**** OVERFLOW SEATING (WITH MORE SPACING) UPSTAIRS IN THE CONFERENCE CENTER.***
Becoming a PLC requires that we take on the characteristics of learning, collaborating, and getting results through collective inquiry, action research, and a commitment to continuous improvement. In an era of accountability, collective responsibility for continuous improvement has given way to teams and departments in silos, with school improvement primarily focused on test scores. Regina Stephens Owens discusses the essentials required to develop the culture and collective responsibility to ensure that all learn at high levels. Participants in this session: • Explore designing and developing a culture based on the mission, vision, and values of a PLC. • Examine ways to ensure transformation, from first order to second order, leveraging the six characteristics of a PLC. • Learn how to develop a learning infrastructure and measure behaviors to ensure sustained transformation and produce collective efficacy.
Organizational purpose, collective beliefs, and commitments affect building systems at all levels. How can we ensure that all practices and procedures are intentional and personify organizational beliefs? It all begins with the why. Regina Stephens Owens shares strategies to move cultures from attitudes of compliance, coercion, and fear to ones that are respectful, responsive, and reflective. Outcomes include learning how to: • Promote high standards of achievement for all. • Create a collective, rather than individual, leadership focus. • Design and develop cultures that are respectful, responsive, and reflective.
In a time of tremendous focus on data, it is imperative to grow a rich collaborative culture through dialogue and data protocols—moving from a deficit mindset to a growth mindset. Participants in this session discover ways to create this culture, use data protocols, and increase team capacity and student learning. Outcomes include: • Focusing on results through the lens of data • Obtaining tools, tips, and templates to impact team and student learning • Moving from data to demonstration of learning
Effective teams are essential to the PLC at Work process and continuous improvement. Regina Stephens Owens shares strategies to leverage technology to support teamwork and ensure growth through collective inquiry and action research. Participants learn how to: • Use technology as a motivator to advance the work of teams. • Leverage web resources to address the four essential questions of a PLC. • Use technology to build collective capacity and ensure continuous improvement.
Singleton teachers are accustomed to seeking solutions and understanding opportunities as they arise. Operating efficiently and effectively within a PLC can be challenging. Team members must collaborate on common denominators, work with peers to improve professional practices and student learning, leverage technology, and authentically engage in the PLC at Work process. Regina Stephens Owens shows how to use best practices in collaboration, and participants learn how to design action plans supporting the work of schools and singleton teachers in a PLC. Outcomes include learning: • Ways to overcome challenges that singleton teachers face in small schools by connecting stakeholders to learning goals • Solutions that leverage success for educators and learners by understanding interdependence more deeply • Support high levels of learning by ensuring singleton teachers function effectively in the PLC process
Leveraging the strengths of all community members can be challenging. Where do we start? How can we monitor and measure to ensure growth for staff and students? How do we work interdependently to accomplish goals? Regina Stephens Owens facilitates a collaborative discussion as participants discover ways to increase results through collective responsibility. Participants explore how to: • Build a community of compassion where all stakeholders work interdependently to ensure students are ready for college, career, and life. • Develop experiences where staff and students learn and grow, resulting in the alignment and achievement of individual and organizational goals. • Invest in personal mastery that results in increased capacity, collective responsibility, and increased achievement.
