Professional+Learning+Community

Description of a PLC:

1) Culture of collaboration - Systematic. Planning time for collaborating teachers needs to be consistent. Many of our special needs teachers are pulled for meetings during their teacher planning time.

2) Job embedded professional development. (i.e. Math content team work - explore an idea, read, discuss, then take it out to practice. Bring it back to share.) Should also include Academic Choice offerings being differentiated and with follow up - time to share and learn from each other. Also, Delayed starts and inservice days need to be responsive to staff needs. More time to work cross grade level and share student work. Vertical articulation of all content areas.


 * I agree with the above statement. Teachers need time to put the theory into practice and see what works. The sharing of ideas from workshops and from different content teams needs to happen more frequently so that it is not being done sporatically.**


 * //Agree//**.

//Something that I have thought about and shared before is when we're planning the professional development for all content areas that there is some consistency across them so that teachers who are teaching all subjects are not overwhelmed with too many different things to try. - Mary//

3) Assessments are a focus of our conversations. Conversations and work center on student learning.


 * When we share "what works" in the context of differentiated instruction- "what works" with "what kind of students" we may be able to begin to build learning profiles for individual and groups of students as they move through our school. ...which leads naturally into item 4 below. --R

4) Focus on results - using data at the student level Timely - identifying kids who need additional time and support. A well-developed intervention plan - a shift from the focus on the logistics of the intervention to a focus on the learning of the students.
 * //I have an article on math intervention by Marilyn Burns. She states, "...instruction - for all students and especially for at-risk students - must emphasize understanding, sense making, and skills." I think intervention in all schools has typically focused on the logistics and basic skills -switching the focus to the learning of the students makes so much sense. I have a copy of the article (math focused) if anyone's interested. -Mary//