Creating a PLC

1. Creating a
PLC within
our school
GCU-Edu.588
Paola Esparza
March 13,2018

2. Introductions
• Ms. Esparza
• 7th year teaching,TK teacher for 4 years now
• Have also taught 6th grade and 2nd grade
• Worked in the education field since 2005 as a
tutor, and intervention specialist, and
substitute teacher.

3. Today’s Topic and
Objective:
• Creating a PLC (Planning Learning Community)
within our school
• Objective: By the end of today we will have
learned what a PLC looks like and the benefits
of creating a PLC in our school.

4. Needs assessment
results:
• Through a needs assessment survey and
several conversations with colleagues it seems
like there is a big desire for more collaboration
time.

5. What is a PLC?
• PLC stands for Planning Learning Community
• Grade levels meet individually to plan for
upcoming units of study and share ideas and
strategies
• Grade levels can also use the collaboration
time to analyze student data and plan
interventions.

6. What does a PLC look
like?
• One “grade leader”
• “Grade leaders” are in charge of meeting with the
principal and receive important information to bring
back to the grade level.
• “Group secretary” to be in charge of keeping minutes
and keep notes
• “time keeper” to be in charge of making sure
meetings start on time and end on time.
• We respect each other and conduct our PLC in a
professional manner

7. Example of a Bad PLC
meeting:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5An3C
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8. Round Robin
• Answer the following question using a Round
Robin format:
• What did you notice in the video that would be
an example of a “bad PLC meeting?

9. Example of a good PLC
meeting
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yond9NTk
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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=053ayc0Q
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10. Round Robin
• Answer the following question:
• What did the teachers in the sample PLC
video’s do that was positive?

11. Benefits of creating a
PLC
• Increase collaboration among staff
• Set time to collaborate and plan within grade
levels
• Analyze data within grade level to help
differentiate instruction
• All teachers share the responsibility for all
students in a grade level
• Support each other and know we can help each
other and our students grow

12. How do we begin
a PLC at
Vermont?
1. 1. Each grade level will
form a PLC
2. 2. Administrators and
support staff will be
supporting grade levels
during their PLC times.
3. 3. Grade levels need to
choose a grade leader to
represent their grade
level at monthly
leadership meetings with
the Principal.

13. Expectations of a PLC
• Norms:
• We start on time and end on time
• We respect each other and share the
responsibilities
• Our meeting time is a time to reflect and share
ideas and strategies
• Our students’ success is our main goal
• Focus on what we CAN change

14. Where do we begin?
• 1. As a staff we will choose the best time to
meet within our PLC’s
• 2. As a grade level choose a person to fill each
of the “job” positions within a PLC.

15. Possible resources
• http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may04/vol61/num08/What-Is-a-Professional-Learning-
Community¢.aspx
•
• http://www.allthingsplc.info
•
• https://wvde.state.wv.us/ctn/Workshop%20Materials/CTN%20October%20Conference/October%20Day1%20Handouts.pdf
•
• Roberts, S. M., & Pruitt, E. Z. (Eds.). (2008). Schools as professional learning communities: Collaborative activities and
strategies for professional development. Corwin Press.
•
• https://study.com/academy/topic/professional-learning-communities-overview.html

16. Satisfaction Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HF867SR
Please take a moment to go to the above link and
answer a few questions to help me improve this
presentation.