Module 3: Building Effective PLC Teams - Tools & Resources
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Building Effective PLC Teams
Use these resources to explore the ideas expressed in Module 3: Building Effective PLC Teams. Click on the links below to skip directly to the protocol of your choice.
-Protocols: 1. Creating Ground Rules; 2. Compass Points; 3. Peeves and Traits; 4. Making Decisions; 5. Fist of Five; 6. Classroom Meeting; 7. Connections;
8. 100 Pennies; 9. Postcards from the Edge; 10. Assessing Work Quality; 11. Continuum Dialogue; 12. Effective Facilitation; 13. Effective Meetings; 14. Agenda Templates
-Articles
Use these resources to explore the ideas expressed in Module 3: Building Effective PLC Teams. Click on the links below to skip directly to the protocol of your choice.
-Protocols: 1. Creating Ground Rules; 2. Compass Points; 3. Peeves and Traits; 4. Making Decisions; 5. Fist of Five; 6. Classroom Meeting; 7. Connections;
8. 100 Pennies; 9. Postcards from the Edge; 10. Assessing Work Quality; 11. Continuum Dialogue; 12. Effective Facilitation; 13. Effective Meetings; 14. Agenda Templates
-Articles
1. Creating Ground Rules - MS Word; PDF - Ground
Rules, or Norms, are important for a group that intends to work together
on difficult issues, or who will be working together over time. They may
be added to, or condensed, as the group progresses. Starting with
basic Ground Rules builds trust, clarifies group expectations of one
another, and establishes points of “reflection” to see how the group is
doing regarding process. Materials: Stickies. Chart Paper. Using a T
Chart to delineate norms of structure on one side and norms of conduct on
the other helps to clarify who, what, when and how. Norms are
the bedrock of successful PLCs. Attention to these, and continual re-visiting
before and after EVERY meeting is essential.
2. Compass Points - MS Word;
PDF - Actively exploring what working style strengths
each member brings to the team and what challenges that might create for
members who work differently is a great way to work towards understanding and
trust. Most participants enjoy this lively protocol, especially
valuable for creating “buy-in”.
3. Peeves and Traits Protocol - MS Word;
PDF - Use
this as a “bell ringer” for team meetings with directions either at the
table or on the wall. Allows members to prioritize a need for structure or
conduct and let the rest of the group know about what this is and why they
need it.
4. Making Decisions by Consensus - MS Word; PDF -
A guide to consensus-making and a checklist for facilitators, this is a good
tool to allocate time for on an agenda so that every member of the team
can be part of creating a common understanding about what it means
to arrive at consensus.
5. Fist of Five - MS
Word; PDF - In this method of determining where a group is in getting to
consensus, each member of the group can hold up a fist to indicate
blocking consensus, one finger to suggest changes, two fingers to discuss
minor issues, three fingers to indicate willingness to let issue pass without
further discussion, four fingers to affirm the decision as a good idea,
and five fingers to volunteer to take a lead in implementing the decision.
If a member “blocks” the decision, he or she must be willing to suggest
changes, listen to clarification from others, be open to actively finding
consensus, and expect a conversation!
6. Classroom
Meeting - MS Word; PDF - Classroom Meetings are a safe,
quick way to publicly take the pulse of your group around a particular topic or
issue. Using this protocol as a connection to how people are feeling about
an issue or in arriving at a common understanding can be really helpful in
creating norms of sharing and trust. Create your own question, relevant to the
concern that is on the table.
7. Connections
- MS Word; PDF - Include Connections as the start of
every agenda. If we allow members to share what is on their minds
in a structured format, it allows them to both focus and not need to
have a side conversation later on. Although the protocol calls for ten minutes,
we often find that 3-5 is fine if the group is small. Team members need to
be gently reminded at the start of Connections that this is a quiet
activity—no dialogue. None. Body language is fine though! Listen, think, and
relax. Silence is okay. Some team members find this activity awkward
to start as they are unused to having quiet time in a group. You may find
that using a prompt to help the team get used to this format can help in early
stages; “a student who made you think today” or “ a student who made
you laugh” or a more general question that does not need to be at
all related to school. One member may need to talk about the speeding
ticket she got on the way in today; another may relate a brief story about
teaching his son to scramble eggs. Persevere with this protocol—it can
really help a team focus. What gets shared in Connections—stays in
Connections.
8. 100
Pennies - MS Word; PDF - Use this as a connections
activity, a way of introducing people and capturing the range of experiences of
a group. You’ll need 100 pennies! Allows teams to both think about
what comprises a powerful learning experience (in or out of school) as well as
providing further insight into knowing more about each other.
9. Postcards
From the Edge - MS Word; PDF - A thought provoking
connections activity. Allow time for stories. You will need to collect a
variety of art or travel postcards which participants use as prompts to
sharing a story about themselves.
10. Assessing
A Team's Quality of Work - MS Word; PDF - One of the facets
of PLC is in assessing progress in how the team is functioning, a protocol
which should be addressed at regular times in the team’s calendar.
11. Continuum
Dialogue - MS Word; PDF - The Continuum Dialogue is a
provocative yet non-threatening way to get to know the people one works
with: their perspectives, their beliefs, their opinions on hard issues,
how they think about themselves and others, what they think about teaching
and learning. It is also useful to see where people stand on difficult issues
that need decisions and hear them out with respect and interest.
12. Guidelines
to Effective Facilitation - MS Word; PDF - It’s helpful to use this facilitation
check list as teams grow in confidence. Learning to facilitate well in a
team is often “easy” as long as there are no conflicts but gets a lot more
difficult when those arise (as they will); Reflecting and
being “transparent” in how to manage challenges is the work of the
team.
13. Guidelines
for Effective Meetings - MS Word; PDF - Helpful checklist
to use when planning and reflecting on process. Use this both to build the
right agenda template that meets your school/district needs and to
re-visit it regularly as a benchmark to assess whether its working well for
all uses.
14. Agenda Template Exemplars: These are just a few examples of what some schools and
districts have created to ensure that meaningful work is accomplished and
recorded (and shared). Groups can look at current agendas and compare
with these—what works? What doesn’t? Whose agenda is this—and whose values
does it have? Beware of that time-eating laundry list! Sample 1; Sample 2; Sample 3; Sample 4
Articles:
- Trust in School - MS Word; PDF - A longitudinal study of 400 Chicago elementary schools shows the central role of relational trust in building effective education communities; Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider
- Examining the Teaching Life - MS Word; PDF - "We need to assess teaching practices and professional development activities in light of sound principles about how learning works"; Grant Wiggings and Jay McTighe