MS+Language+Arts

A. CARS data- Each individual teacher is responsible for compiling their CARS data. We will each find our average missed for each category of skills (add up number wrong and divide by the number of students who took it going down the column). Then report average score to Kim for each category. Then we will review the data as a group to see what we need to focus more instruction on next year. B. SMART GOAL DATA (GLB data) - Each teacher needs to input their own benchmark scores to the Google Spreadsheet in order to complete the SMART Goal and Technology Goal for the year.
 * Agenda and Minutes**
 * 4/1/15**

A. Discussed lexile levels for class book vs. read aloud vs. independent level. It should be at their instruction for independent work. It should be grade level for class read or a teacher aloud. Keep in mind the content can raise the text complexity of it. B. Wonders/Journeys/Traits - Wonders/Journeys is being piloted in elementary. No decisions have been made. Traits has been purchased- teacher book, no consumables. C. Not rescheduling Read 180 due to budget.
 * Minutes**
 * 3/11/15**

A. Jim Strayer from Read 180/Scholastic
 * Agenda**
 * 2/25/15**

A. Discuss fluency presentation for Friday's staff meeting with Marian Raum and Mr. Hotek. B. Discussed possibly sending parents tips about reading strategies parents can practice with their student at home (weekly tips or blurbs?)
 * Minutes**
 * 2/18/15**

A. Marian discussing fluency B. Tech plan C. CARS data if everyone has had a chance to give CARS assessment
 * Agenda**
 * 2/18/15**

A. Brings CARS data to do what we have before finishing up the next set during third trimester
 * Agenda**
 * 2/11/15**

A. Review Norms B. Communication between buildings of changes to reading materials. C. Smart Goal Data- we haven't had time to give the CARS test yet - planning to do it first two weeks of third trimester and will then work with that data. D. Discussion of writing programs and communicating with the teachers for next year.
 * Minutes**
 * 2/4/15**

A**.** Share Smart Goal Data
 * Agenda**
 * 2/4/15**


 * Minutes**
 * 1/28/15**
 * A.** Review Norms.
 * B.** Discussed having a Read 180 representative coming. Scheduled a meeting for February 11 during PLC time.

A**.** Share Smart Goal Data
 * Agenda**
 * 1/28/15**

1. We believed that it was between a 2 and a 3. Students were engaged but teach spent a lot of time with direct instruction. We like the bottom of 3, but the top of 2. We also think if we would get to watch more of this lesson, it would be a solid 3. We just think that the video cut off before we really got to watch the students got to take the learning into their own hands.
 * Minutes**
 * 1/21/15**
 * A.** Review Norms.
 * B.** Watched Video and Discussed

A**.** Watch Video and Discuss
 * Agenda**
 * 1/20/15**


 * Minutes**
 * 1/14/15**
 * A.** Review Norms.
 * B.** Technology Issues - Couldn't Access Video
 * C.** Data to share - Discussed where we are in CARS testing.
 * D.** Andy came in to update on movement of schedules.

A**.** Re-do accelerated rubric. B. Watch video.
 * Agenda**
 * 1/7/15**

A**.** Mr. Hotek came to tell us about schedule changes with sixth grade DIADS and the effects it would have on the 7th and 8th grade sections. B. Discussion about Google Classroom... LA teachers are using it but needed to problem solve turn-in issues. C. Looked at rubrics to accelerate kids.
 * 12/17/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Re-grouping MTSS students based on decoding survey results.
 * 12/10/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Analyze decoding survey.
 * 12/3/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. View Walk-Through Video C. Analyze next CARS data.
 * 12/3/14**
 * Agenda**

**__Language Arts__** A. Go Over Department Issues. B. C.
 * 11/19/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Re-do writing rubric C. Bring and analyze next CARS data.
 * 11/19/14**
 * Agenda**

A. Review Norms. B. Curriculum Alignment Discussion. C. Finished adding CARS data for our first assessment for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. D. Began pulling rubrics to rewrite the writing rubric.
 * 11/5/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Re-do writing rubric C. Finish CARS data assessment
 * 10/29/14**
 * Agenda**

A. Review Norms. B. Did not get to the writing rubric. Our vertical team meeting ran over. C. Began going over CARS data. Finished sixth grade. Did half of seventh grade and half of eighth grade.
 * 10/22/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Re-do writing rubric C. Cars Data Assessment
 * 10/22/14**
 * Agenda**

A. Review Norms. B. Discuss the value of DOL and possible ways to teach. C. Mark came in to discuss data. D. Began work on writing rubric.
 * 10/15/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms. B. Re-do writing rubric
 * 10/15/14**
 * Agenda**

A. Reviewed Norms B. Data Wall: Should we be using MAP, AimsWeb, IA Assessment, etc. to create a data wall rather than the Google Doc we were originally thinking? We are going to start bringing in our weekly paragraph writing to practice what we all believe a 1, 2, 3, 4 really is. Then, we will bring in our paragraphs already assessed. We will focus on specific components related to grammar and mechanics. We will also do CARS assessments ten times a year, to be completed before IA Assessment. Our new data wall for the reading components would be a CARS Analysis spreadsheet. C. Went over how to fix our mid-term grading on infinite campus.
 * 10/1/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms B. Learn how to set up Google Drive/Doc files and folders. C. Review Infinite Campus grade book needs to prepare for PTC.
 * 10/1/14**
 * Agenda**

A. Review Norms B. The alphabet, life skills, dictionary skills, use context clues. C. When they can successfully look up a vocabulary word in the dictionary; using formative and summative assessments regarding our vocabulary work. D. Keep practicing. E. Hold onto the life skills that they may know, as well as advance on to new skills - building on what they know.
 * 9/24/14**
 * Minutes**

A. Review Norms B. What do we expect our students to learn? C. How will we know they are learning? D. How will we respond when they don't learn? E. How will we respond if they already know it?
 * 9/24/14**
 * Agenda**

__**9/10/14**__ A. Review Norms B. Parking lot issues C. Tools for Improvement- focus on our learning targets for consistency in grade levels. D. Get started on our data graph.
 * Agenda**

A. Reviewed Norms- members present were Heather, Abby, Kim, Ann B. MTSS clean up of issues. Set goals, date changes, etc. Molly McCaulley stopped by to give us information on TAG kids. C. We did not get to this due to spending so much time in our MTSS meeting. We had computer issues and other problems that was the cause of the lengthy meeting. Plus, we were missing Laura and Stacy today. D. We did not get started on our graph since Laura was gone and she has the graphing knowledge.
 * Minutes**

==All of the necessary forms are found on the "PLC Information and Tools Page" of this Wiki - (see link on the right). Most forms have been updated for the current school year so please use them when completing your work this year. If you need any assistance, let Dr. Cooksley know! Thanks==

__**2014-2015 PLC Information**__
__**Our 2014-2015 PLC Norms/Collective Commitments**__

Team Norms: 1. Mindful of time 2. Active listening 3. Accept differences 4. Trust each other 5. Be engaged 6. Agree to disagree 7. Hold each other up

__**Our 2014-2015 SMART Goal and Action Plan**__

__**The strategies you have listed are good strategies. However, on the action Plan I am interested in what you will be doing during PLC time to support the goal. For example, I would like to see things like..."We will analyze our data to determine what interventions will take place in the classroom." "We will share in learning about new strategies through articles etc."**__

__**Data Wall Analysis**__ We will be compiling a graph to record the standard score for each GLB for every student in each of the three grades. We will use this information to drive our curriculum decisions. We will also benefit from sharing this information with the with the next year's teachers.

This is a good Data Wall. - Andy

__**Agendas**__ __**8/18/14 Meeting**__

A- Update the norms for our meetings. B- Choose a smart goal for the year 2014-15. C- Work on our action plan for 2014-15.

__**8/19/14 Meeting**__ A - Do some team sharing to build relationships with our new members. B- Finish our Action Plan. C- Discuss possible options for data collection: what data to collect and how to best record that data.

__**8/20/14 Meeting**__ A - Decide on what information will be most beneficial to gather and what format to use in collecting this data. B- Decide on our Technology plans, do we want to work individually or as a PLC. C- Finish up all the required tasks and any issues that have come up in the first few days of school.

__**8/27/14 Meeting**__: A.-Review norms with the group. B- Review and make changes to the Action Plan based on the comments received. C- Go over the information from the PLC facilitator meeting with Dr. Cooksley, discuss changes to our PLC meetings such as: creating agenda for the next meeting.

__**9/3/14 Meeting:**__ A. - Assign roles for each team member. B.- Review Norms for our group. C.- Take the 5 Minute Personality Test / discuss the results and how this could affect our discussions. D.- Review what is considered Tight / Loose for our PLC discussions. E.- Review purpose for our meetings, etc.

__**Minutes**__ __**8/18/14**__ Members present: Ann Roberts, Abby Peterson, Stacy Walston, Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel

A - We reviewed the norms from last year and agreed that we wanted to keep them the same as last year. We will work harder to keep on track and keep disruptions to minimum. We have agreed to keep any items that are not on the agenda to the end of the meeting instead of starting with them. B -We worked on revising our Smart Goal for 2014-15. C - Started working on our Action Plan for 2014-15.

__**8/19/14**__ Members present: Ann Roberts, Abby Peterson, Stacy Walston, Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Heather Hoven

A- We introduced ourselves and got to know Heather. She has suffered the loss of her brother on her first day of her new job. B- We completed our Action Plan and uploaded it to the Wiki. C- We began discussing several different options for data collection and found that our smart goal may not match what we want to track, more discussion to follow.

__**8/20/14**__ Members present: Ann Roberts, Abby Peterson, Stacy Walston, Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Heather Hoven, Marian Raum and Mary Cooksly for a bit. A- After much discussion, we decided to gather the standard score on each GLB, we see this as very helpful information for teachers to use the next year. B- We will be doing our Technology Plans as a PLC. We will be working on our google doc skills to hopefully prepare us for the 1:1 initiative. C- We also talked some about our MTSS materials that we will be using this year to improve fluency. D- Heather Hoven had some questions about how we are to integrate what we read in our classrooms with what she is doing in second chance.

__**8/27/14**__ A- We decided to reword our Norms to draw attention to them. B- We looked over the Action Plan again and made additions to include the things that we will be doing our PLC meetings to improve instruction in our classes. C- We also reviewed a few of the materials that we were given at our PLC Facilitators meeting and discussed how we could incorporate some of them, we will be further discussing these ideas.

__**9/3/14**__ A. Kim: facilitator, Ann: on-task manager, Abby: scribe, Stacy: time-keeper, Laura: tech-support, Heather: cheerleader B. We reviewed norms. C. Ann and Abby were lions (authoritative, takes charge); Heather was an otter (good at networking, friendly, a cheerleader); Stacy was a golden retriever (loyal, good listener, empathetic) Kim was a beaver (accurate, has high standards, task-oriented); Laura went to swim practice. D. Reviewed Tight and Loose. Question: We aren't allowed to go to other meetings during PLC time, yet there was an AFLAC meeting scheduled at 2:45 today during PLC time. If we are expected to follow tight and loose, shouldn't administration? E. Purpose of PLC: Spend our time on coming up with same "I Can" statements, learn about new teaching strategies, analyze GLB scores, discuss the Tools for Improvement rubric and ways to follow, and bring in the instructional strategist the second half of the year. We need to check with Laura to figure out how to do our data graph. F. New format for agenda and minutes. Both will be in same area so we aren't scrolling back and forth.

__**Questions for Administration?**__

See point D in 9/3/14 minutes.

=__ 2013-2014 PLC Information __=

__**Our 2013-2014 Norms**__ Team Norms: 1. Start and end on time 2. Listen respectfully 3. Honor diverse perspectives 4. Respect confidentiality 5. Stay on task 6. Agree to disagree 7. Be supportive of each other

__**Our 2013-2014 SMART Goal and Action Plan**__ Both SMART Goals are well done! I am anxious to see your data walls when you begin charting. (Dr. C)

SCR - Nice Team Goal - Good job, very rigorous. Andy

__**Data Wall Analysis**__

__**Agendas**__

A. Meet with Tom to discuss students who are currently not on an IEP, but should be in a team taught class next year B. Data Wall- Add GLB data for 1st and 2nd trimester C. Discuss curriculum and upcoming units
 * __4/2/14__**
 * __MEET IN ANN'S ROOM TODAY__**

A. Go over the reading conference rubric B. Discuss pros/cons of Iowa Assessments C. DLT - Ann will share the additions on the walk-through template. D. Data Wall - Add GLB data for 1st and 2nd trimester. E. March 24 - Discuss what our goal will be for that day.
 * __3/12/14__**
 * __MEET IN ANN'S ROOM TODAY__**

__**1/22/14**__ A. - Discussed parent contacts that have been occurring recently because of negative student behaviors and truancy B. - Discussed strategies to change negative behaviors and shared our observations of students to keep an eye on based on changes in their behaviors/attendance/academic struggles C.- Examined and discussed Aimsweb scores and RTI strengths and weaknesses

__**1/08/14:**__ A. - Make sure we are all on the same page as far as what grades and what point values to include on mid term grades__**.**__ B. - Molly gave out materials and talked to us about Young Writers and deadlines. C.- Talked about how to change lessons plans b/c of the two snow days.

__**12/04/13:**__ A. - Continue adding GLB scores to our data wall ( google doc). I would love to see you data wall! - also - if you could update your minutes from December so I can keep track of what you are working on or if you have questions, that would be appreciated!!! (Dr. C)

__**11/13/13:**__ A.- Make sure all same grade teachers are up to date on which grades need to be entered in for the end of the trimester. B.- Discuss which GLB's we will be regarding a 1-4 on our google doc and make sure everyone knows which scores we need to bring with them to be entered next week. C.- Go over the Tools for Improvement doc. and read and the discuss the scenarios as a group. __**11/06/13:**__ __**MEET IN ABBY'S ROOM TODAY**__

A.- Update Book Fair results ( since we didn't get to this last time)

B.- Finish the google doc spread sheet to record data, discuss exactly what data needs to be included.

C.- Talk about the Tools for Improvement information and how we should be using it in our classrooms.

D.- Remind everyone that we each need to be doing some Peer Observations and reporting our findings to PLC.

__**10/30/13:**__ A. - Update team on Book Fair results

B.- Discuss how we want to set up our google doc spread sheet to record data from each GLB taught.

C.- Remind everyone of the importance of being consistent and clean with our data to ensure that our GLB data is clear and true.
 * __10/16/13: __**

 B.- Marian will share Aimsweb goal setting expectations and directions for inputting individual student goals.
__**09/25/13:**__ A. - Discuss MAP test problems and w hat to do to correct them.

B.- Remind everyone that they need to do a peer observation some during the year and we will need to discuss as a part of PLC.

C.- Discuss the paragraph rubric that Lang. Arts did on the Professional Development day that Mary questioned.

D.- Continue discussing which tests and GLBs we are going to use per each grade level for recording.

__**09/18/13:**__ No PLC Building Choice - Faculty Meeting

__**09/11/13:**__ A. Finalize how we want to set up the google doc to record student scores of each GLB.

B. Give some new information on the way Scholastic is promoting the Book Fair and new items being offered this year.

C. Update everyone on RTI planning is going.

__**09/04/13:**__ A. Ann Roberts will give an update on how we are to receive DLT minutes this year.

B. Update the group on the RTI process and answer any questions.

C. Talk about how we want to do our data wall this year. Start putting together a form ( google doc?) that we can use to gather data.

__**Minutes**__


 * __4/2/14: Members Present:__** Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaulley, Stacy Walston (Abby met with Mollie Roach, Kim is absent today)

A. We compiled a list of students who could benefit from team-taught instruction and forwarded the list to Tom

B. Worked on completing data Wall- Add GLB data for 1st and 2nd trimester

C. Discussed curriculum and upcoming units-Ann and Laura discussed 8th grade curriculum, Stacy and Molly discussed 6th grade curriculum

__**3/12/14: Members present:**__ Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaulley, Stacy Walston, Kari Ohnemus- stayed to understand reading conference rubric while subbing for Kim (Abby met with Mollie Roach, Kim is on vacation) A. Went over the reading conference rubric and book logs used in 7th and 8th grade

B. Discuss pros/cons of Iowa Assessments-If teachers are free (1st hour prep) could we split large classes? Could we test our own kids, in our subject area? Need to make sure that all students have a calculator before testing. Kids having multiple readers may be confusing/hard for kids. Explore other time management/schedule options.

C. DLT - Ann shared the additions on the walk-through template-Template seems more user friendly

D. Data Wall - Add GLB data for 1st and 2nd trimester. Discussed purpose and goals. Decided to focus on GLB Data Doc. rather than Individual GLB Documents.

E. March 24 - Discuss what our goal will be for that day-Didn't get to discuss because we met for RTI the second hour of PLC.

__**1/08/14:**__ A.- __**11/06/13: Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Abby Peterson, Stacy Walston, Molly McCaully, Amanda Hoffman

A.- We did not talk about book fair results AGAIN, so never mind it's over for this year.

B.- Andy came in to discuss the meeting that the RtI group is going to attend next week at the board room. He also talked to us about some changes to who will be doing the progress monitoring and when we will be testing on a regular basis.

C.- We continued to discuss RtI and student progress. We had some classroom management issues and instructional strategies.

__**10/30/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston A.- We did not get to talk about Book Fair results at all.

B.- We briefly discussed how we would set up our google doc spread sheet and it was decided that we would wait for Laura to help do this.

C. - We had a spirited discussion on what materials should be used to record grades and how we are teaching vocabulary. What, if anything, was determined from that discussion?? (Dr. C)

D.- Andy Hotek brought a visitor from the Dept. of Education to observe and she asked a few questions about our PLC work and the standards based grading. A.- Dr. Mary Cooksley joined our PLC today to discuss MAP Reports, and how we can monitor our students progress as well as set individual student RIT score goals.
 * __ 10/16/13 Members present: __** Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Abby Peterson

B.- As a group we looked through handouts and practiced pulling student reports. We questioned why we are unable to use this information as our school-wide screener. Answer: We have no way of doing regular progress monitoring if we used only the MAP score as a screener.

C.- Marian discussed how we plan on using goal setting similarly to the math department’s rate of improvement formula. However, the Elementary is doing goal setting differently. We have some concerns about the consistency within RTI between Elementary and Middle School. Dr. Cooksley commented that the Elementary cannot change their goal setting strategy this year, but may consider matching our formula next year.

D.- Marian has decided that she will visit each of our rooms individually during our prep periods next week to explain how to set and input goals into the Aimsweb system.

__**09/25/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston A.- Ann, Laura and Kim have started MAP testing and have had many, many problems, so we were giving tips to Molly and Stacy to help them when it is their time to test.

B.- Kim reminded everyone that we all need to do two peer observations per year. We talked about if they need to be just in our own department and Kim said that she did not think so. Kim also reminded the group to be ready to report their observations back to the group.

C.- We talked some about the paragraph rubric. Laura made the point that we need to look at all the components and that the students will have the rubric for more specific information.

D.- Andy came in to discuss his conference and what he learned about RTI, we also had to fill Andy in on what we have been doing during our RTI planning sessions. We talked about how we identified students and placed them in groups. We shared the rubric that we put together to help us identify students.

__**09/11/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston ( Abby Peterson and Molly Roach met regarding Second Chance reading)

A. - Andy came in and we explained to him how we are setting up our google doc, one for each grade level with all students alphabetized. We will record the standard code ( 1,2,3, or 4) for each GLB. We will use this information to drive our curriculum and teaching of each GLB. Also, this will be a valuable resource to pass to the teachers of the next year.

B.- Book Fair will be run by Kim Lowry and Abby Peterson this year. Scholastic is now offering online purchases and many new titles for e-readers.

C.- We talked about the chart that the RTI group is putting together to identify which students will be in each group.

__**09/04/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Abby Peterson, Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Vicky LeMay, Molly McCaully, Amanda Hoffman, Dana Hols, Stacy Walston

A. - Ann Roberts and Marian Raum talked about the importance of reading the DLT minutes in order to stay up with what is going on in the DLT meetings. Ann and Marian addressed some questions about the minutes that came from Mary today. We talked about the information Mary sent about what to talk about during Parent / Teacher conferences.

B. - We also talked about why we did not move a 7th grade teacher up to teach another section of 8th grade since the 8th grade classes are so large and Ann is currently teaching one section of 7th grade that only has nine students. Amanda reported that she and Tom had been looking at this already and that there is really no way to change that during this school year.

C.- Marian gave us a report on where we are with Aimsweb testing as of today. She reported that she has finished with 91% of all OMS students completed. It is looking like we will have roughly 24% of our students in an RTI intervention. We also discussed some concerns about fluency versus comprehension. We also discussed concerns about testing EVERY Friday. Will students learn enough to show growth in just 4 days of only a 30 minute class? Will there be enough time to actually test every student in one 30 minute time period?

D.- We discussed a variety of ways to set up a spread sheet to record GLB scores for each student throughout the year. This would be our data wall to drive discussions on curriculum and teaching methods. It would also give us valuable data as students move from 6th to 7th and 7th to 8th grades. This would be the same information that we need to report out on at the end of each year. We will ask for help from the technology vertical on the best ways to set up this google doc.

E. - Andy came in to talk more about RTI and what we were finding from the numbers. We may need to add more teachers to teach RTI groups if the numbers warrant it. We discussed what we will do if a Band or Orchestra student is identified as needing RTI. Andy told us that he has spoken to the band and orchestra teachers to make decisions on how to share these students. We talked about needing some time to plan with Marian Raum after she has finished testing everyone, this is a problem because she teaches TAG during our 4th period meeting time.

__**//Archived Information from 2012-2013//**__

=__2012-2013 PLC Information __=

__**Our 2012-2013 Norms**__
Team Norms: 1. Start and end on time 2. Listen respectfully 3. Honor diverse perspectives 4. Respect confidentiality 5. Stay on task 6. Agree to disagree 7. Be supportive of each other

__**Our SMART Goal for 2012-2013**__


Gang, You have chosen a very rigorous goal. Way to go! - Andy

__**Our Action Plan for 2012-2013**__


Great SMART Goal and Action Plan LA!!!! I look forward to seeing the Learning Targets in all of your classrooms!!! (Mary)

__**Agendas - Please label you agendas by date so they are easy to locate**__
__**Wed. 8/21/13**__ A.- Finish the Action Plan for this year. B.- Work on the Individual plan for this year. C.- Finalize Aimsweb plans for testing to begin next week.

__**Tues. 8/ 20/13**__ A.- Review norms from last year. B.- Write Smart Goals for this yer. C.- Write Action Plans for this year.

__**Wed. 5/15/13**__ A. Complete the required reports for end of the year. __**Wed. 5/8/2013**__ A.- Give an update of the PLC facilator meeting and what info everyone needs to be prepared to discuss next week. B. - Put together our presentation to take to the school board meeting. C. - If time look over some of the testing data that is now posted, discuss.

__**Wed. 5/1/13**__ A.- We need to decide how and when we will have the remaining prize contests for the magazine fund raiser. B. - Peer observation report and discussion. C.- Talk about how we are going to organize our presentation to the board. D. - Ann and Kim will report to the group about what we learned at the Waukee site visit. More discussion on RTI and how we think it should look at OMS. E.- Break out to our classrooms to complete the survey that Mary sent to us.

__**Wed. 4/24/13**__ A. - Finish up magazine sales items; all order forms turned in? We need to compile a list of all students that sold 20 or more, any other things to clean up? B.- Peer observation report from Kim Lowry. C. - Cover any questions on RTI and the site visit next week and go over the RTI flip charts that were put in our mailboxes. D.- Review materials from Mary to use with identified students next year during RTI time.

__**Wed. 4/17/13**__

A.- Review magazine sales: how is it going, what needs to be done. B. - Peer observation report from Abby Peterson. C. - Who would like to do the RTI site visit on April 30? D.- Review and discuss materials from Mary to use with identified students next year during RTI time.

__**Wed. 4/10/13**__ A. - Put together an agenda for magazine sales collection. B. - Remind everyone that they need to be doing a peer observation and what it needs to cover. C.- Give an update on the Aimsweb training. D.- Review the information that Mary sent for us to review.

__**Wed. 4/3/13**__ A.- Finalize magazine sale plans B. Discuss lesson plans, make sure we are all on the same track with Mythology. C.- Continue RTI book discussion.

__**Wed. 3/27/13**__ A. - Organize the use of computers. B.- Talk about issues dealing with the magazine sales C.- Time for lesson planning.

__**Wed. 3/20/13**__ A. - Ross Hemsley coming to discuss the magazine sales B. - More discussion on RTI book. C. - Identify students for 7th period intervention.

__**Wed. 3/13/13 SPRING BREAK**__

__**Wed. 3/6/13**__ A. - Discuss RTI book and how it will relate to our school and our dept. B.- Discuss students needs and test scores. C.- Time for lesson planning.

__**Wed. 1/23/13**__ A.- Discuss how we see RTI for the next year. B.- Work on the RTI book. C.- Organize students for 7th intervention.

__**Wed. 1/16/13**__ A.- Andy McGuire from George Daily Auditorium will be here to discuss visiting our classes to introduce our students to the theater camp. B.- Due dates for Young Writers Conference. C.- Mary Cooksley and Andy Hotek will be here to share information about screening tests options that the elem. is looking into for k-8. D.- More discussion on RTI and what it is and ideas on how it might look at OMS.

__**Wed. 1/9/13**__ A.- Discuss which students to serve during 7th period targeted intervention. B. - Discussion with grade levels on which assignments to include in mid-term grades / plans for the next unit. C.- Discuss how we want to cover the RTI book. D. - Update the group on the Dec. RTI conference. E. - Remind everyone to take a few minutes to take the PLC wiki before Fri.

__**Wed. 12/19/12**__ A.- Meet with Patricia in the Media Center regarding AEA online resources. B.- Time to work in departments on information learned about online resources.

__**Wed. 12/12/12**__ A.-Discuss RTI book. B.-Discuss students needed for 7th period enrichment.

__**Wed. 12/05/12**__ A. - Discuss RTI book. B.- Discuss students needed for 7th period enrichment. C.- Review information for data wall.

__**Wed. 11/28/12**__ A.- Decide as a PLC how we want to cover the RTI book. B,- Share our lists of which students we need to see for 7th period enrichment. C.- Discuss some needs of IEP students served in regular classes. D.- Ask Molly and Abby how we want to handle books read in both classes.

__**Wed. 11/07/12**__ A- Andy to talk to us about DLT form "Tool for Improvement". B- Look at and discuss MAP test results. C- Share curriculum plans for the next few weeks.

__**Wed. 10/31/12**__ A.- Share kids needed for 7th period. B.-What skills need to be covered in enrichment. C.- Share data from CARS test and short stories.

__**Wed. 10/17/12**__ A. - Review BLT minutes; discuss if we feel we are using our PLC time wisely, 7th period changes and Media Center amnesty day. B. - Share data from CARS test #3, other GLB tests. C.- Share examples sent by Mary of types of Data Walls. D.- Update on book fair, how did we do?, what will 6th grade do with the profit money? E.- Discuss 'Targeted Intervention" how it is going, anything specifically that teachers want me to be working on? F.- Determine a time for grade level teachers to meet to plan further units.

__**Wed. 10/3/12**__ A. - Review notes from the committee of teachers that are revising our 7th period enrichment time. B. - Share Data - What was your discussion like around data? What conclusions did your PLC come up with? What instructional changes will occur as a result? (Dr. C.) C. - Discuss which tests we will offer retakes on and what will the retake test look like? D. - Book Fair - any news, anything that needs to be done?

__**Wed. 9/26/12**__ A.- Review norms B.- Share how to use graphs and some graph ideas that we have put together. C.- Identify students for targeted intervention during 7th period.

__**Wed. 9/19/12**__ A.- Review norms - remind everyone that we need open and honest communication to work well together. B.- Discuss the upcoming Book Fair briefly - is everything ready? C.- Discuss how we want to do a Data Wall (using info. from CARS tests and GLB's) remind everyone to use collect data. D.- Review the data collection forms that Ann and Kim have been working on, will they work? any changes needed? E.- Time for each grade level to plan for upcoming units. F.- Remind and discuss how we are using the Daily Learning Goals - whats working? any problems?

__**Wed. - 8/29/12**__ A. - Discuss who will be attending each meeting. B. - Review and update Norms. C. - Ask if anyone would be willing to take on the job of updating the WiKi. D.- Give an update of info. from the PLC facilitator meeting. E. - Discuss goal setting for MAP tests. F.- Remind everyone to post and refer to GLB's and Daily Learning targets.

__**Minutes - Please label your minutes by date so they are easy to locate.**__
__**Wed. 8/21/13: Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston, Abby Peterson, Molly McCaully, Polly Ehret, Jenn Stout, Molly Roach. Joined later: Andy Hotek and Mariam Raum. A.- We discussed at length the best way to administer the Aimsweb tests and developed a schedule for getting the tests administered. This has been a HUGE issue. __**Tues. 8/20/2013: Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston, Abby Peterson, Molly McCaully, Polly Ehret, Jenn Stout. A. We reviewed the norms from last year and agreed that we would keep them the same. We did discuss a few that we need to improve on for this year and we will TRY!! B.- We all agreed to keep the same Smart Goal for this year. C.- We began working on __**Wed. 5/15/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Molly McCaully, Abby Peterson A. - __**Wed. 5/1/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Abby Peterson, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston A.- We started talking about some of the things we saw at the Waukee site visit. B.- Mary brought in some materials for us to view that we might be able to use with our tier 3 kids. We also talked about what she would like to have us present to the board. More discussion about the Waukee site visit and Iowa Assessment scores. Abby and Molly talked about the second chance reading presentation. C.- Ann Roberts shared about her peer observation. She observed Abby Peterson's class. Ann observed Abby doing individual book talks with students. Ann was impressed that all students were quietly reading as soon as the bell rang. Kids reviewed vocabulary and Abby read a story to them. We had a great discussion on which way is better, having kids read along with a copy of the book or have the teacher read to them. D.- At 4:00, we went back to our rooms to take the survey.

__**Wed. 4/24/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Molly McCaully, Abby Peterson, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Laura Brummel and a Wm. Penn student observer__**.**__ A.- We talked about the magazine sales and worked on which students were still missing order forms. B - Kim Lowry reported on her peer observation on Paige Pierson's room. We talked about the pros of small group work and ways to use it in our specific units. C.- Our discussion was interrupted by Tom Hogenson, bringing in the results of the Iowa Assessment tests and the remainder of the PLC time was spent looking at the scores of our students and comparing them to last years scores. We used HEART to access student scores from last year.

__**Wed. 4/17/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Laura McCaully, Ann Roberts, Abby Peterson, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Noel Hoover ( student from Wm.) A.- Discussed the magazine sales and discussed ways to improve sales and the procedure of collecting orders. B.- Abby Peterson reported on her peer observation of Ann Roberts. She shared how non-fiction and technology were incorporated to enhance the learning of a realistic fiction book, __Peak__. Students were engaged and asking higher order thinking questions comparing the video to the book. We had a good discussion on ways to get kids more engaged. She mentioned how Ann incorporated the Lit. terms in her questioning and we discussed ways to include these in our lessons. Kim Lowry and Ann Roberts will be reporting on peer observations next week. We also reviewed the schedule of presenting dates for the rest of the year. C.- Ann Roberts and KIm Lowry agreed to attend the RTI school visit in Waukee on April 30. D.- We also talked about some problems with the MAP test and how to trouble shoot some of these issues. We all agreed that having the Iowa Assessment tests and the MAP test so close together. Our kids did not take the MAP test as seriously as they should, a huge concern for all of us. E. - Andy came in to talk to us about RTI and what we are going to be looking for at the Waukee visit. He talked about what he envisions RTI to look like. We also discussed Aimsweb and how it works.

__**Wed. 4/10/13 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Molly McCaully, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Abby Peterson, Veronica Castro (Wm Penn student) Callie Henry ( Wm. Penn Student) A.- We put together a rotation schedule for collecting magazine sales. B.- I reminded everyone that we all need to do a peer observation and we put together a schedule of who will present the findings of their observations. C.- I talked for a min. about the Aimsweb training. D. - Molly reported to the group that Mary wants us to present to the school board in May, we had not heard that. E.- We tried to go over the information that Mary wanted us to review, but ran out of time. Molly and Abby had to leave for substitute training and we also had grade level meetings at 3:30.

__**WED. 4/3/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Molly McCaully, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston, Jenn Stout ( left at 3:30 for Spec. Ed) Abby Peterson ( came at 3:45) A. - Passed out Mag. sales materials. Coordinated due dates etc. B.- Andy came in to discuss how close we are on common assessments, grading, benchmarks, etc. He also gave an update of the DLT meeting and asked for a Lang. Arts rep. to be on the team for next year. We talked about the inclusion meeting that Andy had been to. He also mentioned that changes may be coming to our Lock Down procedures as a result of the ALICE training that district members attended. C.- Stacy and Kim talked about lesson plans for the Mythology unit. D.- Abby Peterson reported that she and Mollie Roach worked on making their critical persuasive writing align with their 1-4 rubric. E.- Laura and Kim discussed when they would organize materials to be handed out to all teachers for the mag. sales kickoff that is scheduled for 4/9/13.

__**Wed. 3/27/13**__ Members Present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaully, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston, Abby Peterson A.- We discussed some pressing student issues. B.- Laura and Ann organized our use of computers. C.- We discussed more issues concerning the magazine sales. Adjourned for Staff Meeting

__**Wed. 3/20/13**__ Members Present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaully, Abby Peterson, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston A.- Ross Hemsley came to speak to us about the Magazine Fund Raiser that Language Arts will be running this year.

__**Wed. 3/13/13 SPRING BREAK**__

__**Wed. 3/6/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully A.-Identified students for 7th Intervention B.- Worked on RTI book

__**Wed. 2/27/13 SNOW DAY**__

__**Wed. 2/20/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Laura Brummel, Abby Peterson A. - Andy was here to talk about I pads vs. laptops. AR Reading grade or no grade, what should we call AR? B. - Worked on end of tri grades to make sure we were consistent in our grading.

__**Wed. 2/13/13**__ Members present: Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully A.-Laura gave an update of the technology conference that she attended. B.- Looked up Finding Dulcinea and Today's Meet.com and using Twitter in the classroom.

__**Wed. 2/6/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston., Abby Peterson, Molly McCaully A.- Took time for lesson planning. B.- More discussion over RTI book.

__**Wed. 1/30/13 SNOW DAY**__

__**Wed. 1/23/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Mallory Sturtz (student teacher), Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Ann Roberts A.- We discussed different scheduling options for implementing RTI in our building next year. B.- We discussed some of the questions that Andy gave us to use in regards to the RTI book. C.- Identified kids for 7th period interevntion time.

__**Wed. 1/16/13**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Mallory Sturtz (student teacher), Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Molly McCaully, Polly Ehret, Tina Andrews, Jenn Stout, Carmen Matanane, Jack Arthur. A.- Andy McGuire came and talked about coming to our classrooms to talk about his program at George Daily. We put together a schedule for him to come to Molly and Stacy on Mon. and to Ann, Kim and Laura's rooms on Tues. B.- Molly reported that the due date for Young Readers will be Jan. 25. 7th graders will go on March 5. C.- Andy and Mary outlined the pros and cons of 3 different Universal Screeners. D.- We ended the day with more discussion on RTI and we definitely need more time to learn about the RTI concept.

Question: Since you are identifying students for intervention 7th hour.... do you look at the common data from those students and assess what is working and what other strategies might work for them? Perfect data wall idea (Dr. C .)

__**Wed. 1/9/13** Members present: Kim Lowry, Mallory Sturtz, Laura Brummel, Jenn Stout, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Molly McCaully, Polly Erhet, Rikki ?__ A. - Compiled a list of students to serve for 7th period intervention. B.- Discussed which units to include for mid term grades. C.- We started to discuss how we wanted to cover the RTI book, but we will need to continue this discussion. D.- We started to cover what was learned at the conference in Dec., more to come after the BLT meeting next week. E.- I did remind everyone to be sure to take the PLC survey before Fri.

__**Wed. 12/19/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Jenn Stout A.-The entire staff met in the Media Center with Patricia. She gave info. on the AEA online resources. B.- Language Arts dept. met to review sites and discussed ways to use these in our curriculum. We especially liked the online thesaurus and found many ways this would beneficial.

__**Wed. 12/12/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Laura Brummel, Molly McCaully. A.- Discussed lesson plans for next few weeks. B.- Students identified for 7th period intervention. C.-Last hour to grade level meetings.

A.- Talked about RTI book. We decided to work through the book together, but did not do much because we had many missing members. B.- Students were identified for 7th period enrichment periods. C.- Did not discuss data walls because we were missing so many members.
 * Wed. 12/05/12 Members present:** Laura Brummel, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Kim Lowry, Polly Erhet

A.- It was decided that we would read and discuss the book together during PLC time. We may need to assign chapters to cover and report back to the group if time becomes an issue. We decided that it would be most effective if we could share ideas and thoughts as we read. B.- List of students were shared and which skills to cover were discussed. C.- It was decided to allow students in the second chance reading classes to count the books they were reading in both the second chance class and Language Arts.
 * Wed. 11/28/12 Members present:**Laura Brummel, Polly Ehret, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston

__**Wed. 11/07/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry**,** Ann Roberts, Laura Brummel, Polly Erhet, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Stacy Walston, Molly Roach, Abby Peterson A.- Andy discussed the minutes of the DLT meeting. Explaining the "Tool for Improvement" document, etc. B.- We worked on reviewing MAP test information. Some of the group was not able to access the information. C.- We shared exactly how to post grades, GLBs and comments so that we were sure to have the same things posted.

__**Wed. 10/31/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Polly Ehret, Stacy Walston, Laura Brummel A. - Tried to schedule students to see all teachers that need to see them. This took some time since many students need to make up work with several teachers. B.- Discussed which skills we need to work on for "Targeted Intervention". C.- Mr. Hotek came in to discuss the new calling tree and the end of the trimester awards ceremony. D.- We talked about results from the first short stories tests and different ways to introduce and teach the plot line.

__**Wed. 10/17/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Polly Ehret, Stacy Walston

At the beginning of our PLC time, we had a visit from Russ Reiter and Guy VanderLinden. We shared with them our agenda for today and some of our data collection that we have gathered and how we use this information to improve instruction.

A.- We started talking about what we think is going well with our PLC, which lead to a discussion on how our district is constantly changing how things are taught and the repercussions from these changes. We discussed how we are suppose make the changes to our 7th period enrichment time on Thurs. and Fri. Which lead to a discussion on our concerns with certain subs. We discussed student concerns and generated a list of students to send out to all staff that we need to see for re-teaching and/ or make up work. B.- We did not get a chance to discuss the CARS scores, not all were ready yet. C.- I passed around the examples of data collection and we talked some about what we liked and what we thought would not work for us. D. - Molly and Stacy gave us an update on the book fair, it was a huge success again this year. The profits will be probably be spent on books. There is still some paperwork to be finished up. Teachers are upset about the number of books that are taken out of our rooms each year and not returned. A big thank you to Mr. Hotek for again giving us some money to spend on new books for our classroom. E.- Targeted intervention; we identified students for next trimester. We also discussed skills that we need to work on with these students. F.- Once again, we had NO time to determine a time that we can get together to plan together. Soon there will be no common data to discuss because we have no time to plan. VERY FRUSTRATING!!

__**Wed. 10/3/2012 Members present:**__Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Polly Ehret, Jenn Stout, Molly McCaully, Nathan Craig ( student teacher)

A. - 6th grade teachers are still going to do the homeroom that is working for them. 7th and 8th grade teachers are looking for ways to improve this time. Teachers are needing time to reteach or work with students that need to make up work. Ann went over the notes from their meetings. B.- We talked about scores from CARS tests. Ann shared that her 8th grade students had made some good gains last week. We also discussed why we felt some tests the kids scored better, etc. We also decided to be more flexible on when we give these tests. It has become a problem having us all test on the exact same day when we also have to share commuters etc. C.- We talked as individual grade levels about which tests we would offer retakes on and which tests we would use for those retakes. We discussed options for our lowest learners. D.- We never really got around to talking about the Book Fair, I hope there were no issues there! E. - Andy came in to talk about some decisions that other PLC groups were making. We also talked about arrangements for Parent / Teacher conferences and how to deal with moving our student binders to the commons / gym for conferences. (Always seems to be some hurdles to cross with every decision made.) F.- Ann, Kim and Stacy stayed late to plan for our next unit. G.- Molly and Jenn left at 3:30 for a special ed. meeting.

__**Wed. 9/26/2012 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Stacy Walston, Molly McCaully, Jenn Stout, Polly Ehret, Nathan Craig(student teacher)

A. **-** We briefly reviewed the norms and once again made a commitment to open / honest communication. B.- We shared the graphs that we have made and how we are using them to track student progress. Some ideas were agreed on and some were scraped. C.- We spent the most part of our hour trying to identify exactly which kids would benefit from targeted instruction and which kids we could actually have between math instruction and band and orchestra. This is a time consuming process!!

__**Wed. 9/19/12 Members present:**__ Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Jenn Stout. Laura Brummell, Molly McCaulley, Polly Ehret, student teacher, Nathan Craig

A. - We reviewed the norms and talked about the importance of keeping the lines of communication open. B.- Mr. Hotek stopped in to go over how to access information learned from the MAP test and we talked about how to determine which students would most benefit from the targeted intervention during 7th period. C. - We talked about how to gather the scores from the CARS tests and we shared how we are using the chart to keep track of which questions each student missed to help us determine areas of strengths and weaknesses. D. - We went through some sample forms for graphing data and decided, by grade level, which forms we would use and the best ways to use them. We are concerned about the amount of time keeping these graphs updated will take. E. - Molly gave an update on the preparations for the Book Fair and it didn't seem like we had anything to take care of there, it is all under control, good job, Molly! F.- We talked for a few minutes about how we are posting our daily learning goals and our grade level bench marks, seems like it is working well for everyone. G.- The Math dept. came in at the end of our meeting and we discussed possible ways to share students for targeted intervention since there are several students that need both Math and Language Art intervention. H.- Ann Roberts and KIm Lowry stayed late to try to do some grade level planning, this is a huge problem. We don't ever seem to have time to plan lessons together and it makes it very difficult to stay together.

__**Wed. 8/29/12**__ Members present: Kim Lowry, Ann Roberts, Jenn Stout, Laura Brummel, Stacy Walston, Molly McCaulley, Polly Erhet. Abby Peterson joined us at 3:30.

A. - We discussed which members would be at each meeting and what times. We have some members (Spec. Ed. and Second Chance) that will not be a part of our group all the time. B. - We discusses the Norms for our group from last year, we updated and added to that list for this year. C.- Many questions were asked about the Data Wall, we have some confusion and questions. Kim told the group that we should have a much better picture of how that should look after our Sept. 7th P.D. day. We did share some good ideas of what we could use for our data wall, we will see if those ideas match what we learn on the 7th. D. - Kim begged for anyone else to take over the job of updating the WiKi, no one volunteered. Kim will continue to muddle through. (sad face!) E.- Kim gave an update of the PLC facilitator meeting on Mon., the chart of suggested items to be covered at each meeting was shared and discussed. We did decide that Kim will post a monthly agenda of what would be covered at each meeting on the different weeks. F.- We went through a list of students that Andy had shared to determine which students would benefit from Targeted Intervention during our 7th period. G.- Ann, Stacy and Kim stayed after the regular meeting to make some changes to a formative assessment that we will be giving in a few days.

That's too bad no one else will record.. it is difficult to facilitate AND take notes at the same time :-( I think you will have more concrete ideas after the 7th - as Kim said.  Great start to the year!! (Mary)

__**Supporting Documents**__
//__**ARCHIVED**__//

__**Norm/Collaborative Commitment Recording Sheet**__

__**SMART Goal/Action Plan forms**__ (You may choose which one to use)]

__**SMART Goal Analysis Sheet**__ (To be used in the Spring)

__**Data Analysis Tools**__ (you may choose whichever format works best for your team to display the information - one suggestion is attached)

__**Minutes/Review of Data Analysis Form**__ (you must address the following questions in your minutes)


 * PLC Facilitator: Kim Lowry**

Team Norms: 1. Start and end on time 2. Listen respectfully 3. Honor diverse perspectives 4. Respect confidentiality 5. Do the work in the meeting 6. Agree to disagree

SMART Goal: 100% of students will show improvement on their MAP Reading Comprehension Test scores from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. =__**Agendas for PLC Collaboration (Add and date agendas here)**__=

Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Agenda: 1-18-2011

- Common Assessments

- Team Teaching (Meet with team teacher)

- Listen to PLC Webinar (pause for discussion

- DLT Report

- New state educational proposals

Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Agenda: 2-1-2012 -Common Assessments -Team Teaching (Meet with team teacher) -Lowry and Yates: 2:00-2:20 - Bell and Yates: 2:25-2:45 -DLT Report -Discuss progress of students scoring "1" on assessments

Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Agenda: 2-15-2012 -Common Assessments -Bell and Yates: 2:00-2:20 -Lowry and Yates: 2:25-2:45 - Discuss DLT Report -Discuss Ideas for 7th period enrichment/guided study -Compare test results on the last units taught in each grade

3-28-2012 DLT update; anyone have any ideas on how to improve our guided study time? any new ideas for meeting the needs of our students?

BLT update; Put the Test to Rest party info. PLC time for next year?

Time for Joe and Ann to meet to plan their next unit.

Time for Stacy and Molly to meet to plan unit.

Time for Ann, KIm and Stacy to meet to verify Mythology plans, assessments and common point values.

What needs to be covered in guided study for the next few weeks and who needs to be called in for each grade level ( 6th, 7th, and 8th)

Are we posting Learning Goals, how? where?

4-18-12 -Review minutes from the BLT meeting on 4/16. -Review minutes from the DLT meeting on 4/3. -2:00 - 3:30 p.m. meet with Kari Pingel from Pella regarding Accelerated Reading program. -Time for Kim, Ann and Stacy to plan out "The Outsiders" unit. -Time for Molly and Stacy to plan. -Time for Ann and Joe to plan final unit.

5-2-12 -Time to complete the individual PLC assessments if not already done. -Discuss SMART goal data, did we all meet our SMART goal for the year? Complete the Smart goal form and discuss ways to improve instruction, which would in turn, improve the outcome of our scores? -Work through the "questions to consider" as a group to make some decisions on how to improve student learning. -Time to discuss specific areas of weakness for each grade level moving to the next. -After these whole department conversations, take time to break into grade level meetings to plan for what to improve for the next school year.

=__**Minutes from PLC Collaboration (Add and date Minutes here)**__= __**Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Minutes 5-2-12**__

-Discussed how CARS assessment will work next year, and created a graph with the new CARS assessment dates for next year. - Finished PLC Survey Assessment -SMART Goals -Began to fill out SMART goal form. Our goal is based on MAP scores, and we are still in the process of taking MAP tests - Took time to discuss next year, and transitions between years. -Strengths and areas of growth for each grade level - Discussed team teaching (different models) - Discussed Accommodations -

__**Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Minutes 4-18-12**__ __1) DLT Update.__ -talked more about guided study and how to best use our time -discussed ideas on how to improve communication between teachers

2) Ann and Joe did some lesson planning for their last unit 3) 1:45 - 3:30 Kari Pingel from Pella was here to talk to us about how they use Reading Renaissance at Pella. -had a good discussion -shared ideas on how to improve our own use of R.R. here at OMS 4) 3:30 -4:30 Ann, Kim and Stacy wrote plans and determined which assignments to assess for our last unit of the year.

1) Ideas to limit student printing -check projects electronically when possible -Have students ask before printing -Educate students during study hall about printer usage -Is there a way to require a password to print?
 * Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Minutes 3-28-2012**

2) DLT Update: Learning Supports- -Guided Study- Use it in a preemptive strategy to catch issues early. - Attendance needs to be re-vamped - Kids should check in each day with their enrichment teacher - Kids should stay in guided study for at least the whole class period - Discussed which students to bring into guided study -Turn a list of students in to guided study teachers

3) BLT Update: - Not doing vertical teams - PLC and Grade Level Groups will continue - Where do teachers who teach more than one grade level go? -Answer: Switch as needed to address your concerns - Put the Test to Rest- - Only one hour - Ice cream cups or bars - Basketball, Dodgeball, Outside, Dance in commons - Bingo?

4) Common Assessments and Unit Plans (Bell and Roberts) (Walston and McCaulley)

5) Ann, KIm and Stacy to meet to verify Mythology plans, assessments and common point values.

6) Learning Goals- How to post them. - Post Each Day - Create a way to draw attention to the learning goal (ex. Kim has a huge red arrow pointing toward her goal.) I need to make an effort to come down and see them! I have seen a couple of yours, but not since my last walk-through visits. (Mary)

-Common Assessments (worked by grade level) Bell (Parent Meeting) -Lowry and Yates: 2:00-2:20 -Bell and Yates: 2:25-2:45 -AR: -break it into several grades -daily grades -not labeled with a GLB Question: Shouldn't AR be aligned to a GLB? AR is just the tool, not the content, used to reinforce a skill, correct? If AR is not used to assess student progress on a GLB, why are we using AR as a grade in the classroom? Mary -Infinite Campus: Reviewed what needs to be scored. Ask Bell if you need help with grades. - DLT Report: (Think of ideas for learning supports) -7th Period Guided Study - Possible summer school - Tutoring - It would be best to re-teach on the same day - Reteach along the way as well as for summative assessments -Using study hall time -7th Period Enrichment/Guided Study: - Guided study seems to work better than enrichment - Guided study + homeroom/Excel -Be more preemptive, reviews,Target struggling students before they score a one - Be proactive rather than reactive -Test Results
 * Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Minutes: 2-15-2012**

-Common Assessments; Ex. 8th grade teachers created rubrics and projects for the Fever 1793 novel unit. Ex. 7th grade teachers worked on common planning and assessments for The Kay novel unit. Ex. 6th grade teachers worked on vocabulary, DOL, and short story units
 * Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting Agenda: 2-1-2012**

-Team Teaching (Meet with team teacher) -Lowry and Yates: 2:00-2:20 - Bell and Yates: 2:25-2:45 -English computer lab- -organized computer lab usage based on needs for each grade level AR- - 8th grade will do 600 pages each trimester (4 books) - 7th grade will do 450 pages each trimester (3 books) - 6th grade will do 300 page (2 books) 1st trimester and 450 pages each trimester (3 books) -DLT Report- - Retention - How to help along the way (7th period re-teaching) - Teams would be helpful in organizing re-teaching - Homeroom might be helpful at the 6th grade level -Guided Study (Re-teaching)- - Teams would help organization for re-teaching - Talked about which kids would be in reteaching and when - 3rd Trimester Re-teaching 6th- ? (Scheduling concerns) 7th- Mythology, Vocab., Novel, Other (Lowry) 8th- 1st 6 weeks (Roberts) 2nd 6 weeks (Bell) Persuasive Essay, Expository Essay, Novel Unit -Discuss progress of students scoring "1" on assessments- -Reteaching during 7th period


 * 1-18-2012 Middle School Language Arts PLC**

(Went over the agenda that was sent out prior to the meeting)

1) Worked on common assessments 2) Teachers met to plan for team taught classes (with both team teachers) 3) We began to listen to the PLC webinar i. What to do when kids score a 1 ii. The need to discuss the results of common assessments iii. Discuss what works and what does not work iv. Other various topics 4) DLT: Big push is what to do with the students who score a one 1) Discussed Retention related to the new state educational proposals Language Arts PLC Meeting: Jan. 2nd, 2012
 * 1) Paused to discuss various parts of the webinar

Mobile Lab Computers -We will keep a schedule in Ann Robert’s room and use the Google Docs form Common Assessments -We worked on several common assessments and discussed them Grade Book -Only entering ABCDF grades for midterms DLT Meeting Review - Discussed how to help students who are scoring “1” on GLB scores - Discussed several ideas, but decided to continue the conversation next time.

Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting 12-7-2011 I think having discussions around consistent practice is valuable - and critical - I would like to see how you are discussing your progress on GLB's - which students are struggling, why and what interventions or new strategies are being implemented to assist them. (M) Middle School Language Arts Meeting: Dec. 7th Infinite Campus: -Linking Grades -You do not have to link all of the assignments in the 25% -Everything in the 75% does need to be linked. - AR will go into the 25% Guided Study Re-teaching: - For writing the kids could do a writing workshop to improve their scores on writing GLBs. - Once students meet the “3” level on the writing assignment they can return to enrichment - Discussed ideas for enrichment classes DLT Meeting: - Discussed concerns about new grading - What about kids that do not test well - The grade reports are harder to understand AR: - Will be scored as part of the 25% - Extra Credit for extra books? No. - How to score AR out of 50 - Grade each book separately CARS: - Not putting them in the gradebook anymore GLB Scoring: - Make sure assignments are graded the same way by each teacher - Possibly have guidelines for different types of assignments - Detailed discussion about how to examine each type of assignments. Language Arts Middle School PLC Meeting 11-4-2011

1) Report Card Comments- Made comments about the current list and sent them to back via email.

2) DLT Minutes-

Tier one- All students receive these -Sign of trouble at the formative assessments -Student earns a 1 on a benchmark Tier two- SAT, After School Program, 2nd Chance Reading -Document parent contact -Begin data collection -Specific form? -Compile information -Place students into 7th period support Tier three- Alternative Education and Special Education -Start an SAT Plan - Refer to the AEA
 * 1) Oskaloosa Level of supports

It would have been helpful to have this type of plan prior to starting standards based grading.

3) Assessments-
 * 1) Discussed formative and summative assessments that are coming up in the 2nd trimester
 * 2) Starting during the 2nd trimester each teacher will need to link the same assessments to the standards.
 * 3) Decide how to grade vocab. (One grade a week for vocab.)
 * 4) AR- Daily Work (Link it to novels 50 Point book)

How are students progressing on individual GLB's and/or Components - how might you use the data wall or look at student work to increase student learning and performance? I would like to see you move beyond some of the housekeeping items and engage in instructional techniques..... (Mary) 4) Guided Study-


 * 1) Kids will need to be identified prior to the 2nd trimester.
 * 2) This is the last meeting prior to the 2nd trimester.
 * 3) Gathered a list of names for guided study
 * 4) 40 Kids from each grade level will receive targeted interventions with the grammar benchmarks. Each of these students will receive a 2 weeks course. (List of students next Wednesday)

5) We would like to see You Tube opened up for academic purposes. Teachers can monitor students. 6) Questions: When will grade book training B
 * Language Arts PLC Meeting for 10/19/2011 **


 * 1) ** The agenda was submitted to the group by Kim Lowry in the days prior to the meeting. **


 * Meeting Time and Place: ** 1:50 p.m. in Abby's room.

share.
 * What to bring: ** Computers, writing utensil, any assessments that you want to discuss, copies of student work that you may want to


 * First item of business: Guided Study time: ** Share and discuss ideas for **what specific** criteria should be used for putting students into guided study. Ways in which classroom teachers can communicate with guided study teachers about what skills need to be taught. Discuss moving away from using guided study time as homework completion to teaching time to address a specific GLB or skill. Would it be beneficial for guided study to be a full trimester instead of only 6 weeks? Andy would like to see students move in and out of guided study as they need it for re-teaching a specific GLB or skill and then returning to Enrichment.

1) Students with D or F grades need to go into guided study. 2) We are already re-teaching within classes in language arts 3) How can a teacher re-teach a GLB for a class they are not qualified to teach? 4) Students should remain in guided study for the whole 6 weeks, then they should move if they have improved. 5) We feel that work completion and make up work should be able to be completed in guided study. 6) Create a spreadsheet or Google Doc to track missing work for guided study teachers. 7) 6th grade may need a “home base” for organization purposes instead of enrichment. This could also be a re-teaching opportunity. 8) Having longer class periods might be more of a benefit than having a 7th period. Have longer class periods and maybe a short school wide study time at the end of the day. 9) Students would have limited access to exploratory classes if we had a 6 period day. 10)Is there a way to build guided study into study hall 11)GLB Targeted intervention. (Possibly 3 teachers per subject area) Not punitive, see it as an opportunity.


 * Second item of business: ** Look over the Data Wall and Data Analysis sheet that are attached. Discuss ways that we can use these tools in our discussions of improving student performance. Begin to add data to these tools as a means of compiling information for future discussions.

1) Instead of using the spreadsheet, we can utilize infinite campus to print a report of the students that have scored a 1 or 2 on a certain GLB. This will allow us to jump directly into examining how to help those kids rather than just recording data. Curious how this might be done - there could be great utility for other PLC's as well!! Share out when you know how to run this report!!! (Mary)


 * Third item of business: ** Continue to discuss specific assessments and plans for improving student learning. Share strategies for what we are doing to re teach skills that students are struggling with. What extensions are we using to enrich student learning. How are we communicating the GLBs to our students? Do our students know what the learning targets and lesson purpose for each GLB? Share ideas on how to communicate this information with our students.

1) We are going to keep a binder of our formative and summative assessments. 2) More formative assessments are needed leading up to summative assessments 3) We discussed examples of how to do this. (Parts of Speech quizzes leading up to the Parts of Speech Project)


 * Other items- **

A) Switching teachers- B) Technology- C) Homework- D) Study Skills- 2. 5th Grade to 6th Grade: A) Ideas: a) Making similar expectations and rules Looks like you discussed some very important topics.... in what way will you incorporate those "tight" topics... you are talking about assessment, but what about the results of those assessments? How are you discussing how students are progressing and what strategies might be used if they are not..... Keep up the great conversations all! (Mary)
 * Transitions: ** 1) 8th Grade to 9th Grade:
 * 1) Joe and Ann have no problem with switching, but we would need to meet about certain kids.
 * 1) Kids are not using technology for correct purposes
 * 2) Each department will have laptops available, so use should increase.
 * 3) If students are not using things appropriately, they will need to find an alternative way to finish assignment.
 * 1) Possibly having a stronger late work policy.
 * 10-5-2011- Middle School Language Arts PLC Meeting:**
 * PLC:**

-Create an agenda for PLC Meeting


 * Tight Topics:**

-Examine GLBs -Are assessments aligned with GLB and Components? - Analyze Student work -What areas of learning are students struggling out? -Are students progressing? -What will we do? -Collaborative Grading (What is a 4? 3? 2? 1?)

- Management issues - Conferences
 * Not Tight Stuff: (Limit these issues to 10 minutes)**


 * DLT Meeting:**

- How is each teacher going to assess vocabulary benchmarks? We discussed how often we would assess.
 * -Discuss GLBs**
 * -**Briefly discussed how the grammar GLBs should look throughout middle school. What will be covered each year?

-Link assessments with GLB (Starting 2nd Trimester) -Each GLB will have a 4-3-2-1 score (Starting 1st Trimester) -Create a letter to explain how we will decide on a score -Make sure to give several formative prior to the summative assessments -Less daily work? -Should we base the score mainly on summative assessments
 * Discuss 4-3-2-1**

-4- consistently and independently exceeds expectations. These will be very rare. These students -3- Meets expectations -2- Progressing towards expectations -1- Unacceptable (Does not meet expectations)
 * 9-21-2011 Middle School Language Arts PLC**

//Grammar-// Current- 6th Grade- DOL, Language Book 7th Grade- Stations, Students teach a lesson 8th Grade- Review, Parts of Speech

Ideas 1) Smaller “chunk” lessons 2) Make it more relevant by using their own writing 3) Do a writing sample and pretest to pre assess grammar skills 4) It might be best not to do grammar stations first

//Book Fair-// -During conferences -Bell, Roberts, Peterson -Bell and Roberts will meet with Lowry

//Common Assessments// -Each grade level will keep a folder of common assessments -Meet in groups with your grade level partners

//Learning Target and SMART Goal// -Talk about them each of them frequently

//BLT Minutes// -Language arts will have a mobile lab. -Language arts will get the new mobile lab with 30 computers. -How will we schedule it? - Will all computers be on the spreadsheet - Print calendar to use during meetings

//CARS Assessment// -Good improvement from last week -Students tracking progress on graphs -Talk about SMART Goal with students


 * September 7, 2011-Langauge Arts Meeting**

-Review DLT Meeting Minutes -Discussed how minutes and information will be communicated -Focus Areas: 1) Agree on what mastery is 2) Learning Supports 3) Retention 4) Manage Change 5) Grade Book Training 6) Quality Instruction: - Grades will be linked to standards starting 2nd Trimester

-Review Norms

-Grading CARS Assessments - Enter them as daily grade out of 12

-SMART GOALS - Posted in classes -Talking to classes about CARS assessments and MAP Testing - Start using the terms from the GLBs and Components so that students get used to them

-Question: 1) Do we have to stay with 75% assessments and 25% other district wide? Answer: -No more than 25% for practice work -Can split the assessments into different parts

What is mastery?

- Commonality between teachers is needed

-Learning Supports: - Guided Study -Math After School Program -Time for re-teaching -More time - Trying to understand where the student is coming from -Motivating students -Reaching all students -Trust and believe in all students