Put Me in the Game

Coach!
A Leader's Guide To Developing An
Effective PLC Game Plan
Tracey Crenshaw
Vanderlyn Elementary School
SLC 2015

A PLC Is...
PROFESSIONAL?
Every teacher is a leader; Every leader is a teacher.

LEARNING?
Learning applies as much to teachers, administrators, and parents as to
students.
Focus on instruction, curriculum and assessment.

COMMUNITY?
Support
Cooperation vs. competition
Improvement of the whole vs. striving to get ahead individually.

Essential Questions
How Can Leaders Turn
Good Teams Into
Championship Teams?
How Can Leaders Move
Struggling Teams to Better
Performance?
How Can Leaders Develop
a Winning Game Plan?

Friday Night in America

Think about it! In the fall, every Friday night
across America, virtually every high school
participates in a football game.
In most communities, these football games are
very, very important.

Group Activity
Developing a Strong Team Foundation
Step 1: List some of the barriers that the players
faced that made them ineffective as a team.
Step 2: List the key characteristics of the team
identified in the video that made them successful.

The Coaching Staff: A Collaborative Team

The head coach cannot succeed by working alone,
so he or she assembles a collaborative team of
skilled professionals the coaching staff.

The TEAM concept is highly visible both in sports

and in a PLC culture.
PLC Team

Sports Team

Principal
Head Coach
AP/ Counselor(s)
Offensive/Defensive Coordinators
Special Area Teachers
Special Teams
Content Area Teachers
Position Coaches
Dept. Chair
Team Captains
Students
Players

Assembling a coaching staff , a collaborative

team particularly key leaders such as
offensive and defensive coordinators is a
thoughtful and deliberate process, because the
stakes are so high!

Creating Winners and Preparing Them

for Success
Successful coaches set high expectations for
their players for their teams.
They never ask, What is the minimum our
players will need to do to demonstrate
proficiency?
Their goal is to ensure that all players
perform at the highest levels.

All for One and One for All

Doesnt it make sense that collaborative teams
of teachers would demonstrate the same
commitment to high levels of learning for all
students?

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Collaboratively Developing a Game Plan

Simply having high expectations for players is
never enough. Successful coaches work with
their staffs to study and plan together.
They collaboratively develop a game plan to
ensure their players perform well.

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One Size PLC Does NOT Fit All

Of special significance is the use of

differentiated learning.
Good coaches know the only way their players
become highly skilled is by intentional, focused
and appropriate practice.

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Differentiated PLCs
In order to differentiate a variety of learning
experiences that are both meaningful and
purposeful to teachers, you need to know:

Preferences/interests
Professional Needs
Styles ( Teaching and Learning)
Current skill level. . . their readiness for new stages

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Survey the Staff

Step 1

Periodically (at least once a

year)
At the conclusion of every
new learning experience
Provides a clear picture of
needs and preferences
Matches needs with
support

Step 2
Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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See Handout

Strategies to Identify Expertise

Among Teachers
1. Develop a Faculty Expertise Survey
distributed at the beginning of the year
2. Track professional development needs
of your faculty
3. Maintain a database of professional
development, workshops and university
courses that teachers attend throughout
the year.
See Handouts
Faculty Expertise Survey
Tracking Professional Development Needs
Database-Teacher Professional Development

Establish Team Types

Step 1

Grade Level
Content Area
Intervention
Vertical
Instructional Leadership

Step 2
Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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Identify Your Power Players

Step 1

Step 2
Selecting the right team
members that need to be
included to advance the overall
goals of the organization.

Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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Coaching Point
Building Shared Ownership and Purpose
Principal
Grade Level

Intervention

Vertical

Grade Level or
Subject Area
Teachers

Grade Level
Teacher

Covers Multiple
Grade Levels

ESL Teacher (power

player)

RTI or Academic
Coach

ESL Teacher

Interventionist or
Specialist (power
player)

Special Education
Teacher, Counselor, or
Social Worker

Special Ed
Teacher

EIP Literacy/Math

Gifted Teacher
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Instructional
Leadership
Address School
Wide Issues

Creating PLC Time

Step 1

Step 2

Informal discussions
Planning periods
Lunch and Learn

Step 3

Formal Discussions
Faculty Meetings
Grade Level Meetings
Book Study

Step 4
Step 5

Classroom Observations/Peer
Coaching

Step 6
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Rearranging Existing Time

Step 1

Step 2
Step 3
Frame Faculty Meetings as a
Professional Learning
Opportunity
Restructure grade-level
meetings as professional
learning (with a pre-set
agenda)

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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See Handout
Structure for Grade Level Planning and
Collaboration

Transform Faculty Meetings into PLCs

Publicize the topic and
presenter in a weekly
newsletter or email.
Include time for questions,
activities, discussions or
small group breakouts.

Step 1

Step 2
Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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See Handout
Professional Learning Activities
Form

Transform Faculty Meetings into PLCs

Videotape the presentations and
keep a copy in the library
Create a sizeable collection
Useful to newcomers in
subsequent years
Assist teachers with
handouts/provide secretarial
support for reproduction of
material
Follow-up after the faculty
meeting with a staff evaluation
to obtain feedback

Step 1

Step 2
Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6 (cont.)
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See Handout
PLC Evaluation Form

Administrators Role in Professional

Learning
Lead job-embedded professional learning
Apply knowledge and research about PLCs
Develop and implement structures that support PLCs and
peer collaboration
Evaluate the implementation and impact of professional
learning

Provide and protect time for job-embedded professional

learning
Model continuous learning by developing and maintaining
a plan for professional self-improvement

Cultural Shifts and Teacher

Benefits of PLC
From a focus on teaching

to a focus on learning

From coverage of content

to a demonstration of proficiency

From isolation

to collaboration

From privatization of practice

to open sharing of practice

From individual decisions

to collective decision-making

From an assumption of these are

my kids, those are your kids

to these are our kids

From external training

to job embedded learning

From learning by listening

to learning by doing

From focus on inputs

to focus on results

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To Access This Presentation:

http://vanderlynplc.weebly.com/

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Questions
&
Answers

Q &A
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