What were we thinking?
Reflections of our learning journey
towards building a PLC community
School District No. 71 (Comox Valley)
Sounded like a good idea at the time . . .
(singular?)
Would embedding a PLC structure district wide have
a positive impact on student achievement?
Could PLC’s help teachers collaborate together to find
new ways of teaching assessing and engaging students?
Would a formalized structure that provides PLC time for
teachers, EA’s and admin create measurable positive
outcomes for students?
.....
Sooooo many questions ? ? ?
Do we:

Invent something new?

Tweak what we already have?

Focus on teacher growth?

Dare to try anything different?

Start with the end in mind? -- which end? -- whose end?
Teachers / Students / Parents / ILO’s
......
Sooooo many questions ? ? ?
In the beginning there was . . .

a history of collaborative practice in small pockets
district wide;

professional partnerships and one middle school
experience;

2-3 years of elementary practice of admin creating
meeting time;

district supported initiatives on specific topics;

research and familiarity with the Dufour concept of PLC’s;

recommendations from a ‘driving’ committee about
achieving significant movement towards 21st C Learning.
Who leads:






The Board
Senior Leaders
PVP’s
Teachers / Teacher Union
Community / Experts
Parents and Students
 Summer Institute
 Calendar
 Contract
 Accountability
 Communication Plan / Messaging
 Maintenance
BCSSA Members (Subtlety
and Discretion)
PVP’s are the key!



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PVP staff development
PVP leadership role
PVP modeling and accountability
PVP relationships
Teacher driven, administrator supported!
• Sr. leaders leading from the side
• Board supporting and resourcing
• Community resources and allies
Part I
Children are more accountable for their time – staying on task for longer periods of time; doing what they are
supposed to be doing. Benchmarks in all children have risen by at least 2 levels, even in the lowest students. Oral
reading has improved as their fluency levels are improving. Behaviour has improved significantly reducing the time
spent disciplining or redirecting students. Children are choosing “good fit’ books from the Library -- books they can
read vs just looking at pictures.
There are no behavioural issues when two classes are together, both inside and outdoors. Students with
attentional issues are more engaged and want to get outside more. Overall, students are more engaged in
their work. Mentorship of the older students – they are trying to be good role models for the younger ones.
Part II
In an effort to improve Language Arts skills, three teachers are implementing this program. At the beginning of each
section an “I” chart (Independence) is created so that children know what is expected. The purpose of the program
is to make children more independent for longer periods of time. The teacher is free from having to discipline
children and can work more one on one with those who are struggling. Children will work on a task starting at
short intervals, working up to 20-25 minutes and choose which task they will be working on each day. If they
choose the same task 3 days straight – the teacher will redirect them to another component.
Outdoor learning program: a mentoring partnership between two classes – K/1 and 4/5. Classes meet weekly. The
program spans the curriculum and incorporates Art, PE, Socials, Math, Language Arts, Science, Drama and even
Service for the community. Projects so far: making mandala’s, outdoor patterning, leaf man project, winter solstice,
cutting invasive holly and selling it as a fund raiser to purchase a well in India, Bears, and making kites. Outcomes
are being met for the curriculum at both levels during the lessons.
Part I
Social Thinking work has had a positive effect in our school. Students requiring the most intervention have
improved greatly in their ability to manage themselves in various social situations. Several of these students have
‘graduated’ from receiving direct intervention allowing new openings for newly identified students receiving this
support. Within the general classrooms, consistency among staff using a common language of Social Thinking has
improved student behaviours throughout all grades.
Outdoor Learning: students are more engaged at all age levels throughout the school day as a result of outdoor
learning being incorporated into their day. There has been increased connectedness to the community through
outdoor learning. In terms of student behaviours, office referrals have declined dramatically over the past year –
a reflection of both PLC’s: Social Thinking and Outdoor Learning. Office referrals declined in 2013-14 and continue
to decline for 2014-15.
Part II:
Social Thinking Strategies were to be taught to all grade levels, beginning with primary, through class instruction,
small group instruction and individual targeted instruction. PLC Process or Assessment Tools: Staff decided what
areas of Social Thinking were required to be taught first and decided to start with the primary grade levels for whole
classroom instruction. Students requiring additional support were identified and smaller groups were created – the
LST, CST or school counsellor worked with these students. Individual students requiring one on one support were
supported by the LST, CST, SLP or school counsellor. One of the assessment tools used to document the effects of
this work was to track office referrals (student behaviours).
Outdoor classroom highlights: strengthened buddy system between classrooms—older students teaching younger
students about various outdoor topics: identifying tree species, plant species, indigenous ways of knowing, and
preservation of forests. Partnerships have been formed between staff and there are deeper conversations about
student learning. Parents and students have expressed their support of this new way of learning.
Part II
The PLC team wanted to increase communication with parents. Their belief is that there are more
effective methods of communicating with parents beyond the traditional: report cards, interim reports,
parent interviews, meet the teacher nights and phone calls, that will improve student engagement and
performance. By having an increase in detailed communication with parents addressing course content/
activities, student performance, missing assignments, effort, attendance and/or other concerns, they
believe that parents will become more engaged in the education of their child.
Foundations of Math 11 is a common last math course for grad credit that also satisfies many post secondary
requirements. The PLC team is focused on improving student learning in this course. To date, the PLC team
has been working on determining the main obstacles that are limiting student success in Math 11 – in
response, an extra practice assignment was designed for the Angles and Lines Unit. In addition, the PLC team
has revised the approach to the Statistics lab as well as creating a more hands on approach where students
practiced measuring and calculating using concrete objects for the Ratios and Proportions Unit. Students
measured physical models and made calculations for real life objects and vice-versa. The PLC team collected
materials for the labs, designed questioning and recording sheets for the labs and tested the labs with a class
of students.
Part I
The School Culture Model employed by our PLC currently involves staff creating opportunities for involvement of
students in culture-building activities. Groups of students have emulated these efforts and have begun to engage
other students on their own. Some Leadership students have taken it upon themselves to create an online
student survey about school culture and have analyzed those results on their own. Our Day of Silence was
student run and on our Aboriginal Day many of the sessions were run by student presenters. Initiatives like
this take time. We are confident we are on the right track in engaging students and staff in developing a positive
culture at Highland.
Teachers involved in the Technology PLC are noticing positive results. Students engage in the hands-on approach
to learning iPads (tablets and apps). Students are using them as a quick reference tool, making movie trailers
using MovieMaker, creating videos on resilience and other topics, and the apps tool is constantly in use for word
usage and meaning.
Part II
School Culture and Social Responsibility: PLC is exploring a means of creating a positive school culture, based on
research that confirms this has a positive impact on student learning. Electronic surveys have been completed by
all staff regarding various aspects of school culture, and careful analysis of the results. Actions and results
stemmed from the PLC work include: ongoing focus in the Leadership class on building a school-wide culture
through activities and theme days; preparation and serving of a full turkey lunch to the whole staff before
Christmas break; expansion of GSA from 2 to over 10 students; school celebration days such as Aboriginal Day,
FilmFest, the Day of Silence; and over 25 staff signed up to receive a copy of “Mindset” by Carol Dweck and
participated in a book-club professional development conversation.
iPads for students and teachers: The PLC is exploring way for both teachers and students to use iPad technology
to engage students and improve student learning.
• Just do it – start small.
• In-service your Board, DPAC
and other communities.
. . . think too much about all the
things that can get in the way;
. . . try to lead this yourself;
• Hold folks accountable for the
time.
. . . use a stop watch,
overtly take attendance;
• Create time and permission to
make mistakes.
. . . skip the work on protocols;
• Celebrate and communicate.
. . . ignore your parent group;
• Ensure that everyone who can
be, is involved, in a PLC –
including you!
. . . be invisible –
be present in the PLC life
of your district.
“Sharing connections with your students also helped them choose their learning goals. A young
reluctant reader asked me to watch his beginning skating lesson. I took a photo of his risk-taking
and I had a huge ‘aha moment.’ I brought the photo to school and challenged him to try the
same risk-taking in tackling words and reading…and it worked!”
Colleen Devlin, Grade 1 Teacher
“In the PLC group I am finding my voice and I can express myself more. In my work I know how
to support students better because I know the model…I like the way kids are taking ownership
of their learning through the Daily 5. They are being more creative because they have more
freedom about what they will tackle first.”
Suzanne Prosick, Education Assistant
“The power of collaborating across roles has been especially significant in our PLC experience
this year. Never before have we had the opportunity to work alongside our EA’s and Librarian
in this way, creating powerful impacts on specific learning needs with the implementation of
researched based strategies for reading. This is very exciting!”
Lucinda Wolters, Vice-Principal and Grade 3 Teacher
“PLC members are noting a tangible shift in the school culture, as well as personal changes in their own
perspectives as a member on staff. As a group we have firmed up our faith in the ongoing positive aspects
of our school, as opposed to reaffirming and residing in the negative domain which can occasionally
permeate a staffroom or collective conscience in a school. Students and staff have shown an enthusiastic
willingness to engage and participate in activities that promote connectedness and build positive culture
at Highland.”
Rob Grantham, Highland Secondary Vice-Principal
“In relation to our Social Thinking PLC group I’ve appreciated the invaluable opportunity to be in
community, discuss and jointly collaborate on meaningful, significant work that directly and significantly
impacts student success in my classroom. As a result of our work students have a greater toolkit of
strategies at their disposal and are beginning to have a common language around social communication.”
Joyce Bystrom, Challenge Program Teacher
“It is such a gift to have the time to work with other teachers and talk about student learning.”
Ellen Klassen, Cumberland Elementary Teacher
“PLC has given me the opportunity to connect with the kindergarten teacher and plan for our Thursday
afternoons together. We have had time to evaluate and reflect on past practices and activities as well as
look closely at play based learning opportunities for our children.”
Carlene Steeves, Strongstart Facilitator
“Having space provided to hold conversations, share concerns, suggest strategies that work and try them
out, helps us to make a more solid plan for student success. Educational Assistants have many observations
of students that we may have missed during our classes. Hearing their perspectives and suggestions has
been very helpful.”
Alissa Pratt, Lake Trail Middle School Vice-Principal