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The PLC+ Activator’s Guide

First Edition
By: Dave Nagel, John Taylor Almarode, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Karen Flories

The PLC+ Activator's Guide offers a practical approach and real-life examples that show activators what to expect and how to navigate a successful PLC journey.

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781544384047
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2020
Page Count: 176
Publication date: April 23, 2020

Price: $23.95

Description

Keeping professional learning communities focused on goals:

High functioning professional learning communities don’t happen by chance. They require deliberate efforts and structures to ensure efficiency and focus, and to ignite action. The first books in the PLC+ series challenged PLC teams to engage in difficult discussions about equity of access, high expectations for all students, and a commitment to building individual and team efficacy. All of this requires activation and skilled facilitation to move from discussion to action. The PLC+ Activator's Guide offers a practical approach, real-life scenarios, and examples that show activators what to expect and how to navigate their PLC+ on a successful and collective journey. Readers will find:

Templates to help activators prepare for PLC+ meetings
Approaches for fostering and nurturing collaboration
Vignettes from real schools that are implementing PLC+
Reflection questions with spaces for activators to record notes
Solutions for addressing barriers that often arise in PLC+ teams

Activators will find this an essential guide to keeping PLC+ team discussions goal-focused and the work centered on building the collective efficacy of the team.

Author(s)

Dave Nagel

Dave Nagel, MsED, is an international educational consultant and researcher. Dave began his educational career as a middle school science and high school biology teacher. His administrative experiences involved middle school assistant principal, high school associate principal, and director of extended day and credit-recovery programs. He was honored numerous times as a ‘Senior Choice’ winner, where graduating seniors selected him as someone who dramatically affected their life in a positive way. Dave has credentials in school leadership and secondary science teaching as well as a master of science degree from Butler University. Dave is the author of Effective Grading Practices for Secondary Teachers and the co-author of The PLC+ Activator’s Guide and PLC+: A Playbook for Instructional Leaders.

John Taylor Almarode

Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and an Associate Professor of Education at James Madison University. He was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship in 2015 and received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia in 2021. Before his academic career, John started as a mathematics and science teacher in Augusta County, Virginia. As an author, John has written multiple educational books focusing on science and mathematics, and he has co-created a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities called PLC+. Dr. Almarode's work has been presented to the US Congress, the Virginia Senate, and the US Department of Education. One of his recent projects includes developing the Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continuing his collaborative work with colleagues on what works best in teaching and learning, How Tutoring Works, Visible Learning in Early Childhood, and How Learning Works, all with Corwin Press, were released in 2021.

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit and an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and How Learning Works. Doug loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.

Nancy Frey

Nancy Frey, Ph.D., is a Professor in Educational Leadership at San Diego State and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Her published titles include Visible Learning in Literacy, This Is Balanced Literacy, Removing Labels, and Rebound. Nancy is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California and learns from teachers and students every day.

Karen Flories

Karen Flories was the Executive Director of Educational Services for 5 years and Director of Literacy and Social Studies for 2 years with Valley View School District in Illinois, after serving as the English Department Chair for Romeoville High School. Karen’s classroom experience includes high school English, special education, and alternative education. Karen holds credentials in general education, special education, and educational leadership. She earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from Concordia University. During her time at the district level, Karen led the implementation of Visible Learning+, specifically focusing on teacher clarity, classroom assessment, and feedback. Karen is the co-author of The PLC+ Activator’s Guide, PLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, and The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K-12. She is currently a full-time professional learning consultant for Corwin.

Table of Contents

Letter From the Authors

About the Authors

Introduction

Part 1. Activating Your PLC+: Overview

Activating Your PLC+

What Effective Activators Do

Part 2. Activation Requires Effective Collaboration

Facilitation Versus Activation

Five Qualities of a Good Activator

Part 3. Activating Your PLC+: Establishing Roles and Developing Team Cohesion

Supporting Team Cohesion

Establishing PLC+ Roles

Stepping Into Roles Matched to PLC+ Team Member Strengths

Part 4. Activating Your PLC+: Norms and Authentic Instructional Protocols in Your PLC+

Establishing Operating Norms

Social and Emotional Check-Ins

Establishing Process Norms

Operating Norms Versus Process Norms

Utilizing Authentic Instructional Protocols

Part 5. Activating the Five Essential Questions and Four Crosscutting Values of Your PLC+

Activating Guiding Question 1: Where Are We Going?

Activating Guiding Question 2: Where Are We Now?

Activating Guiding Question 3: How Do We Move Learning Forward?

Activating Guiding Question 4: What Did We Learn Today?

Activating Guiding Question 5: Who Benefited and Who Did Not Benefit?

Part 6. The Nuts and Bolts of Your PLC+

Scheduling PLC+ Meetings

Setting Aside the Time for the Work of the PLC+

Overcoming Challenges: (Not Enough) Time

Developing an Assessment Calendar

Part 7. Activating a High-Impact and High-Functioning PLC+

High Impact Versus High Functioning

Part 8. Activating Conversations Focused on Equity

Closing Remarks

References

Index

Other Titles in: Staff Development & Professional Learning | Professional Learning Communities

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Related Resources

Access to companion resources is available with the purchase of this book.