Anne Jolly

Team to Teach
Change in VIP+T4S Series Presenter and Date of Session 2     

Two changes have occurred for the VIP+T4S Series on Professional Learning Communities.  

 Change #1:  Anne Jolly, Professional Learning Teams specialist from the National Staff Development Center, will replace Dr. Shirley Hord for the remaining two sessions in this VIP+T4S Series on Professional Learning Communities.  See below for Anne Jolly’s bio.

Change #2:  The second date of this Series has been changed from Tuesday, November 17^th to Monday, December 14^th.  Note: Anne Jolly had a conflict with original Session 2 date of November 17.  The new date of Monday, December 14 was next best available date. The third date, and final session in this Series, will remain the same – Tuesday, February 23^rd. 

The format for this Series will remain the same with Anne Jolly conducting a session in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon (continental breakfast and registration from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m.), with a repeat session offered from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. (light dinner and registration from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.). 

Dr. Hord’s presentation and series of activities in Session 1 on the “what” and “why” of PLCs, and her message that the major goal of the PLC is “staff learning together, with the staff’s learning directed to student needs” is an important foundation for all of us as we prepare for the next two sessions.  However, given that most schools are already on the path of PLC implementation, I thought it best if the remaining two sessions in this Series address the “how” of one of the most critical components of a PLC – the Team.  The team is the engine that drives the PLC effort and is the fundamental building block of the organization.  However, simply organizing people into teams does not improve a school.   

Anne Jolly is an expert in the area of professional learning teams.  In Sessions 2 and 3 of this Series, Anne Jolly will provide the practical, field-tested tools, tips, structures, and specific information for:

• Planning and implementing productive professional learning teams (PLTs)
• Guiding successful team meetings;
• Sustaining progress over time;
• Monitoring teams and their work;
• Types of collaboration and team logistics; and
• Concrete suggestions for successful team interactions and how to troubleshoot hurdles that teams may encounter.

What about the set of activities from Shirley Hord and Session 1 that are be completed for Session 2?  Teams of participants in the first session with Shirley Hord were asked to complete a set of five activities prior to the next session.  With the switch to Anne Jolly and the time that she will need to address professional learning teams, it is not possible to devote time in Session 2 to the Shirley Hord “at-home” activities.  However, these are worthwhile activities and I encourage your team to consider completing them, but we will not review them in the next session with Anne Jolly.  If your team has already completed these activities, my hope is that doing so will have further solidified your team as well as your understanding of the foundational concepts of PLCs, and will prove useful when we dig deeper into professional learning teams with Anne Jolly in Sessions 2 and 3.

I apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this change may have caused for you.  However, this change was made to optimize the time and energy you and your team have committed to developing strong PLC’s at your school and/or school district. If you would like to discuss this further, or if you need a refund because you are unable to attend the new Session 2 date on Monday, December 14, please contact me at 437-1301 or gore@vcoe.org.

IMPORTANT:  There is room for additional registrants in both the morning and the afternoon/evening sessions for Anne Jolly on December 14 and February 23.  If interested in adding more registrants to your team, please contact my office ASAP.  The registration fee for the two sessions with Anne Jolly will be $30 total; new registrants must register for both sessions. 

Anne Jolly researches, designs, initiates, and directs effective, job-embedded teamwork that focuses on teacher learning and accomplished teaching. She develops training and support materials, and provides both virtual and face-to-face coaching to help school faculties build instructional capacity and create collaborative cultures that lead to higher student achievement. She prepares and conducts Professional Learning Team workshops for hundreds of schools and districts nationwide, and conducts online professional learning for the National Staff Development Council. 

Anne Jolly, a former state teacher of the year, is also an experienced conference presenter and keynote speaker. She consults with national organizations, states, districts, and schools to design and implement Professional Learning Teams. During 2007-2008 she worked with the Center for Teaching Quality to develop effective virtual learning communities that support teacher growth and development.  In Fall, 2007, she was featured in Teacher Magazine’s Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook in a lead article titled “Team-Oriented Teaching.” Anne was also a guest expert on Education Week’s November webcast, “Building Professional Learning Communities.” Recently she was tapped by The Knowledge Works Foundation as one of 15 innovators to convene as a national think tank for influencing education strategy in the area of professional learning communities. 

Science is Anne's area of content expertise, and she has assisted districts and schools to implement science professional learning teams by providing direct training, ongoing onsite assistance, and monitoring progress. She also works with two districts to establish professional learning teams to guide teachers of mathematics in understanding and developing appropriate instructional changes that will increase the achievement of elementary and middle level students in mathematics.

Anne Jolly served as Project Director for Professional Learning Teams with the SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Project from 2000 – 2008. As Project Director she was responsible for conceptualizing, researching, designing, and facilitating a variety of processes to build effective communities of educators who learn and grow together for the benefit of their students.

In 2004 Anne completed a three-year appointment to the Committee on Science Education, K-12; a former standing committee of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. She was also a Commissioner on The National Commission on Math and Science Teaching for the 21^st Century (the Glenn Commission) and helped to develop the report,  
Before It's Too Late: A Report to the Nation, http://www.ed.gov/americacounts/glenn/toc.html.  Jolly is currently on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Education Consortium and is Advisor to the Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching in Alabama.

Anne Jolly authors books, articles for magazines and journals, and develops curriculum units for the Engaging Youth in Engineering (EYE) initiative. Her most recent publication is the best-selling book, Team to Teach: A Facilitator's Guide for Professional Learning Teams, which is available from the National Staff Development Council.