Establishing a 1

Continuous PLC

Establishing a Continuous Professional Learning Culture

Michelle Williams
Grand Canyon University: EAD 513
May 16, 2018
Establishing a 2
Continuous PLC

Sharing Professional Learning

Whole - Faculty Study Groups

Whole faculty study groups focus on collaborative learning. Whole Faculty study groups

integrate professional development into professional learning communities. According to

Murphy and Lick, “It links or connects professional development on curriculum, instruction, and

classroom assessment to collaborative teams of teachers working together to apply their new

learning to the student needs they are addressing through their study group action plans”. Before

beginning PLC’s I would begin by planning professional development. I would provide a survey

to teachers to see what area they feel they need professional development as well as use data

collected. I would then research various professional development opportunities within the

district and ask teachers if they feel it would be of benefit to them. I would assign grade levels

and departments to attend given staff development. When teachers attend a staff development

opportunity, they will return to the school and share what they have learned via Power Point,

Pezi Presentation or Live Lesson Meeting. During the presentations, the expectations would be

that the presenters provide handouts, PowerPoint and Prezi notes from the attended workshops.

Included must be a question and answer sessions. Strategies on how to incorporate information

leaned would also be discussed.

Embedding Shared Information into Classroom Practice

As I principal, I feel that sending each grade level, teacher or team to a designated

professional development would be beneficial to the team attending and the staff. For example,

the Exceptional Children’s Department would be assigned to attend a workshop on

Individualized Education Plan (IEP), because that is their subject of expertise. They would then
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Continuous PLC

present during a PLC, IEP 101, which would provide teacher with information of collecting data

and why it is important to for each student’s IEP. Teachers attending the PLC would visually see

examples on how to collect data daily in their classrooms. They would also receive the tools for

collecting data. As a principal leader, I would step in to let the attending teachers know that these

are things that I will be looking for as I observe. Teachers would also be expected to bring the

collected data to IEP meetings, as this data would be used to develop new IEP goals for students.

I would send the counselors to a behavior support workshop. They would also present to the

school after attending. Information shared would be strategies for handling specific behaviors

and tools for documentation and data collection. With assistance from counselors and myself,

teachers would be expected to implement strategies learned and collect data on outcomes. Data

would be presented in PLC’s positives and discussions for improvements would be had. All

teachers would be expected to share strategies that they used in their classroom from the

counselor’s presentation. Success of implementation would also be evident through less behavior

referrals to the office. The same would hold true for grade levels being sent to an assigned staff

development. They would present to the staff. As an administrator, I would assign 1 task for the

teachers to focus on from the presentation and collect data. I would reiterate that I will be

looking for implementation during observations. During PLC,s discussions would be had about

what went well and what changes needed to be made.

Providing Reflective Feedback

I would ask that teachers who attended the assigned staff development develop and

shared at the previous PLC create a Google survey. Results would be shared in the next week’s

Professional Learning Communities. From my observations, I would also call on several teachers
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Continuous PLC

who successfully implemented the strategy or new skill to share how they chose to implement

given strategies with the team. The team would also provide feedback and ask questions. I would

also ask teachers with whom the strategy did not go so well to share (This would be voluntarily

as not to put teachers on the spot.) Suggestions for improvement would be offered during the

PLC.

Timelines for Sharing Information, Implementing Concepts, and Monitoring Professional

Learning Outcomes

Present Provide
Strategies Implement-
ing Concepts Feedback
Week Monitoring At next
following Within 1
week of Outcomes scheduled
Attending 1-2 weeks PLC
workshop receiving
information

Rationale
My professional learning communities would be used for professional development that

is aligned to standards. Wenger, McDermott & Snyder define professional learning communities

as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who

deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.”

Staff will present information learned from workshops attended. Staff will have opportunities to

provide input, feedback, questions, providing examples of successes and implementation

strategies. The profession of teaching is ever growing. There are always improvements to be

made and new information and strategies to learn. Educators need to acquire the skills and

strategies through attending workshops and educational conferences. “Professional learning

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Continuous PLC

experiences that focus on the links between particular teaching activities and valued student

outcomes are associated with positive impacts on those outcomes.” (Timperley 2008)

Works Cited

Blankenship, S. S., & Ruona, W. E. A. (2007). Professional learning communities and communities of
practice: A comparison of models, literature review., 8. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED504776.pdf

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work: New
insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Murphy, C. & Lick, D. (2004). Whole-faculty study groups: Creating professional learning communities
that target student learning, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Timperley, Helen. (2008). International Academy of Education: Teacher Professional learning

and development. http://www.curtin.edu.au/curtin/dept/smec/iae

Wenger, E., McDermott, R. & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Boston: Harvard
Business School Press.