about decisions
* We encourage different points of view
* Employees feel genuinely appreciated
* Our district is going in the right direction
* Senior managers understand what is happening

These are strengths that show some of our noteworthy successes over the last year. As we compile the data, our Director team will be sharing school specific feedback with Principals the first week of February. We expect that our culture of collaboration will continue as Principals use their school specific data to cultivate positive factors that help drive engagement in each of their schools.

An energized and productive workplace make all the difference for us and for our students. THANK YOU!

High Road versus Low Road

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a great discussion about teaching for transfer with a group of colleagues. We read The Problem of Teaching for Transfer: Taking the Low Road or the High Road by Jeffrey Wilhelm. The article discusses two types of transfer; the high road and the low road. The," road is when learning becomes "semi-automatic", or the rises to the level of recall. Following this road, students are able to learn and memorized steps to a process and simply apply these steps to situations that are identical or similar to what is taught. This type of transfer of learning can be asses through standardized assessments. On the other hand, transfer of learning that follows the high road focuses on the application of prior learning in new and creative ways. Students engaged in activities that follow the high road, cannot solely rely on procedures learned from prior examples instead students must "dig out" new understanding and create meaning to answer questions. Because the high road can include multiple outcomes, assessing this type of understanding requires more complex models such as rubrics and written feedback.

So does this mean that we need to choose one road over the other? No.

Good instruction must allow students to travel both roads. Students need to build background knowledge and routines when learning new concepts. Students  getting their "reps" in will help to create a base of understanding of a concept. Additionally, students need opportunities to productively struggle in creating new knowledge through higher-level tasks and activities.

Developing understanding includes both the learning of facts and skills as well as applying those facts, skills, and other background knowledge to create new meaning and solve new problems. As we move into second half of the year I leave you with this question; how are you creating opportunities for students to travel both roads?

New Year and resolutions

It’s the New Year, and here is a little bit of dictionary research for you:

Resolution - a firm decision to do something

Resolute - admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering

Resolve - decide firmly on a course of action

Results - consequence, effect or outcome

With some pondering, how do you feel these four words apply to our work to be better educators each day?  To foster great growth in our students’ academic achievement as well as their growth as a contributing member of humanity?

We each enter the field of education because we have convictions about serving, for the good of children.  And if we make a resolution and our mindset is resolute, and we have strong resolve to do the work . . . . we will get results.  How do we know if we are committed to the right work and will get the results we desire??

Yes, that’s an unnerving thought.  We might miss the mark and we all have probably experienced the feeling of working toward a goal and missing the target.  Did I have my head on straight at the outset?  Might I have missed the actual target to be addressed?  

Root Cause Analysis - ->  Taking a deep look at the barriers to our goals can be uncomfortable.  It requires that we ask WHY at least 5 times . . . it takes that many questions to get past the surface to the dark murky layer that we don’t really like to see.  But that is how we will really see the changes we need to address.

We are well into our second 100 day plans in each school and will soon be evaluating our progress - and considering our growth.  Oh, I know it’s only January, but you know how fast time flies.  We will be arriving at June and new SAIL plans sooner than you think.  So consider . . . what is at the root of our problems?  Not the surface roots that we avoid with the lawnmower, but the deep roots that are more work to get a good look at?  

Root cause work is coming in the near future . . . start considering your 5 WHY questions.   

Under the Snow you can find the "Green Grass"

A new calendar year has begun, the holidays are over and snow is on the ground.  Each of you has returned to your school and classroom to continue to impact our learners.  At times during the cold, long haul to Spring each one of us may let the stress, negative outliers or a "to-do" list take us over.  But, under the snow is our "green grass"!

According to research out of UC Riverside by Sonja Lyubomirsky 40% of our happiness is based upon our intentional activity.  I believe we can help support, celebrate and create that 40% for ourselves and our colleagues.

I can't help but to share some of the "green grass" I have found under the snow just in the past week kicking off 2018:

• Laura Busch, Heyer & Lowell's Tech Integrator started a new blog.  She stated her "why", "I need a public, widely visible forum that will allow me to share the stories of the amazing educators and students that I am honored to work and learn alongside and with every day."

• At the Title I Team meeting yesterday, District CIM Trainer and Coach Wendy Hamilton led PD around brain research, positive psychology and The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor (check out his Happiness Advantage on TED Talk).  Some key points:
• Happiness is the precursor to greater success, not merely the result.
• If you train your brain to be more positive in the present, you can raise your success rates significantly.
• Gratitude allows your brain to most adaptively use its finite resources when scanning the world
• Conscious acts of kindness allow for and encourage positive praise and collaboration

• In the hallway of Whittier Elementary I found a bulletin board celebrating teachers, students, community and data surrounding in "green grass":

• In the Banting Office of Banting & Bethesda's Literacy Coach Lisa Lawrenz and Numeracy Coach Leslie Waltz a board where they capture and add to the great things happening framed in "green grass": 

• You can find many SDW team members sharing what's happening in their school or classroom.  Whittier 4th grade teacher, Dan Resch shared on Twitter this week his positive celebration of collaborating with his team:

Please join me in supporting, celebrating and creating "Green Grass" in SDW!