Introducing PLTS

What is a PLT?Presentation to KSC staff

Feb 3rd 2011Naomi Coleman, Teaching and Learning Coach

An agreed and shared vision for South Gippsland Optimal experience for every student in every classroom in

every school

School Improvement

Collaboration

Data Wise

Leadership

The Work - Reach and Depth

Classroom

Team

School

Network

Professional Learning Team (PLT)

• focus on teachers learning together to improve student learning

• Collaborative – our kids• Investigative – what might work

best, what will we try?

PLT structure

Ideally the PLT should • have 4 to 6 members• have a team leader to facilitate• have a dedicated meeting every fortnight• use a learning log to record ideas• develop protocols to look at student work• base decisions on evidence not inference

Learning is developmental• idea of developmental learning underpins

PLT practice• Instead of thinking what can’t this student

do, or what is this student getting wrong…

• we look at what can this student do

• What is the next level of learning for this student and other students like this one

Using work samples as data

• Each cycle the team brings an agreed work sample as evidence of student learning

• One student work sample is selected to look at deeply… what is the evidence of this student’s current level?

• Who are other students at a similar level – find work samples that match

Learning Log supports process

Year level PLT focusMay be a place for • improving literacy across the curriculum • focusing on problem solving across the

curriculum• specific HRLTS (John Munro) that will

improve learning, • using higher order thinking skills and

questions based on Instructional Rounds feedback (problem of practice)

Structure of fortnightlyPLT meetings

1. Group check in: (brief)• What learning have you observed in your

classroom of the content area focus in the last fortnight?

2. Work samples:• Look at a work sample and discuss evidence

of learning in the selected content area

3. Identify “like students” and record • What is the next level of learning for these

students?• What strategies might work?• How will we know they have moved on?• What resources might we need?• What tasks will we all agree to use?

4. Record on learning log • identify evidence to bring to next meeting.

5. Identify new teacher knowledge needed

• If the team is stuck, it may mean that professional learning is needed.

• Readings, research, VELS – links to the continuum, exploring rich tasks, using assessment tasks to look into what our students can do, and their next level of learning, then researching teaching approaches to support these students

• Classroom observations/ modelled teaching

Work Samples• Teachers bring agreed work sample to

meeting (possibly pre-assessment task )• Teachers share work samples across all

classes using agreed process (eg: rubric)• Select a group of like students and examine

evidence of what students can do, are on verge of doing

Role of team leader• Help develop a shared understanding of an

effective PLT• Be a co learner with the team• Mapping out team goals• Establishing team meeting schedules • Providing a structure for meetings including the

PLT log• Developing an action plan to support the team’s

learning

Role of team members• Be positive and try to support the learning

of everyone in the team• Trust the process even if at the moment you

are a bit sceptical• Bring agreed work samples and commit to

meeting schedule

A sustainable approach to PLTs in South Gippsland Secondary

Schools• Having a common approach across all schools in the South Gippsland Region is a powerful strategy•Team leaders meeting regularly across schools helps to develop leadership skills and promote collaborative learning and provides opportunity to practise PLT skills

A vision for effective PLTs

Supporting the work of PLTs• How can the coach support this work?• How can the principal support this work?

• What systems and structures will support this vision of collaborative teams working to improve student learning?

Developing beliefs about evidence• How do we develop the language of

evidence?• What questions and scaffolding techniques

support teachers to gather evidence in their classrooms?

Evidence not inference• How do we know that students are learning

what we are teaching?• Helping teachers identify inferences they

make through classroom observations and coaching conversations

• Developing teacher skills in collecting evidence of student learning through proformas

A proforma for observing student learning

Phase of the lesson

Student name

What did student make, say, write or do? (Evidence of student learning)

Implications for teaching(How will I use this information in my planning?)

From evidence to developmental learning

• Developing a shared language around evidence builds skills in collecting evidence

• Evidence of student learning is a powerful tool for exploring the different learning needs of students in a classroom

• So what’s the next level of learning for that student?

Using data to inform practice• Data from teachers own classrooms is a

powerful strategy to support teachers to develop a shared mental model of learning on a continuum

• Identifying the range of learning needs from a work sample helps teachers see the need for differentiation in their classrooms

• The collaboration of the team builds support for trying new teaching strategies

Exploring teachers’ ZPD– Through coaching we can explore assumptions

teachers have about student learning• Deficit model or developmental model• Teaching leads to learning – how do we know a

student has learnt what we have taught• Assessment is a score on a test used for reporting

• This PLT model helps teachers to reflect on and develop their practice and challenge existing beliefs

The role of the learner in our classrooms

• What type of learners do we want to have in our classrooms?

• What do we allow our students to make say do or write?

• This PLT model will support the work of instructional rounds by providing a forum for developing strategies around a problem of practice.

Teams owning the work• This PLT model will work if • is supported by school leadership teams and

resourced• it is owned by the teachers involved (their

data, their students, their classrooms)• it has an effective team leader who is

committed to the work (team leader may not be the domain leader).