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Professional Learning Communities

Professional Learning Communities:
In 2021 we formally started our journey to implement practices to become a Professional Learning Community. We are following the model created by Richard and Rebecca DuFour and are guided by these three principles:

  1. A Focus on Learning
  2. A Collaborative Culture and Collective Responsibility
  3. A Results Orientation

Our work began by dedicating time at each school and at the district level to laying the foundation. We are collaborating to determine our Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals. These will serve as our guiding lights through the long journey. While the work may look different at each site, the items below outline what every school will be working on. 

Team Time:
The primary focus is making sure there is a regular opportunity for teachers to collaborate. We have a dedicated team time every Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30 for teachers to answer these four critical questions:

  1. What is it we want our students to know and be able to do?
  2. How will we know if each student has learned it?
  3. How will we respond when some students don’t learn it?
  4. How will we extend the learning for those students who have demonstrated proficiency?

What does that look like? Answering these four questions requires an intense amount of up front work, regular communication, and constant revisions. Our teacher teams are working to complete the following tasks:

  • Identify and review essential standards
  • Align the scope and sequence of instruction to ensure all students get on-level instruction
  • Create common formative assessments (CFAs) that all students receive
  • Include students and parents in the process: make sure they know the learning path, where they are on it, and how to move forward
  • Regularly review the results from those CFAs to determine which students have mastered the learning and which students need additional support
  • Collaborate on instructional practices that worked the best so that all teachers and students can benefit
  • Create a plan for re-teaching to those students who need it and extending for those who have mastery 

Cultural Shifts: 
In order to maximize student success, we are working on the following cultural changes:

  • Learning together: In the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”
  • Holding high expectations: We know that students will rise to our expectations when we set the bar high
  • Collective Responsibility: Instead of thinking in terms of “your kids” or “my kids”, our staff will understand that they are all “our kids”
  • Tight vs Loose: While we will work together and will be very tightly aligned on certain things, we will also be loose and allow autonomy in other areas 

Structural Changes: 
In order to implement these beliefs and practices, we must have the right systems in place. We are currently working to align all of our schools with these structural changes:

  • Identify essential standards for every grade level and subject and ensure that every student gets quality instruction with these standards
  • Tier II: Create additional time during the school day to allow for re-teaching of content that students did not master the first time it was taught
  • Tier III: Allow time for remedial instruction for those students who are lacking skills from previous academic years

Distance Learning Resources

  • The following resources are geared to help support instructional staff as we enter a new paradigm of teaching and learning. Some of these items were created by professional researchers/authors, but most of them come from your peers: the SLSD Content and Delivery Team that met and worked over the summer and into the fall. Please understand that we may not be experts in all of these areas, but we are trying to provide a baseline for best practices in this new world.

    Before you learn, check out this video overview of how these training modules will work.

    A man in a dark hoodie is visible on the right side of the screen, appearing in a video call.

  • As part of the hybrid model there will be some teachers that must teach to students who are in person as well as those that are online. We call this “concurrent teaching,“ or “dual teaching.” We have several teachers in South Lane who have been dual teaching for parts of this year and volunteered to share their knowledge and experience to help support others. A special thank you to Sarah Parsons, Peter Bowers, Kelcee Colburn, and Esther Takacs for helping us! As you have questions, reach out to your administrator, these four staff members, or other teacher leaders that can help. 

    • Google Read & Write is a web browser extension available across multiple platforms and devices including Google Chrome, Windows, Mac, Microsoft Edge, iPad and Android. In addition to providing text-to-speech and speech-to-text tools, Google R&W has a variety of features that can support the learning of students, particularly those with reading and writing barriers. 
    • The Distance Learning Playbook Unpacked is a weekly video podcast produced by Cassadie Ross, one of Lane ESDs education specialists and Dustin Dawson, their educational technology specialist. Currently there are episodes on The First Days of School, Hyperdocs, Building Relationships, Facilitating Discussions and much more!
    • Weekly Clinic Time: Dustin and Cassadie also host a weekly tech support clinic 3:00-4:00 on Thursdays. Click to Join the Weekly Tech Support Zoom Clinic to drop into the zoom and ask questions! 
    • District-Directed Staff Development: In November and December we will be providing time for staff to have a “playdate” and engage with their peers in exploring tech tools. Harrison Teacher Scot Hoffman facilitated two of these in September and they were a big hit. Check out the Staff Development Playdate Summary of the work. 
      • November 4th - Elementary Teachers
      • December 2nd - Middle School Teachers
      • January (exact date TBD) - High School Teachers
    • Google Enterprise Suite: Soon we will post a link to video resources to help you learn the functions of Google Enterprise Suite - including upgrades to google meets like breakout rooms, attendance tracking, blurred backgrounds, permanent recordings, and more. In the meantime, find your building tech expert for support. 
    • Building High Expertise Teaching for Student Achievement (Formerly called The Skillful Teacher): This series of workshops is put on by certified trainers at Lane ESD and is based on the work done by the Research for Better Teaching. This work has guided out professional development for years and is part of our SLSD Teacher Evaluation Rubric. This year probationary teachers will complete modules 1 and 4, and any other teacher or EA is welcome to sign up as well. Since these modules are done outside the normal work day, participating teachers will receive one day of pay at the curriculum rate. To sign up, click on the module link below and enter your information in the Lane ESD website (for “workshop fees paid by...” choose “my district or employer”).    Please contact jeremy.smith@slane.k12.or.us if you’d like to sign up. 
    • Other

  • Sept 1: Google Classroom Modules

    Sept 10: ARC Handbook

    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Download the ARC Handbook to access the ARC Handbook (Please download it as a PDF or Microsoft Word document in order for the linke to be live)
    • ARC Handbook PD Module

    Sept 14: 

    Sept 15: Google Forms, Google Slides, and Tech Tools 

      • Text (followed by the links below): These are the PD Modules you will complete on September 15. Click on the link to access the video/powerpoint to view. 
      • Google Forms PD Module (~45 minutes)
      • Google Slides PD Module (~45-60 minutes)
      • Tech Tools: Each level (elementary, middle, high) will have an individualized synchronous session. Your building principal will be in contact with details
        • Elementary: Sept 15 8:00-9:30
        • Middle: Sept 15 10:00-11:30
        • High: TBD
        • Danny Henson and Carlan Kephart will be on this Tech Support Google Meet at 11:30 AM on September 15th for a Q&A session

  • Use the Wednesday Professional Development Zoom Link to log on to all of our sessions on September 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd from 12:30–3:30:

    • Sept 2 - modules 2, 5, 6
    • Sept 9 - modules 6, 7, 8
    • Sept 16 - modules 3, 4
    • Sept 23 - modules 4, 1, 9

    This book will be the base of our instructional approach with students. The authors are well-known and highly-respected educators in their field and the practices in the book align with our SLSD priorities. Watch the Distance Learning Playbook Webinar with the Authors. We have ordered a hard copy of this book for every teacher and EA in the district. Due to high demand, though, the hard copies may not arrive until mid-September so we have also secured eBook copies for you. This PDF shows the specific code for your eBook. Find your code and follow these directions:

    1. Go to the VitalSource Bookshelf Website
    2. Click on “Sign In” on the top right
    3. If you are new to VitalSource Bookshelf, simply scroll down to click on NEW TO VITALSOURCE? CREATE AN ACCOUNT, a very simple process (Choose “Other” for institution name)
    4. Once signed in, click on REDEEM in the top right corner, and enter the voucher code

    In addition we will engage in a series of 4 workshops facilitated by Distance Learning Playbook certified trainers. They will walk us through the content of the book and allow us to reflect and go deeper on concepts. These sessions will occur virtually each Wednesday 12:30-3:30 starting on September 2nd.

  • We know that the instruction we provided in the spring was not distance learning--it was crisis learning--and we know we can do better. Using both local and national data from students, staff, and parents, our team has created the SLSD Ed Tech Guide (ETG) to help you in planning and implementing lessons. It contains a list of best practices, a model for planning lessons, and a list of tech tools that have been vetted and already approved for district use.

    One piece of feedback that we heard loud and clear is that students and parents felt overwhelmed in the spring. In order to provide a streamlined and organized google classroom experience we’ve created a Google Classroom Template that teachers can use as a model. You will have to use this class code to view the template: klkjxfc

    The Parent/Student ARC Handbook is a guide to help our families as they engage in distance learning. ARC stands for the following: 

    • Access learning
    • Respond to instruction
    • Communicate with teachers
    • It includes directions on how to log into google classroom, how to upload photos as student work, how to get tech help, and much more (NOTE: It is important download this as a PDF or Microsoft Word document in order for the links to be live.) In early September staff will meet with students and families to walk them through the handbook and answer any questions they have.