This session will focus on leveraging professional learning structures within the school day to improve quality instruction, increase rigor and challenge, and raise student achievement. There are two easy to implement systems any school can use, which will help support student learning and improve instruction: learning walks and a cohort PLC model. During this session, I will share how we utilized learning walks, including preparing our staff, partnering staff members, determining a focus, and collecting and sharing data. The other professional learning structure to support teachers and students is a cohort framework. I will share how our teachers successfully utilized an action learning cycle within a cohort focused on a professional learning topic. Staff members met on a regular basis, collaborated, and shared successes and next steps. I will share our successes and do-overs with topic selection, accountability, and how the cohorts moved forward on their professional learning journey, even with some being resistant. These two frameworks, learning walks and cohorts, allowed us to create and maintain consistent, in house professional learning that moved instruction and student learning forward over the course of two years.
