2. Culture and Collaboration: Focusing on Learning
"The school culture must push
teachers to collaboratively
address new ways of thinking
and provide specific strategies
for implementation within their
local context, allowing them to
turn possibilities into reality for
each learner. In the spirit of
collaboration, school leaders
and teachers must promote
new ways of thinking and
acting."
G. Carter in "Learning and Teaching Still Matter"
4. • 8:30 – 11:30 Secondary
• 1 – 4pm ElementaryAdministrivia
• 9:30 – 12:30 in clusters
• Rotate sites
Vertical
Collaborative Team
• 8:30 – 11:30 Secondary
• 1 – 4pm Elementary
Horizontal
Collaborative Team
• 9:30 – 12:30
• ASC or Great RoomDistrict Alignment
Meetings focused on the
“Right Work”
Site Visits, DLT work, and PD calendar aligned to support the
work of principals and BLTs
5. Key Objectives for August 10-11
Develop our collaborative culture
Revisit the development of norms
Deepen our understanding of the PLC focus questions
Deepen our understanding of the components of the
School Improvement Plan framework
Link our understanding of continuous improvement to
PLCs, SIPS, and PD plans
Reflect on our learning (shared knowledge)
6. Meeting Procedures and Routines
High Five
Look for the “high five” as a signal to
come back together—a signal to wrap
up your final point during a discussion
as a sign of transition
Meeting Documents
Go to subfolder “Administrative
Meetings” in shared folder for
“Continuous Improvement” –look for
meeting date to locate materials and
processes and protocols
In Case of Emergencies
For meetings at DEC, have
administrative assistant contact Judy
Sherin at ext. 6279. At ASC, contact
Jan Larsen at ext. 2005
Meeting By Memo
Look for a “meeting by memo” that
communicates information, shares
resources, and provides updates that
don’t need to be addressed at our
meetings
7. Words of Wisdom
• Individually read the
quote at the top of the
page and respond to the
reflective prompts.
• When prompted, find
your colleagues who have
the same quote as you
do, share one highlight
from your summer, and
then generate a collective
response to the quote.
8. Quote #1
"The single most important factor for successful
school restructuring and the first order of business
for those interested in increasing the capacity of
their schools is building a collaborative internal
environment."
~Eastwood & Seashore Louis, 1992
9. Quote #2
"School leaders improve instruction by creating
structures and opportunities for teachers to
collaborate. Collaboration works best when
focused on expectations for student achievement
and school goals, while contributing to the
professional learning of teachers."
~Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010
10. Quote #3
"Teacher collaboration in strong professional
learning communities improves the quality
and equity of student learning, promotes
discussions that are grounded in evidence and
analysis rather than opinion, and fosters
collective responsibility for student success."
~McLaughlin & Talbert, 2006
11. Quote #4
"Collaborative practice is all about teachers and school
leaders working together to develop effective
instructional practices, studying what works well in
classrooms, and doing so both with rigorous attention to
detail and with a commitment to improving not only
one's practice but that of others…This is the essence of
collaborative practice: teachers jointly engaged in
empirical, routine, and applied study of their own
profession."
~Mourshed, Chijiole, & Barber, 2010
12. Quote #5
"When groups, rather than individuals, are
seen as the main units for implementing
curriculum, instruction, and assessment,
they facilitate the development of shared
purpose for student learning and collective
responsibility to achieve it."
~ Newmann & Wehlage, 1995
13. Quote #6
"Collaborative inquiry helped teachers build an evidence-
oriented professional community within the school.
Specifically, the process raised teacher awareness of the
particular needs of individual students and facilitated an
evaluation of the effectiveness of an instructional
response."
~Robinson, et al., 2010
14. Quote #7
"Collaboration and the ability to engage in collaborative
action are becoming increasingly important to the
survival of the public schools. Indeed, without the
ability to collaborate with others, the prospect of truly
improving schools is not likely."
~Schlechty, 2005
15. What Did We Learn?
• As a result of your
processing the
relevance of the
quotes on
collaboration, what
did we learn that
should guide and
impact our work
with one another?
16. The Role of Norm(s)
“Teams improve their ability
to grapple with the critical
questions when they clarify
the norms that will guide
their work. These collective
commitments represent the
‘promises we make to
ourselves and others,
promises that underpin two
critical aspects of teams—
commitment and trust.’”
~Katzenbach & Smith, 1995
17. The Role of Norms
• What does the quote
from Katzenbach and
Smith mean for our
work as a collaborative
community of learners
and leaders?
• Briefly discuss this at
your table.
Norms v. Routines
Norms are…agreed upon
behaviors and expectations
that guide our learning and
work
Routines are…common
practices for how we “do”
things
18. Norms of Collaboration Inventory
• Using Garmston and Wellman’s “Norms of Collaboration
Inventory” identify how your practices and behaviors align
with statements for the categories that follow:
– Pausing
– Paraphrasing
– Probing for Specificity
– Putting Ideas on the Table and Pulling Them Off
– Paying Attention to Self and Others
– Presuming Positive Intent
– Pursuing a Balance Between Advocacy and Inquiry
19. Redefining Norms
• Use your clicker to respond to each of the
prompts that follow:
– Click A for Rarely
– Click B for Occasionally
– Click C for Frequently
20. Pausing
1. Listens attentively to others’ ideas with mind
and body
2. Allows time for thought after asking a
question or making a response (3-5 seconds)
3. Waits until others have finished before
entering the conversation
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
21. Paraphrasing
4. Uses paraphrases that acknowledge and clarify
content and emotions: “So you’re concerned
about…”
5. Uses paraphrases that summarize and organize:
“We all seem to be concerned about…”
6. Uses paraphrases that shift a conversation to
different levels of abstraction: “So a major goal here
is to…”
7. Uses nonverbal communication in paraphrasing
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
22. Probing for Specificity
8. Seeks agreement on what words mean
9. Asks questions to clarify facts, ideas, stories
10.Asks questions to clarify expectations,
implications, consequences
11.Asks questions to surface assumptions,
points of view, beliefs, values
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
23. Putting Ideas on the Table & Pulling Them Off
12. States intention of communication: “Here is an idea for
consideration”
13. Reveals all relevant information
14. Considers intended communication for relevance and
appropriateness before speaking
15. Provides facts, inferences, ideas, opinions, suggestions
16. Explains reasons behind statements, questions, actions: “This
is not an advocacy; I am just thinking out loud”
17. Removes, or announces the modification of, own ideas,
opinions, points of view: “I think this idea is blocking us; let’s
move on to other possibilities”
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
24. Paying Attention to Self and Others
18.Maintains awareness of own thoughts and
feelings while having them
19.Maintains awareness of others’ voice
patterns, nonverbal communications, use of
physical space
20.Maintains awareness of group’s tasks, mood,
relevance of own and others’ contributions
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
25. Presuming Positive Intent
21.Acts as if others mean well
22.Restrains impulsivity triggered by own
emotional responses
23.Use positive presuppositions when
responding to others’ inquiries: “I assume
you might think differently. What are your
ideas?”
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
26. Pursuing a Balance Between Advocacy & Inquiry
24. Advocates for own ideas and inquiries into the ideas of others: “Do
you see any flaws in my reasoning?”
25. Acts to provide equitable opportunities for participation: “In what
ways do you see it differently?”
26. Presents rationale for positions, including assumptions, facts,
feelings: “This is the data I have. This is what I think it means.”
27. Disagrees respectfully and openly with ideas and offers rationale
for disagreement: “I am seeing this from the point of view of…”
28. Inquires of others about their reasons for reaching and occupying
a position: “Can you help me understand your thinking here?”
A=Rarely B=Occasionally C=Frequently
27. Glow and Grow
• Spend a couple of
minutes reviewing the
statements on the survey.
– As you think about the
categories and/or
statements on Garmston
and Wellman’s survey,
what is an area where
you feel you “glow”?
– What is an area in which
you want to “grow”?
28. Developing Norms
• Individually reflect on the following question:
– Given our processing and the importance of our working
with and learning with one another, what are the
behaviors we expect and will accept from one another?
• When prompted…
– Join two other colleagues in your cluster
– Share behaviors that you expect and will accept from one
another
– Generate an agreed upon list
– Join the other two triads from your cluster and record the
collective agreed upon list on the chart paper
29. Vertical (Cluster) Collaborative Teams
WEST CENTRAL EAST
Cherie Braspenik
Jon Bonneville
Erin Copeland
Gary Hamilton
Dave Helke
Don Leake
Rob Nelson
Jeremy Willey
Kristine Black
Renee Brandner
Kay Fecke
Kari Komar
Jeff Leach
Susan Risius
Gene Roczniak
Elizabeth Vaught
Taber Akin
Chris Bellmont
Lyle Bomsta
Bill Heim
Sarah Kloeckl
Elaine Mehdizadeh
Bruce Morrissette
Janice Porter
Kelly Ronn
30. SUPU Reflection on Learning:
Stand Up and Pair Up
• Join one of your
colleagues across the
room.
• Have one person
respond to question 1
and the other person
respond to question 2.
1. What did we learn
about collaboration?
2. What did we learn
about the renewing
and sustaining norms?
31. PUPU Reflection on Learning:
Pair Up and Pair Up
• Join two of your
colleagues to form a
group of four.
• Summarize your
conversations about
questions 1 and 2.
• As a group, discuss
question 3 and be
prepared to summarize
your response to question
3 for the whole group.
1. What did we learn about
collaboration?
2. What did we learn about
the renewing and
sustaining norms?
3. What can or will we do
as a result of our
learning?
33. Knowing Our Focus
1. What initiatives are guiding the efforts of your staff
members and you?
2. When you examine the draft copies of your SIP and
PD plans, how are resources (human, financial,
time, etc.) being allocated? What is top priority with
regard to time? With regarding funding? Where is
your energy being spent?
35. Knowing Our Focus
• Complete the initiative matrix by:
– Documenting what initiatives are guiding
the efforts of your staff members and you
– Ranking them with regard to the time
being allocated
– Ranking them with regard to the resources
allocated to support each initiative
– Ranking them according to the energy they
take to support
36. Knowing Our Focus
• Use the following stems
to discuss your
reflection…
– I discovered…
– I am excited by…
– I feel challenged by…
– I am concerned about…
– I need…
Process Overview
Constructivist Listening
Dyad
Clear Protocols
Focus on Listening
Provide Stems/Prompts
Summarization
37. Horizontal Collaborative Teams
Secondary Collaborative Teams Elementary Collaborative Teams
Chris Bellmont
Cheri Braspenick
Renee Brandner
Erin Copeland
Gary Hamilton
Dave Helke
Kelly Ronn
Jenne O’Neill-Mager
Taber Akin
Kristine Black
Erin Copeland
Kay Fecke
Kari Komar
Rob Nelson
Elizabeth Vaught
Bill Heim
Sarah Kloeckl
Kari Komar
Jeff Leach
Don Leake
Bruce Morrissette
Janice Porter
Gene Roczniak
Lyle Bomsta
Jon Bonneville
Sarah Kloeckl
Elaine Mehdizadeh
Susan Risius
Jackie Smith
Jeremy Willey
39. “What Are We Waiting For?”
“Imagine if everyone in a school thought that what
happened in every classroom, to every teacher and every
student, was of tremendous significance and that quality
learning was the most valued commodity. What would that
mean for how time is used? What would it enable in teams
of teachers’ interactions with others? What would
principals, teachers, and community members believe in and
expect? What would students be able to accomplish?”
Martin-Kneip, 2008
41. What’s Important?
• Review the list of
initiatives that guides
your work.
• As you do, rank them in
order of importance (1,
2, 3, 4, etc.) in relation
to making the greatest
difference for student
learning.
45. Aligning Our Efforts
• Open your initiatives
sheet.
• Compare your
importance rankings to
the energy, time and
resources rankings.
– Are they in sync?
– What’s discrepant?
– What do you discover?
46. Identifying Priorities
Note the following passage from Doug Reeves:
“The Law of Initiative Fatigue states that
when the number of initiatives increases while
time, resources, and emotional energy are constant,
then each new initiative—no matter how well
conceived or well intentioned—will receive fewer
minutes, dollars, and ounces of emotional energy
than its predecessors.”
47. Zoom
• What do the sequence
of pictures tell us about
how we view data?
• What did you discover
as each page “zoomed”
out?
• How does the
“zooming” relate to
multiple measures?
48. SIP: Current Reality
• Read the highlighted
sections from the
article, “Multiple
Measures.”
• Record a summary of
the details on the
“Details—Main Idea”
sheet.
49. Process Overview
SIP: Current Reality
• With your completed
“Details—Main Idea”
handout, form two lines
(facing each other) at the
back of the room.
• When prompted, take turns
sharing the details you
recorded.
Bite-Sized Reading…
Efficient
Identifies key concepts to be
“covered”
Serves as scaffold
Details—Main Idea…
Formative assessment
Develops analysis and
synthesis skills
Encourages summarization
Learning Line Up…
Movement
Multiple perspectives
Collaborative meaning
making
Efficient
51. SIP: Current Reality
• To deepen our collective
understanding of data
sources, each horizontal
collaborative team will work
collaboratively on a Google
doc
• http://tinyurl.com/4ydcwsj
Data Sources:
– Student Achievement
– Demographics
– Perception
– School Processes
(Program)
52. SIP: Current Reality
• What does the data source describe?
• Why would this data source be important for
guiding our improvement practices?
• What information and/or resources do we
need to effectively use and understand the
data source?
• How does our understanding of this data
source impact our data analysis?
54. Exploring SIP Components
• Focus Areas
– Core Instruction
– Systems of Intervention
– Climate and Culture
– Community Engagement
55. Exploring SIP Components
• With your horizontal collaborative team, document the
following for your assigned component…
– What does your assigned component describe?
– Why would your assigned component be important for
guiding your improvement practices?
– What information and/or resources do we need to
effectively use and understand your assigned component?
– How we will know our improvement efforts will make a
difference (criteria for improvement)?
• Use the chart paper and marker provided to document your
team’s thinking
56. Process Overview
Exploring SIP Components
• Decide which two team
members will stay with chart.
– Stayers—explain thinking, engage
discussion
• Use assigned color to add
questions, additional
perspectives to the thinking of
other components
• Strayers—deepen thinking, add
to emerging understanding
One Stay, The Rest Stray…
Blends emerging
understanding with dialogue
Adds multiple perspectives
Movement
Efficient
Charting a Colorful Course…
Allows for questions,
additions from all groups
Helps monitor which group
made additions, updates
Use as formative assessment
Movement
Efficient
58. Key Messages
• What were the key
messages that we
learned today that will
guide our work and
learning with one
another?
Think about…
Creating collaborative
culture
Developing norms
Knowing and aligning
initiatives
Understanding multiple
measures
Understanding SIP
components
Hinweis der Redaktion
Get pocket folders for each principal. Number the folders 1-40.
Post when principals enter the room.
Excited to have key people and structures in place to drive the meaningful work that true Professional Learning Communities do.
PLC conference re-affirmed that student achievement is not the result of a particular curriculum or program, but the result of the hard work of a PLC. The vision – and the non-negotiable moving forward – is to embrace the key questions and processes of a PLC and empower principals to lead the effort as true instructional leaders.
Some of you have spent a great deal of time this summer with your leadership teams diving in!
Our work this year will be focused on aligning efforts district-wide and to help each other get better and better at leading a true PLC. Many of our principal meetings will be spent focusing on the results – the data you’ve collected – tied to your SIP and PD plans and engaging in the conversations necessary for reciprocal accountability at the principal level. The key questions are the same at all levels and our focus needs to stay tight to the 3 BIG ideas: Focused on results, learning, and collaboration.
Driving the process at the building level is the principal. Driving the process at the district level is the TLT team:
Kathy and Rachel
Delonna and Maggie
Dave and Brad
Supported by Judy and Nan
Often including Connie
Chris will share key objectives for the day.
Share that while we will be developing norms today, there are some routines and procedures that will be part of our meetings. One routine involves bringing our group back together when we are engaged in collaborative learning. When we need to come back together, look for the “high five.” When you see it, know we will be coming back together—raise your hand. Another procedure is related to information that we share at our meetings. There is a shared folder in the continuous improvement file for administrative meetings. Look for the presentations, handouts, and notes from the meeting in dated sub-folders. A third procedure deals with cell phones and laptops. We will remind you of when and where meetings are, so if someone from your building needs to reach you by phone, have them call Judy Sherin at 707-62XX (when meetings are at DEC). She will let you or us know if you are needed during our meeting times. Have them call Jan Larsen at 707-XXXX when meetings are at ASC. Introduce number heads.
Make 6 copies of each quote. Collate the quotes so that when they are passed out, the people at the tables each have a different quote.
Robert Frost—every poem is figurative in two senses: a figure in itself and a figure for our time. The literal and the relevant.
Click to each quote. Have someone record the key themes learned.
Have each coordinator/director read one of the quotes and ask a person from the quote group to share salient points.
Invite quote teams to share. Have number 1s share.
One of the processes and protocols that will be used during our meetings is “Numbered Heads.” The person at the farthest left of the table is number 1, the next person is number 2, etc. We will invite a number from each table to share perspectives, etc. that were generated at your table. For the interpretation of the quote, have #3 share.
Part of our work and learning together will be the development of norms. To deepen our thinking about the development of agreed upon behaviors and expectations, each of us will be taking an inventory using a clicker.
Access the survey online at http://www.learningforward.org/news/getDocument.cfm?articleID=1919
Have Rachel share how clickers are assigned and walk us through the first section on pausing.
Rachel
Kathy
Maggie
Delonna
Brad
David
TLLT members distribute blank survey
Invite everyone to silently reflect. We will be revisiting the norm inventory and focusing on skill development and reinforcement during our meetings.
Once norms have been developed, have each cluster share and then post their emerging norms. Let them know that we will continue to refine and monitor our norms throughout the year.
TLLT members or SPED Supervisors can join groups. Have Jackie join central and Jenne join west.
Brad and Maggie
Brad and Maggie
Facilitate ball toss—get in cluster
Discuss differences between one ball and two. Challenges when a ball is dropped. Added challenge of an additional ball. Pace of toss—competitive or collaborative. Keeping multiple balls in the air. Adding a third ball. Adding a fourth ball (different size, texture, outside of routine/pattern. Does the outside have to be a bad thing?
Much of our work/learning today and tomorrow focuses on developing a baseline for the year…where are you/we in relation to the work that we need to be engaged in to support our students? Our processes will include learning and formative assessments to inform our planning. We are going to ask you to record the efforts, initiatives and/or goals that direct your work and the work of those in your building. Record initiatives on the left side of the page.
Provide copies of the template for principals to complete. SPED staff can do a modified version of the process.
Collect and generate Wordles. Make copies to retain for TLLT. Fold right side of paper to allow for ranking importance.
Use Constructivist Listening Dyad—process that challenges us to listen to each other for 3 minutes without interjecting any verbal comments. Each person speaks for 3 minutes. The person listening summarizes what they heard…what I heard you say…but no commentary. We will revisit initiatives after lunch and again when we process the 3 big ideas for PLCs on Thursday.
Did you want SPED coordinators double scheduled?
After reading the Martin-Kneip quote, identify the most compelling part of the quote and share with an elbow partner at your table.
See assigned statements.
Return initiative sheet folder over. So that only rankings show.
What do you see? What surprises you? What’s missing (if anything)?
What do you see? What surprises you? What’s missing (if anything)?
When the elem/sec are combined, what changes? What stays the same?
Have principals do a turn and talk…
When you think about the passage from Reeves, what do you learn? Have #2 share.
Share Zoom slides and ask tables to respond to the prompts.
Form two lines facing each other at the back of the room—TLLT members can participate (even lines, relationship development). Briefly discuss benefits of processes after the learning line up. Before the line ends, have them return to their horizontal collaborative teams.
TLLT members will provide wiki site on ½ sheet to tables.
This process will allow us to create a rubric for understanding the key components and to identify professional learning that will be needed to support implementation of components.
