Collaborative Teams That Work: The Definitive Guide to Cycles of Learning in a PLC

Collaborative Teams That Work is the ultimate guide to excellent collaboration. To support your PLC's path forward, authors Colin Sloper and Gavin Grift outline 12 specific actions that lead to greater, more effective teamwork. Rely on this resource as you set up your collaborative teams, and then refer back to it before, during, and after meetings to maintain focus on the right work.

• Understand the positive effects of collaboration in education.
• Examine the cycle of learning and how it optimizes education for both students and teachers.
• Implement 12 actions to collaborate more effectively.
• Adapt the cycle of learning and collaborative techniques to other types of educational teams.
• See the big picture of collaboration and how the learning cycle fits into the educational system over many years.

Contents:
Preface
Foreword
Introduction

Section 1: Preparing the Learning
Action 1: Map the Learning Pathway
Action 2: Prepare the Preassessment
Action 3: Administer the Preassessment
Action 4: Respond to Identified Student Learning Needs
Action 5: Design the Learning Program

Section 2: Implementing the Learning
Action 6: Implement the Learning Program
Action 7: Monitor the Impact of Instruction
Action 8: Analyze Which Instructional Practices Are Having the Greatest Impact
Action 9: Adopt the Most Impactful Instructional Practices

Section 3: Reviewing the Learning
Action 10: Administer the Postassessment
Action 11: Determine the Team's Impact on Student Learning
Action 12: Action the Team's Learnings

Section 4: Adopting an Alternative Approach
Preparing the Inquiry
Action 1: Identify the Learning Issue
Action 2: Prepare the Preassessment
Action 3: Administer the Preassessment
Action 4: Respond to Identified Student Learning Needs
Action 5: Design Actions to Address the Learning Issue
Implementing the Inquiry
Action 6: Implement the Learning Actions
Action 7: Monitor the Impact of Actions
Action 8: Analyze Which Actions Are Having the Greatest Impact
Reviewing the Learning
Action 9: Administer the Postassessment
Action 10: Determine the Team's Impact on Student Learning
Action 11: Action the Team's Learnings

Section 5: Putting It All Together

Conclusion
Appendix A
Appendix B
References

Colin Sloper has been a teacher, assistant principal, and principal in government schools since 1983. In the course of his career, he has been involved in the establishment of five new state government schools, including his time as principal of Pakenham Springs Primary School in Victoria, Australia. Through his leadership and collaborative work with the school community, Pakenham Springs became the first recognized model of a PLC in Australia.

As a school leader, Colin has specialized in growing new schools by building a learning-focused culture throughout the school community. His leadership has emphasized student engagement while achieving substantial results for both the students and teachers he has served. Colin's schools are highly sought after as sites of professional learning for staff across all educational sectors.

Gavin Grift is the founder and CEO of Grift Education. His passion, commitment, humor, and highly engaging style have made him one of Australia's most in-demand presenters.

He has held numerous educational leadership positions throughout his career and led the development of PLC networks across Australia, culminating in the establishment of the Centre for Professional Learning Communities, informed by the work and legacies of Richard and Rebecca DuFour.

Gavin is coauthor of numerous articles and best-selling books, including Five Ways of Being: What Learning Leaders Think, Do, and Say Every Day (2020) and the revised Australian edition of Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work® (2018).

Find Gavin online at grifteducation.com, on Twitter and LinkedIn @GGrift, and on Facebook @grifteducation.