The Big Ideas Of Professional Learning Communities By Richard Dufours

plan for, monitor and reflect on their professional development. Learners will then be able to investigate and

Understanding the Relationships between teachers and other professionals in lifelong learning and possible points of referral for learners.

2. Talk the walk - teachers using “common language and transparent actions” for deep and important school improvement and student learning. (87-88)

The professional learning community will develop the steps of transforming our schools. It will use these eight steps as professional development protocols in reducing the dropout rate and increasing college and career readiness.

For the Professional Learning Community (PLC) experience, I chose to observe a PLC. For this assignment, I observed an eighth grade English PLC. This PLC was comprised of three English teachers and one student teacher. There was not a written agenda for their PLC, but they seemed to have an order to how their meeting was held. The began by discussing the unit that they were completing which was using Greek Mythology to review and analyze student’s reading comprehension and summary writing abilities. They stated that their students seemed to be really interested in the unit and did well with the reading comprehension. However, they had noticed that some students were forgetting to state the title and author of the text within the summary and most summaries lacked elaboration, but most students were knowledgeable about the basic structure of a summary. As most students understood the basic structure, they decided that they were going to transition onto the next unit which focused on informative essay writing, but modify the unit in order to teach students the importance of including the title and author within a summary and

As an educator, it is my job to find new ways for my students to learn that coincides with their particular learning style and takes advantage of their strengths. In all practical terms, this will mean finding new ways for each of my students to learn in their own particular way. As a whole, my students will need more reason to learn with authentic experiences, hands-on

Roberts, S. & Pruitt, E. (2003). Schools as Professional Learning Communities: Collaborative Activities and Strategies for Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

“Learners will develop the values, commitments, and ethics that positively impact the educational community as well as the educator’s own professional growth.” (COE-GCU Framework, 2010).

Provide quality training and education in a caring, professional environment that prepares new students and working adults with the skills they need to succeed and advance in their chosen careers.

During our second Bear Creek visit, I observed the English Language Arts Professional Learning Community also known as ELA. When I first heard about the PLC, I was surprised because it is a brilliant concept. I never knew this existed. The English Language Arts PLC ran smoothly because the teacher that was presenting knew the standard she was going to focus on and how she was going to present the content to the students. All of the ELA teachers also had a schedule about how the meeting was going to flow so that no one was confused. They also used technology to present the standards and the content so that all of the teachers could see and make suggestions and ask questions. One teacher was questioned about why she chose a particular book

Dr. Fremstad has been instrumental in the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at West Fargo High School. She understands the power of teacher collaboration and has led the charge to train and monitor the program with fidelity. Jennifer has inspired educators to share student evidence of learning and extend intervention or enrichment learning opportunities based on the data. In addition, she advocates on the importance of frequent classroom visitations with her leadership team and establishes annual visitation goals to support teachers and

It is our duty as teachers and leaders of our schools to be learners. We must learn how our students best learn. We must learn from the data that we gather from our students’ scores. We must learn how to incorporate best practices in our instruction. Ultimately, our responsibility is to the student learning, but as adult learners we can better achieve that goal. “Being part of a learning community is not simply about the pursuit of individual learning goals, it is also about contributing to the learning and knowledge base of one’s colleagues and the school.” (Cole, P. (n.d.). Aligning professional learning, performance management and effective teaching. Centre for Strategic Education, Seminar Series 217,

Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current

In the book Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School renowned educators Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan set out to transform the future of teaching and public education by proposing the idea and importance of investing in Professional Capital. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, capital is defined as “Relating to or being assets that add to long-term net worth.” The autho 's notion of Professional Capital lies upon the integration of three kinds of capital – human, social, and decisional. This book provides powerful and evidence-based action guidelines for classroom teachers, administrators, schools and districts, and policital leaders on how Professional Capital can transform the future of teaching and public education.

Keeping that in mind, my goal is to empower students by using all four processes. As professionals, we must support students in attaining not only academic skills but also in developing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to become caring and successful citizens.