Public schools are being asked to do more with less for an increasingly more needy clientele” Lezotte, L. W. (2011). As educators, we are often reminded about the obstacles we face daily

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1.Public schools are being asked to do more with less for an increasingly more needy clientele” Lezotte, L. W. (2011). As educators, we are often reminded about the obstacles we face daily. How we respond to can motivate us in two ways;  a mass exodus from the profession or to embrace change. Building a culture of trust where teachers can challenge and support each other to improve classroom practice is a change teachers must embrace. (Victoria State Government Education and Training, 2021).

Dufour and Marzano proposed three ideas to effectively redesign the instructional leader’s and schools’ culture, roles, and responsibilities through Professional Learning Communities (PLC). First, effective PLC’s ensure that schools create a community of highly empowered learners through instructor collaboration and inquiry. This is followed by a thorough examination of the evidence of learning to appropriately respond to student needs. Finally, by establishing positive working relationships with staff, providing recourses, materials, and timely feedback, instructional leaders support and empower teachers, which leads to instructional improvement.

Our school is organized into teams of four different content area teachers. Our PLC time is arranged by department and grade level. Individual roles are defined at the beginning of the year, and expectations for weekly contributions are to be made each week. This is our first year utilizing the PLC process. As the author states, it is an “ongoing learning process.” of adult learning as we consider the four basic principles of the instructional cycle.

We continually discuss “what we want our students to know” in our PLC by reviewing our district curriculum scope and sequence. In addition, we discuss our specificity document and ways to effectively deliver instruction, which varies by the teacher due to our classes’ nature and design. Next, we monitor progress through common formative assessments, analyzing data to understand if weaknesses are due to poorly worded questions. Finally, by analyzing individual student growth and mastery goals, we discuss whether or not our students are learning. After a consensus is reached, we discuss what to do with the students who did not learn. We seek input from our students by allowing them time to reflect and understand why they missed questions through small groups discussions and instruction at the teacher table. Students who demonstrate proficiency work independently on their reflections and corrections and are then allowed to mentor another student in the classroom and help them with the revisions. Motivating students to learn is discussed, and ideas for student growth and improvement are shared. Each teacher in our department brings strengths to the PLC time. For example, my role is differentiation for special education and 504 students. Another teacher provides enrichment activities for students who have mastered the content because she teaches advanced classes. Finally, our third teacher provides cross-curricular support strategies for reading comprehension in social studies.

We use data from our common assessments and student growth goals to discuss areas of weakness. Our TEKS are ongoing and repeat every six weeks with new content for the regions of the world we teach. Honestly, the idea of having district CBA’s was never a concern for us until this year. Our district Director of Curriculum Instruction decided that our course needed to evaluate student data just like the other core content areas.    Looking at the data results is an information tool that should drive our instructional practices. One place that we are struggling with as a department is how we “reteach” a TEK for regions when the content changes. Focusing on the verbs in the TEKS allows us to make sure that the students understand what they are doing in the learning activity. We enrich and extend the learning for proficient students through collaboration with our district instructional coach. She is new to our district and has given us fresh ideas to utilize in our classrooms.

“A culture of continuous learning for adults and effective instruction are skills that can never be perfected.” (U.S Department of Education, Spring 2005). Our campus PLC’s are a work in progress. We understand the PLC process and look forward to growing with the support of our instructional coach and assistant principal and seeing our students’ learning grow.

2.  Dufour and Marzano mention many conditions that are to be established to support PLCs (planning and learning communities) throughout campuses. Those that I would like to focus on are as follows:

• Avoiding shortcuts
• Providing supportive structures that help groupsgrow into teams
• Organizing meaningful teams

Have we not all, at some point been attempting to accomplish a goal, even in the smallest sense, and cut a corner or two? This could be purchasing a backpack and getting one that is cheaper or buying a mop or broom and spending five dollars rather than fifteen for higher quality. When we purchase that inexpensive backpack because it saved us a few dollars do we not find ourselves back at the store after heavy loads because the seams of the backpack busted or after a hard scrub with the mop or broom the handle bends and we find it unusable? These are what I perceive to be the shortcuts that Dufour and Marzano are discussing.

We can complete a job but is it the best possible job that we could have done? Something I preach to my students is that they are wasting time, energy, and effort doing something wrong one time because they are simply going to have to do it again correctly the second time. Why spend 5 dollars on the first mop and be right back at the store spending another 15 on the next one when you could have avoided the mishap and spent the same money you ended up spending anyhow and even less because you avoid two purchases? Avoid the shortcuts in collaborative efforts. This is a leadership role I had to take on. I looked at PLCs as a nuisance but when I had to begin leading them, I then saw the importance of being efficient with the time and energy being put forth. Exasperate yourselves the first time rather than feeling exasperated because you had to do the same thing more than once is what I began to preach. We looked at where we were spending our time and what were the outcomes, then reassessed our desired outcomes and collaborated to find the beside methods to achieve these outcomes despite which individual paths we were taking with our kids. This can be applied to at least a couple, if not all the four critical questions but I want to apply it to the second. The question of how we will know our students are learning. Knowing that we have a well-prepared lesson is not enough. Knowing how to measure how the lesson was absorbed is a key component to assuring that it was qualitative for everyone involved (Dugan, 2021).

The foundation of any structure is what will be left standing if all else fails. That is why I wanted to discuss providing supportive structures that help groups grow into teams. We can group any number of individuals, that does not mean something positive will come of it. Groups knowing that you do not just want them to complete a task but that you are committed to them, and their success can go a long way. Concisely stating those commitments and what you want to see them achieve while receiving a commitment from them shows the support system from both sides and sets expectations simultaneously (Kensler & Uline, 2019). As teachers, if a lesson falls apart, what is left standing? How do you respond when the students do not learn, and learning is not extended? The same way groups grow into teams, the thought process behind growing those groups can be carried over to growing those non-learners to learners and extending the learning of the already proficient with a curriculum that possesses a strong foundation for the intended objective (Uljens, 2015). Commit something to the students before the lesson and clearly state the objectives, have them commit something back about the lesson, it can be something as simple as being receptive, and even if they do not agree, being open to accepting that of which they may not fully grasp. Then, have them inform what they took from a lesson, what are they able to walk out the door knowing that they did not know before see if the objective was achieved.

On page 24, Dufour and Marzano, discuss organizing meaningful teams. The keyword is meaningful, possessing a purpose. Working, even while collaborating, means nothing if there is no significant intent with an end goal in mind (Hattie, 2015). We have implemented a backward design planning method where we start with the desired outcome of the lessons and work our way backward to design the entire lessons. This has worked wonders because it allows us all to know what we want our students to learn and gives us the autonomy to get to the end of that road how we see fit but keeps everyone on the same page as well. This goes hand and hand with what is it we want our students to learn. Yes, we want them to learn but what is the point? I have lost students in a great lesson before because it was not relatable to them, they could not find purpose behind what was occurring. They did not find it meaningful. Organizing a meaningful team to then have meaningful collaboration is a stepping stone to producing meaningful learning for students because it allows for a greater probability that the needs are met for all students (Dufour & Marzano, 2011).