A Leaders Companion: Inspiration for Professional Learning Communities at Work

Leadership in Professional Learning Communities at Work: Learning by . A Leader's Companion: Inspiration for Professional Learning Communities at Work.
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It is often heard when teachers meet that they behave as students, since most time they do not reflect on meaningfully topics to improve student learning, instead, discussions are about the negative situation or challenge teachers may be encountering without solutions. I am not exposed to PLC in my school, furthermore in my country, actually I am now learning about it at my University as I pursue my graduate work. However, I have realized it is an asset to create within the school environment for teachers to communicate effectively about learning and how best to impart knowledge to our students.

I admire the fact that the teachers meet so often, to exchange ideas and to see what best work for the student and how the teachers can collaborate in order for it to be effective. At my school we focus on student learning, however, I believe we as teachers need to be more proactive and come together to reflect on some of the same questions that were mentioned in the blog in order to develop a meaningful future for student learning. I will make an effort with few of my colleagues to see if we can start PLC at our school.

I am the only teacher who teaches the subject at my school but I believe we can collaborate and share information to improve student learning overall. Furthermore, I was wondering, is there a recommended size to form the PLC or can any number of teachers start? Thanks for the ideas to reflect upon to improve student learning.


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To continue where I left off. My sentence should conclude as "fail to do so. But the key element to achieve all this is reflection on the part of the educator. I totally agree with you in regards to the many challenges educators faces in the learning communities as well as the traditional aspect of teacher centered classroom. But what I have found out is that when we as educators work in collaboration on specific goals in mind and put our ideas and thoughts and shift away from the teacher centered to students centered then the results create a positive impact on the learner.

It is difficult at time but we must not forget the importance of it. In my school, we meet according to various group setting found in the structure of the school such as the academic, prevocational and life skills areas. Teachers will meet in their specific areas every first Friday in each month. In these clusters we share insight on problems, solution and introduce resources to enhance lesson. We also come up with ideas a how to integrate other disciplines in our specific areas to achieve learning outcome of all students.

It is within these areas teachers demonstrate the importance of team teaching. We all know that individuals have unique ways of approaching and applying different techniques to gain a require result where others might. Thanks for reading the blog and for the amazing feedback.

If you have further questions or insight, please email me at willremmert gmail. Understanding that developing the culture that all students can and will achieve is so important and having the open and honest conversation that what we do as educators is critical to student learning will get things moving in the right direction. There will always be fundamentalists that won't see the light. If you have colleagues like this, read the work by Anthony Muhammad - it is amazing and transformational stuff! A real effective way to have conversations about student learning is when the data is utilized in a transparent manner.

Are you utilizing common formative assessments and grading them together? The data doesn't lie, especially if we begin assessing and evaluating the same things. This is also an amazing way to gain confidence in what we are doing as educators, when we begin to see and feel success, we begin to create winning streaks where we tend to get on a roll and then the students really start to benefit from our hard work.

I was very intrigued by the title of your post. As I began reading, I found myself agreeing with your insights over and over. I am new to the teaching profession, as I was hired for my first job this school year. In my school, I am not sure that we have fully developed the concept of PLCs. We do have Professional Development twice a week, and our committee are very similar to those I've seen discussed.

I truly feel that we still have a long way to go. In regards to the first few questions you posed: We actually met for grade level meetings today. This idea is very new to the entire building, and I know we are not getting out of it what we should. At this point, I feel it is just a paper we complete because the state says we have to. In my grade, there are two teachers. The other teacher has Math and Science. Today we worked on a TBT for her class.

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Today, we calculated percentages of students who were proficient and not. There really was no discussion of what students did not get. We simply compared results from the pre-test to the post-test. Truthfully, and sadly, I'm afraid the latter will be our most difficult challenge because it does take a lot of time and commitment.

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The most important aspect about being a teacher is the ability to be taught as well. Although we instruct students, there are times we need some instruction too. This is when professional partnerships, networks, and learning communities contribute to the process of achieving the overall goal of teaching. I have felt for years that the concept of teachers working together to help each other would be the best way for schools so better serve their learners. It was a wonderful experience working with a group of my peers in conjunction with the principal to improve our learning environment.

We were successful because there was a set time for us to meet and once we identified a problem in the school we worked together until the problem was solved. Usually the problem or thing we worked on was brought to us by a colleague who was struggling or frustrated. This was a prime motivator for us to work together to find a solution In my current position I help young men in a residential rehabilitation facility with their learning.

Most of the work they are doing is assigned by their home schools. The schools are very concerned with how much work they get done so they do not fall behind. I am convinced that most of these young men have fallen behind in their work because they are students not learners. They focus on getting the correct answers. I am trying to develop as part of my curriculum a system where they can make the switch from being a student to being a learner. I am more concerned with how they get the information and not so much how much they get done.

As a result of my making the work relevant to their interests they are much more engaged.

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I see more higher level thinking, and they feel better about their work for the first time in their life. The assignment becomes more then the grade. We can share or success and struggle together with or areas we need to improve. We are very busy but have made time to discuss issues and we go out of our way to help each other. I was very pleased to find out our school was doing many of the things the research tells us makes for successful professional learning communities.

I enjoyed your post. I agree that we need to shift the focus from teaching to learning. I also enjoyed the questions that you posted to help guide our thinking. We have a wonderful PLC community at my school. We are constantly working together to try to see how the students are doing and how we can learn better to improve ourselves.

We become the learner and try to become a better teacher for them. Learn more about Kindle MatchBook. Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review.

Module 2: Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) meet Microsoft Teams

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. I had to buy the other book for a class, and while it was a great set of exercises to work through with your staff, they lack explanation. I bought this book, the predecessor to the workbook, to get a better understanding of the intent of Hord, et al. Definitely a great read for educators and ed leaders looking to get the most out of implementing PLCs with fidelity. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. If you are ready to start PLCs in your school, this is a must read!

Reflection is key in education and growing with your staff will allow you to implement these strategies from this book. I would have liked to have seen more in-depth explanation of some of the topics, but for the most part, the book added much to my own learning about this subject. This product was just what I needed, book was just as advertised, good and careful packaging and I really love the fast shipping.

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Readers will receive explicit guidance and resources on how to lead and exceed the assessment expectations of the common core. Discover what students should learn and how they should learn it. Comprehensive and research-affirmed analysis tools and strategies will help you and your collaborative teams develop and assess student demonstrations of deep conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. You'll also learn how fundamental shifts in collaboration, instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention can increase college and career readiness in every one of your students.

Benefits - Discover the five essential paradigm shifts necessary to implement the CCSS for mathematics.

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Making the Shift From Teaching to Learning

To learn more about Amazon Sponsored Products, click here. The Common Core State Standards for mathematics represent a historic challenge and opportunity for school leaders. Leaders who carefully and critically read this book will be ready to move toward a more focused orchestration of their elementary, middle school, or high school PLC CCSS transition. If you are a principal, supervisor, or mathematics curriculum leader of any stripe, this book is a must-read! But the key questions are ''What kind of leadership?

From a full set of tools to a slew of ''questions to ask,'' this practical Leader's Guide is required reading as we develop and empower collaborative teams to navigate the paradigm shifts called for by the vision of finally making mathematics work for all students. Leaders can immediately apply the tools and suggestions provided as well as download usable products to balance PLC communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration.

This book has captured the disciplined steps needed to make Common Core mathematics a priority in PLC work. He served as superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School District , the model professional learning community created by Dr. He has conducted talks and seminars worldwide with a focus on systematic change initiatives that create greater equity and access for all students. Larson earned his bachelor's degree and his doctorate from the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Larson previously was mathematics department chair and a teacher at Lincoln High School. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime.


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