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Redefining Professional Learning Communities

Alone we are smart. Together we are brilliant.

Steven W. Anderson

A lot of what we have learned so far has been about what you, as an individual educator, can do to improve professional development. But imagine what we could accomplish collectively if we were to commit to work together toward a common goal. I think a good place to start is our professional learning community (PLC).

In some school districts, staff members are required to meet as part of a PLC. While some districts may define PLCs differently from others, the basic idea is that there is dedicated time for staff members to come together to learn. In many instances, the meetings might be monthly or quarterly, and teachers are allowed to choose the topics for discussion. In some cases, teachers are asked to pick a focus for the year or gather to discuss data related to student learning. In many cases, the PLC exists in name only and for compliance purposes. Teachers are not provided with an agenda, any guidance, and little direction for the professional learning that should take place. If you find yourself in this position, being forced to meet with colleagues, you may want to revamp your PLC.

Try these strategies for repurposing the time utilized during PLCs:

Teacher Choice and Learning Badges

Professional Learning Communities can utilize time to choose topics that are relevant to their everyday roles. Teachers might be able to choose from a list of topics created by the school or district (or add their own), discuss and share (possibly through Twitter and Voxer), and earn a digital badge based on the content they are able to master. This would be demonstrated with a learning or performance task based on work they are doing in the classroom. This type of relevancy allows for teachers to directly impact instruction for their students; for example, if a group of teachers in the building is looking to improve formative assessment techniques, then using PLC time to research and find alternative assessment strategies would be a good use of time. Teachers might connect with experts on Twitter or read several articles or blog posts on the topic and then bring back the results and share. At the end of the day, if teachers can demonstrate that the research has made a positive impact on instruction in the classroom, then teachers would earn an Assessment Expert badge. These badges might be digital, although I’ve also seen several districts successfully create a culture of learning by posting actual badges outside of teachers’ doors, letting everyone know what it is in which they are an expert. (A simple laminated paper copy hanging outside of a classroom works well!) The benefit of this is that colleagues may realize someone is an expert in something about which they are trying to learn—and they connect to learn.

Lesson Study

When professional development is job-embedded, it has a greater likelihood of helping an educator to impact learning. Try using PLC time to conduct a lesson study. This one can be tricky depending on when PLC meetings are held. In my current school, PLC meetings are held during the school day, with each teacher getting a substitute to cover their class for the day. This type of structure works perfectly for a lesson study. Work with colleagues to decide who is going to teach the lesson. Consider trying out a new technique or strategy. Think of this as a learning lab where you are trying something, and failure is a likely possibility. The key here, however, is that several colleagues will observe and provide critical feedback after the lesson. This part is important. Make sure that you always leave time after a lesson observation for colleagues to debrief, talk over the lesson, ask questions, and provide constructive criticism.

“I thought it worked really well when you…”

“I think the students checked out when…”

“Next time, you may want to try…”

As colleagues observe, they may want to use a simple reporting protocol to help provide feedback and constructive criticism. One that might work is having teachers ready to share three things about the observed lesson:

  1. Something that worked well
  2. Something upon which to improve
  3. Something to consider next time

At first it may feel uncomfortable for teachers to be observed by colleagues, but if this type of activity is infused as part of a professional learning culture, the information gleaned from peer observations will be extremely valuable in helping to improve instruction, try out/workshop new strategies or techniques, or simply see what other teachers might be doing. One of the professional learning traps that many educators fall into is isolation. The best educators learn from each other, so get out there and watch and learn from each other!

Data Dump

We have all heard—ad nauseam—about data-based decision making in education and the use of data walks or data walls. I believe there is one key step that is missing in how most schools and districts approach the use of data. Now, I am a self-professed data geek. I enjoy using Excel and Google Sheets. I’ve accepted geek-ness and am willing to share my passion for data with others.

Most educators are inundated with data, and many are intimidated by it.

Benchmark assessments, online assessments, standardized testing data, formative and summative assessments; the list can go on and on. Most educators don’t know what to do with data. And it’s not their fault. They’ve never been properly trained in analyzing data. No one has ever sat with them and asked the question, “What does it all mean?” Where schools are failing with the use of data is looking at information about students and turning it into actionable steps to move learning forward. How do we fix this?

Use your PLC time to conduct a Data DUMP. I know, I know. It just sounds awesome! Again, data analysis may not be all that sexy to some people, but valuable information can be gleaned from worthwhile analysis. So here are a few, simple steps:

  1. Discuss. Look at the data and talk about it. Are there any trends that might be obvious? Are there any trends that are less obvious? Are particular students doing well—or not so well? Which students need the most help and the most resources? Start your discussion by asking lots of questions, and continue the discussion by asking more questions. Write all of the questions down on a large piece of poster paper. No question is too specific or minute of a detail. Talk about what you see in the data.
  2. Understand. After generating many questions, the next step is to ask a Final Question: “What does it all mean?” This is the part where you try to answer some of those questions you generated during Step 1. You also ask a follow-up question: “Why?” Why are students in Group X doing so well? Why are students in Group Z doing so poorly? Try to understand the causes of the data. Try to recognize in some cases that the “trend” you see may be an anomaly. The key is understanding what the data is telling you.
  3. Make Plans. Step 3 is the most important and often the step that many educators skip or forget to complete. Now that you’ve looked at the data and identified some key trends, and you understand why those trends might be happening, how will you fix it? Write down actionable steps that will help improve instruction and learning. Here’s how the discussion might start:

“Students in Group Z are performing poorly because they are not reading or being read to over the summer. We are not providing enough support to parents in order to prevent summer-reading slide. So what steps are we going to take to make sure this group does not experience summer-reading slide during the upcoming summer transition?”

By following the three easy steps of a Data DUMP, data can be used efficiently and effectively. Again, we must capitalize on the PLC time that teachers are given and ensure meaningful, relevant discussion is happening during this time.

Summary

Reflection Questions