Meeting 8/29/12

TO DO (from Leah):

1. List your PLC facilitator’s name with an asterisk (*), all PLC members’ names, and your meeting location on the attached PLC Feedback Form #1. (DONE)

2. Create a list of norms to help your PLC work effectively as a group. (DONE)
3. (From Leah--can you help?)
   Last year, PLC  members worked hard to align their curriculum with the new standards. This semester, we will examine the five 21st Century Skills that are embedded in the standards to ensure that we are providing opportunities for all students to progress toward mastery of these skills. The skills are Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Information Literacy, Collaboration, Self-Direction, and Invention.  You can find content specific descriptions of these skills in your standards and also on the attached document from the Colorado Department of Education. At each of the remaining five PLC meetings this semester beginning at PLC Meeting #2, we will focus on one of these skills. Please include this work in your PLC goals for the year.
   
   
   Feedback Form (Anyone can edit)
   21st Century Goals
4. 2. 2. 3. Examine your course descriptions and flowcharts in the Arapahoe High School Pathfinder.  Determine whether the course descriptions and/or the flowcharts need to change as a result of your curriculum alignment work last year. If changes are necessary, please submit the corrected course descriptions and flowcharts to Kevin Kolasa by Wednesday, October 31st.

4. Set goals for the year and for the first meeting. (Fill out on Form)

5. Use the questions below to guide your discussions of Essential Learnings, Common Formative Assessments, and Supplemental Interventions. Note: What are our essential learnings from last year?

Here's the list we came up at the first meeting:

--Creating thesis statements that are clear, specific, refutable, and proveable. (Synthesis papers)

--Reading comprehension/interpretation: e.g. motif, theme, characterization, figurative lang.

--Grammar/mechanics: e.g. subject/verb agreement, comma splices.

--Formal public speaking: book talks, persuasive speeches.

• Determine the Essential Learnings for your course using these three criteria.

• Endurance – Does the learning address knowledge and skills that will endure throughout a student’s academic career and professional life?
• Leverage – Does the learning address knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple content areas?
• Necessity – Does the learning provide the essential knowledge and skills that students need to succeed in the next grade level?

• Create Common Formative Assessments for each of your Essential Learnings.

• Which specific students did not demonstrate mastery?
• Which instructional practices proved to be most effective?
• What patterns can we identify from the student mistakes?
• How can we improve this assessment?
• What interventions are needed to provide failed students additional time and support?

• Develop a list of Supplemental Interventions.

• Which interventions are targeted to help failed learners?
• Which interventions are targeted to help intentional nonlearners?
• Are we accurately identifying every student in need of intervention, determining why each student is struggling, and placing each student in the proper intervention?
• How often will we monitor progress and revise student placement?

6. Complete the yellow sections of PLC Feedback Form #1.  Please send me your completed PLC Feedback Form #1 as well as  a list of all of your identified essential learnings from last year by Friday, August  31st.       We need to do this.

7. After you administer your first common assessment and analyze the data you collect, use the attached PLC Progress Report #1 to record and report your results.