Professional Learning Communities

 

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a collaborative group that promotes adult learning in order to improve teaching and increase students’ success in learning.  Implementation of effective PLCs requires intentional and focused approaches to PLC structures and process. Listed below are examples of specific workshops that build the capacity of teams to communicate, collaborate and learn in community.

 

Contact Mary Bouley: [email protected]

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Active Listening

By understanding the non-verbal elements of rapport as well as the basics of effective paraphrasing, participants end the session with new skills to practice in order to support the thinking of others through excellent listening.

Seven Norms of Collaboration

These norms for teams are an element of Adaptive Schools (Garmston and Wellman), and include the specific skills and attitudes required in order to create a safe and effective environment for thinking and communicating in a group.

 

“When the seven norms of collaborative work become an established part of group life and group work, cohesion, energy, and commitment to shared work and to the group increase dramatically…..As they become established within the working substrate, they teach and remind all group members, both veterans and newcomers, that this is the way we talk to each other around here.”

The Adaptive School, Garmson and Wellman

Data Driven Dialogue: Collaborative Inquiry

Participants learn specific processes and strategies in order to facilitate meaningful inquiry and support the positive exchange of ideas.  The collaborative inquiry cycle leads to shared meaning around data and reinforces the role of data in creating and answering questions around teaching and learning. Student data, teacher data and parent quality survey data are examples of data sets that can be used to guide powerful discussion and decision-making.

Protocols for Student Work

A protocol consists of agreed upon guidelines for a conversation. PLCs benefit from this type of structure as it leads to very focused conversations. Teams select protocols for looking at student and/or adult work, giving and receiving feedback, solving problems or dilemmas, and observing classrooms or peers in order to push thinking on a given issue and to structure a discussion around a text.

Teacher Leadership

In her book Leadership Capacity for Lasting School Improvement, Linda Lambert says, “Indeed, leadership can be understood as reciprocal, purposeful learning in a community.”  Based on this work, participants consider their own definitions of leadership and consider “leadership capacity” as it relates to their team, school staff, students and parents.  By expanding the definitions of leadership, PLCs can create environments and opportunities for all stakeholders to contribute their energy and intelligence to school improvement efforts.

Appreciative Team Building

Using the book “Appreciate Team Building: Positive Questions to Bring Out the Best of Your Team” (Whitney, Trosten-Bloom, Cherney and Fry), participants learn about the basics of Appreciative Inquiry and how to use strength-based questions to bring about shared meaning, innovation and collaboration in any PLC.  Appreciative interviews create a positive foundation for conversations and have application in K-12 classrooms as well as PLCs.

The Brain at Work

Based on the work of David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus and Working Smarter All Day Long, participants learn about why the brain feels so taxed and how to manage mental resources in order to maintain focus, make good decisions and influence others.  Understanding the neurobiology of the brain helps us implement specific strategies needed to ensure healthy behavior.  The implications for understanding these dynamics for K-12 students are also explored.

Managing Change

“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions.”

William Bridges, Transitions

 

The work of PLCs is often grounded in change.  An explicit approach to change and transitions supports groups as they examine their own behaviors and attitudes.  For things to change, people need to behave differently.  For behavior to change, people need to think differently.

 

CUSTOMIZED WORKSHOPS BASED ON PLC NEEDS AND GOALS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

PCL COACHING SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

 

 
 
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