EDU6945 Social Studies PLCs and
Internees Ian
Lewis
Throughout the course
of the school year, I have had the opportunity to collaboratively engage in the
educational community at Narrows View Intermediate at many levels. Regularly
scheduled, whole-building staff meetings provide opportunities for professional
development, positive behaviors interventions and support (PBIS) learning, and
a wide variety of other topics necessary for a smoothly functioning school.
Professional learning community (PLC) meetings are scheduled on a rotating
system so that teachers responsible for multiple subjects may attend both of
their subject meetings, and I have had the opportunity to attend both social
studies and English PLCs on a regular basis (and occasionally science).
Finally, at the classroom/mentor level, I have been able to collaborate and
reflect with both of my mentor teachers in a variety of ways. In collaborating
at such levels, I have been able to work with peers to better instructional
practices with the net goal of increasing student engagement and success.
While the
whole-building staff-meetings have provided practical experience for an
understanding of the holistic operation of the school, especially with regard
to goals and growth tracking, testing, the PBIS system, and regular updates, I
have particularly enjoyed the close-knit experience of collaborating with the
individual social studies PLC group, as well as my two social studies (and ELA
and science, respectively) mentors. Working at the subject-specific level has
allowed for much in-depth planning, creation and innovation, and reflection and
revision in an effort to further enhance professional practice and student
learning.
Over the course of the
year in the social studies PLC, a main goal has been to track student growth in
a few major areas that were decided as critical for success at the outset of
the year based on student pre-assessment data and the overall social studies
requirements for the year. For example, recognizing the difference between, and
analyzing primary and secondary sources, has been a primary concern for growth
tracking, especially as the culminating classroom based assessment (CBA) on government
policy toward Japanese-American internees requires the knowledge of, and
ability to analyze, a multitude of source material to express and support social
studies perspectives and argue a point. Therefore, PLC meetings regularly include
collaboration around resources and the analysis of student data on progress
with analyzing sources. Before and after tests, the PLCs discuss backward
planning (Image 1) in order to cover necessary content, as well as edit/create tests to
better assess the primary goals for the year (e.g. analyzing sources). Including
more questions that ask students to utilize, make observations about, and
explain/analyze primary and secondary source
material, for example an analysis of a painting and letter of the Whitman Massacre,
would provide students an opportunity to show what they know about the goal of explaining
history using multiple sources. Based on students test results, reflection over
assessment has included revising or reorganizing tests in hope that they are
clearer for future use.
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| Image 1: Example of PLC agenda, in which backward planning employed to rework curriculum map and CBA timeframe. |
In addition to the
specific work with student growth goals, such as those pertaining to sources, the
social studies PLC has provided a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and practice
creating new curriculum. The three social studies teachers have been very
accepting and encouraging of new ideas for lessons and materials. On multiple occasions
I have been able to create/edit curriculum and put it to use in multiple
classrooms with the support of the group. When studying the Native Americans of
Washington state, all in the group were on board to let me take over and teach
all nine seventh grade classes (over the course of two days) about artifacts
and native technology in an experimental, hands-on, and highly
cognitively-demanding learning experience. Worksheets and study guides I have
created have also been utilized by the entire team to augment the existing
curriculum materials. Additionally, new methods for student engagement have
been experimented with the PLC (e.g. “speaker cards” - see Image 3), as well as new
methods for working through the textbook material have been employed.
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| Image 2: Example of my lesson observation notes, and mentor's notes about my lesson, from beginning of year. |
At a finer level, the
work with my mentors has been phenomenal in establishing a sense of community
based on collaborative support and reflection. Throughout the course of the
year, both of my mentor teachers have provided countless, written notes about lesson
observations, all of which were discussed in detail afterward so that positive reflection
and growth could occur (Image 2). Whether positive or negative, notes about delivery of
content, level of student engagement, how to support diverse learners, strategies
for questioning, strategies for correcting assignments, or any other myriad
material, were welcomed as they could be deconstructed, analyzed, and reflected
upon in order to further grow as an educator (Image 3). Conversing with my mentors daily
also has allowed for immense reflection. Lesson debriefs and planning sessions
all continue to contribute to breaking down and analyzing what one does to
better instruction and practice with the ultimate goal of increasing student engagement
and success.
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| Image 3: Series of mentor notes about lessons (blue) with my annotated reflections (black) for future consideration. |
