This course consist of 30 hours of online assignments and activities. Educators will receive 3.0 CEUs after the completion of this course. CEUs are issued by The North Mississippi Education Consortium. We can deliver this course online or onsite**. The cost for the online delivery is $100.
Workshop Description:
“The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the ability for school personnel to function as Professional Learning Communities.” - DuFour & Eaker, 1998, “PLC At Work”Improvement of student learning and professional development can start with Professional Learning Communities. There are planned and scheduled processes that allow teachers and others to work together in a collaborative setting. Depending on the school district structure, the early release of students allow time to conduct such planning and development. A PLC plan has to be ready before any meeting time takes place. Professional Learning Communities is a never ending process that is meant to not only help students improve academically but improve the quality of instruction through analyzing data effectively. Often times teachers put together "best strategies" cook book in their implementation that is shared. Teachers are empowered by Professional Learning Communities to stop working in isolation and to promote collaboration on a basic, meaningful and productive level. It does take time to building trust among educators. All educators must do their part regardless of job title or position within the district or school. This workshop requires educators to implement new or improve current strategies in their education setting. All teachers will participant in peer classroom observations for learning and improving current practices. A district, school and teachers have to find the right balance for their environment. You will need a mentor or administrator to complete some parts of this workshop. This workshop includes activities for creating your own S.M.A.R.T. goals. Teachers are strongly encouraged to participate in this activity as part of workshop. Discussions and chats are available for all educators to further engage in this activity. We also provide a PLC tool for teachers to use in their school. The PLC and the S.M.A.R.T goal tool is available for use after the completion of this workshop. Each workshop has teacher workload information and activity. This discusses the need for balance of teacher workload. It is meant for teacher encouragement and accountability. The workloads of teachers is something that can be addressed through consistent team collaboration. Team collaboration is strongly encouraged with all in all workshops.
The coursework involves reading assignments that aides in thoroughly understanding the learning objective. Teachers are required to submit a lesson snippet of the learning objective. This is for the implementing the learning objective in real time. The workshop provides a peer observation activity to further ensure the learning objective is being used. It is the intent that all the activities, discussion and assessments help the educator achieve the needed outcome(s).
This workshop will focus on the following areas:
UNIT/WEEK 1
Learning Objective:
Understanding Purpose of PLCs |
The concept of making schools better by creating and implementing professional learning communities are challenging to say the least! This extremely complicated concept tends to be elusive even the most dedicated and decorated educators. Cooperative efforts in PLCs can be a trap for everyone. So where do some efforts miss the mark? It all comes down to understanding what PLCs are and are not! What is the end game? How do every component coincides with it? (1) How would you describe professional learning communities (PLCs)? (2) How does your school or district organize this process? (3) How often are meetings? (4) Have you seen that meetings and outcomes are positive? (5) How do you work with other educators in your school or district? (6) Are PCLs organized by your district or school? (7) What are some changes that you would make to your existing district or school PLC?
UNIT/WEEK2
Learning Objective:
Knowing Components of PCLs What are some ingredients (components) of professional learning communities? Like all finished and polished products, there are components and characteristics of them that produces the results. Even with the correct parts, teams of people have to implement them. Putting people in place according to their current strengths is critical for components to stay afloat. This process will test everyone’s resolve and dedication. You need leaders with a short memory and thick skin. Let us discuss what some of these components may be. If you do research, you will find similar items from reputable organization to organization. Some of the consistent items are:
(1) Shifting to Learning (2) Understanding Collaboration (3) Authentic Results Orientation (4) Improving Structure
UNIT/WEEK3
Learning Objective:
Developing Norms in PLCs
How does your PLC meeting begin? How does it end? Is there a process that governs the following?
(1) Time (2) Listen (3) Confidentiality (4) Decision making (5) Participation (6) Expectations
UNIT/WEEK4
Learning Objective:
How to Improve Current PLCs
(1) Building & Earning Trust (2) Insure Proper Communication (3) Diving Deep (4) Shared Planning
Extended Activities
Create Plan of Action using the following:
S.M.A.R.T Goals:
- Specific (simple, sensible, significant)
- Measurable (meaningful, motivating)
- Achievable (agreed, attainable)
- Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based)
- Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive)
Extended Activities
Components of Action Plan:
- Identify task
- Gather data
- Develop strategies
- Implement plan
References
- Graham, Perry (2015, August, 25). Improving Teacher Effectiveness through Structured Collaboration Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19404476.2007.11462044
- (2018). Norms of Collaboration Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/norms-collaboration-toolkit/
- (2009). From Isolation to Collaboration: Promoting Teacher Leadership through PLCs. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED503637
- Room 241 Team (2013, April, 30). Four Instructional Leadership Skills Principals Need. Retrieved from http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/ed-leadership/four-instructional-leadership-skills-principals-need
- Mendez-Morse, Sylvia (2015). The Principal’s Role in the Instructional Process. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues13.html
- Andrews, R., Soder, R., & Jacoby, F. (1986, April). Principal Roles, Other In-School Variables, and Academic Achievement by Ethnicity and SES. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.
- Bennis, W. (1989). On becoming a leader. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
- Cuban, L. (1989). At-risk students: What teachers and principals can do. Educational Leadership. 46(5), 29 - 33.
- Heck, R. H., Larsen, T. J., & Marcoulides, G. A. (1990). Instructional leadership and school achievement: Validation of a causal model. Educational Administration Quarterly, 26, 94-125.
- Sergiovanni, T. J. (1990). The leadership needed for quality schooling. In T. J. Sergiovanni & J. H. Moore (Eds.), Schooling for tomorrow: Directing reforms to issues that count. (pp. 213-226). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
- Sizemore, B. A., Brossard, C. A., & Harrigan, B. (1983). An abashing anomaly: The high achieving predominantly black elementary school - Executive summary. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University, Department of Black Community Education.
- Venezky, R. L., & Winfield, L. F. (1979). Schools that succeed beyond expectations in teaching reading (Tech. Rep. No. 1). Newark: University of Delaware, Studies in Education.
- (2018) Supporting Individual Professional Development. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/professional-learning-communities
- (2018). https://www.k12blueprint.com/toolkits/plc
- Mielke, Chase (2015, July 26). Is Your Professional Learning Community a Farce? Retrieved from: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/plc-problems/
- Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: What are they and why are they important? [Online]. Available: http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues61.html.
- (Fall 2009). Professional Learning Communities: The Key to Improved Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.advanc-ed.org/source/professional-learning-communities-key-improved-teaching-and-learningHattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to student achievement. New York: Routledge.
- Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- Patterson, K., Grenny,J. Maxfield, D., McMillan, R, & Switzler, A. (2008). Influencer: The power to change anything. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Provine, Celine (2012). Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/best-practices-for-professional-learning-communities.shtml
- Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Stoll, L., Thomas, S., & Wallace, M. (with Greenwood, A., et al.). (2005, May). Creating and sustaining effective professional learning communities (Research Brief RB637). Nottingham, United Kingdom: Department for Education and Skills
- Hord, S.M. (Ed.). (2004). Learning together, leading together: Changing schools through professional learning communities. New York: Teachers College Press & NSDC.
- Lieberman, A. & Miller, L. (Eds.) (2008). Teachers in professional communities: Improving teaching and learning. New York: Teachers College Press.V
- McLaughlin, M.W. & Talbert, J.E. (2001). Professional communities and the work of high school teaching. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Saunders, W.M., Goldenberg, C.N., & Gallimore, R. (2009, December). Increasing achievement by focusing grade-level teams on improving classroom learning: A prospective, quasiexperimental study of Title I schools. American Educational Research Journal, 46(4), 1006-1033.
- First, you must Register on our online course system. Click the Register button below.
- After you created an account, login and select the course and pay ($100 per course).
