Becky DuFour reminds us of our fundamental purpose and the foundation of a PLC.....I have heard this keynote in person more than once, but I needed this reminder to refocus!
For two days this week I attended a conference on RTI with presenter, Bob Sonju. It was not surprising to me that the first day of this conference was spent talking about PLCs. There is nothing with stronger research that supports and impacts student achievement than the school staff functioning as a PLC. Why wouldn't we begin with being a solid PLC when considering our intervention plan within our school? I realized as I sat listening that I desperately needed this refresher and reminder. We began the conference looking at Effective schools and what characteristics all Exemplary schools have. As you read, consider where Parma Elementary is on each characteristic.
Exemplary Schools share the following characteristics:
1. A clear focus on LEARNING as the outcome - Teaching is critical, but if the kids didn’t get it, it is just lecturing. The only way we can determine this is by assessments to see what they know and don’t know. What is our purpose? If we truly believe that our fundamental purpose is high levels of learning for all, it’s not a matter if we will or won’t….we must!
2. A COLLECTIVE sense of purpose - everyone in the school knows why they are there.
3. SHARED OWNERSHIP for student learning. They are not your kids or my kids, they are our kids, and we share the responsibility of making sure all kids learn at high levels. Can we make this promise to EVERY parent: "It does not matter which teacher your child has at our school, if your child needs extra time and support to learn at high levels, we guarantee he or she will receive it.”
4. COLLABORATIVE, collegial relationships - challenge each other’s thinking. There is a difference between being a group and working as a team. One example that demonstrates the importance of accomplishing goals as a team is the story of Michael Jordan. Jordan was voted best offensive player and best defensive player and yet his goal of winning a championship had not been accomplished. It wasn't until his entire team began working together that this goal became a reality. It doesn't matter how good ONE teacher is on a staff if the school is not successful in its goal of high levels of learning for ALL. It takes a staff working as a team, together, collaboratively to meet this goal. Part of the mission of Mayo Clinic reads: Teamwork: Value the contribution of all, blending the skills of individual staff members in unsurpassed collaboration.
Excellence: Deliver the best outcomes and highest quality service through the dedicated effort of every team member. At the Mayo Clinic teamwork is not optional….it’s mandatory. Patients don’t get a doctor: they get the expertise of the whole organization. Collaboration, cooperation, and coordination are the three dynamics that support the practice of team medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
Can we, as a school, say that we value the contribution of all and that we blend the skills of individual staff members in unsurpassed collaboration? Let us strive for "unsurpassed collaboration".
5. Have a desire to get BETTER - When we look at our current reality, we must act and look at doing things differently. We have to have a desire to get better. Jim Collins in Good to Great says that we have begun our decline if we say we are good enough. Rick DuFour says that these schools focus on results and use data to improve learning.
When we look at our current reality, which we have been doing, we have to think, we must act, and we must do things differently.
We must be willing to examine our current practices.
I can tell you that I left this two day workshop feeling refreshed, excited and remembering what made our school a "Reward School" and a "Beating the Odds School" a few years ago. Somehow Common Core, new adopted curriculum hit us upside the head, and we forgot to just keep doing what we know and have proven makes us successful. We always want to be research based and use best practice. Our "research" can show that we were very successful when we were operating as a PLC with fidelity. When we let some of those practices become weak, we began our decline. Our presenter gave us a quote that I think is fitting, "When is the best time to climb a tree......20 years ago.....when is the second best time......right now." Let's begin our climb again now. We know what works for students at Parma Elementary School. 
Common Core is daunting. Robert Marzano states,"To cover all of this content, you would have to change schooling from K-12 to K-22…..The sheer number of standards is the biggest impediment to implementing standards.” The first most critical work is to identify the critical skills. Yes, we have "been there and done that" with "power standards", and it worked. We have to look again at the common core and identify the "power standards" or "Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum". What can we guarantee every child at every grade level will know at the end of the school year? It is these skills that we use our intervention resources to make sure EVERY child has mastered. The 4 Essential questions of a PLC:
1. What do we expect our students to learn? ( Guaranteed Curriculum, Power standards)
2. How will we know they are learning? ( Common Assessments, Data )
3. How will we respond when they don't learn? ( Intervention )
4. How will we respond if they already know it? ( Enrichment )
We got this! We have the right people to make this happen. Collectively, we are an "unsurpassed" staff with everything we need, including the will, heart and desire to guarantee EVERY child "gets it"!
I am excited, can you tell, for us to refocus Parma Elementary.
Articles Worth Reading and Links worth Checking out:
I am skipping the links this week. I think we all have enough to think about!
Videos Worth Watching:
Rick DuFour - Groups vs. Team
A sense of Urgency - Failure is not an option and yet, we get kids "almost there".....some students "choose" to not do the work....do we allow failure as an option? It can't be an option! It is a matter of life and death!
Young girl is selected to sing National Anthem at NBA playoff game. She forgot the words.....who goes in to save her? .....The coach, who has 100 things on his mind before the game, but he saw a child in need and steps in to help. This is what we do every day. What do our students need? Who can step in and help them?
Pay attention to what the dad is saying. Is he saying the right things? Maybe, but is he modeling and reinforcing the wrong things?
Anthony Muhammad reminds us that Failure can not and should not be an option!
