PLNs

at
FCS
Innovation
Academy
(IA)

Dr. Kevin Graziano ITEC 7460 Spring 2023

Professional Learning
Networks (PLNs)

Professional learning
networks (PLNs) are online They are one of the most
communities of educators effective ways for
who come together to educators to grow
share resources, exchange professionally and keep
ideas, and collaborate on up-to-date with the latest
teaching and learning trends and best practices
in their field.
initiatives.
 One of the key benefits for me with
PLNs has been the access to a wealth of
resources and information.
My
Experience People in these networks have shared
with PLNs lesson plans, best practices, and
educational research with me. They
also connect with other educators to
ask questions, seek advice, and
collaborate on projects, which helps me
feel like I am part of a larger network.
 District PLNs
Computer Science Teachers Associations of Georgia – This network brings
together teachers that join, engage, and lead computer science education within
and beyond their classrooms.

CTAE Teacher Network – Teachers in Career Technology and Agricultural

Education work together to create hands-on, real-world opportunities for
students in IT, Engineering, Healthcare, Culinary Arts, and Agriculture.

Vanguard – This group of teachers focuses on instructional technology. Their goal

is to build the capacity of their colleagues and support them in personalized,
differentiated learning and the meaningful use of technology in the classroom.

Technology Student Association (TSA) – While this is a Career Technology

Student Organization (CTSO, TSA offers opportunities for teachers to support
student projects and serve as judges in competitions and conferences.
Local PLNs at FCS Innovation Academy
Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) – The department chairs of all core departments as well as CTAE – Engineering,
Healthcare, and IT – meet with the principal and three assistant principals to discuss and plan the vision of the
school.

PBIS Team – At IA, we use RISE awards as a way to honor students who show Respect, Integrity, Success, and
Excellence. A student at our school designed the graphics for these awards, and students are nominated by
teachers. The students then serve as tour guides and leaders in our school.

Design Thinking (DT) Teacher Team – These teachers represent various departments in the school and use the
design thinking framework to select and review an issue at the school. By utilizing our school’s thinking
framework, we can build empathy with students’ experiences.

Mentorship Program – This program connects teachers with students, but it also offers teachers a network to
connect and support one another. In particular, new teachers partner with mentors to get guidance on their
growing careers at the school.

Professional Learning Committees (PLCs) – Teachers connect based on the courses and standards they teach for
professional development and curriculum creation. The department chair leads these meetings.

Principal Feedback Committee – This team of teachers meets monthly to review feedback to and from the principal
in order to align leadership goals with the interests of teachers and staff.
 Current PLN Participation
While I currently participate in a
number of our PLNs, I am most
interested in growing my role in
the Design Thinking Teacher
Team. This hand-selected group
represents various departments
at our school, and teachers
come together under the design
thinking process to discover and
study an issue on campus.
This semester, we have selected
to study the foundations 9th
grade course that is intended to
introduce freshmen to the IA
experience and offer them base
skills in the three pathways we
offer: Healthcare, IT, and
Engineering.
Goals for PLN Participation

• My role on the Design Thinking Team has been to offer a bit of insight as
a Career Technology teacher while remaining unbiased about the
empathy interviews that we conduct.
• While we study the introductory freshmen course, I have taken on the
role of explaining the course from the teacher perspective while listening
to the input other teachers have given to restructure the course.
• I’d like to take a more active role in the solution that we decide to
implement this year. Our focus is to develop a more structured
curriculum for the course in the coming year so teachers can place more
effort on cross-curricular opportunities and the depth of knowledge in
their content area.
 The Design Thinking
Teacher Team PLN
FCS
Innovation
Academy
(IA)
PLN Reflection 2 Dr. Kevin Graziano ITEC 7460 Spring 2023
OVERALL REFLECTION OF PLN PARTICIPATION
Thus far, being a part of the Design Thinking teacher team has been rewarding in
that we have built a close-knit group of teachers that can focus on our school’s mission
and vision through our introductory, foundational course (GT Block). We realize the
impact and importance of this course, and it is especially important to me because
the course represents 2/3 of my teaching schedule.
It has been enjoyable to work with the other teachers and get insight on the course
from different disciplines and grade levels. Additionally, working on this team has
helped me build a stronger relationship with our Assistant Principal that oversees our
Career Technology department, which has helped me in my career because I feel
better supported in my endeavors at the school.
 Our Focus and Learnings
• During our time in this PLN, we have been discussing the GT Block course, which is a foundational
course at our school for freshmen. While we initially saw this course as a space for students to gain
insight into the three pathways our school offers, conversations with our principal shed light that the
course’s intention is to train students in the skills that will make them successful at our STEM Magnet
high school.
• We learned there was a great deal of miscommunication with the course, which led to great frustration
with the course’s teachers. In particular, there is not available curriculum, and teachers experience a
great deal of burnout from teaching the course.
• As a group of teachers, our PLN has been able to share the experiences of conducting “empathy
interviews” with stakeholders in the GT Block course. We have looked at the course through various
lenses. Additionally, we set aside some time to better train ourselves in the Design Thinking (DT)
process by attending a session at the High Museum of Art!
OPPORTUNITIES

 Through this teacher team, I have been able to extend my DT experience by

coaching a student group through a competition. The four students redesigned
the Atlanta Falcons Kids Club experience and placed 2nd in the county in their
category.
 Though the scheduling was difficult, I was able to attend a meeting with other GT
Block teachers and other teachers from our PLN to present our struggles with the
course to education consultants. Our meeting helped me strengthen my voice at
the school and take leadership of the planning and direction of the course.
 Challenges
• Connecting back with GT Block teachers and presenting our findings and plan for
improvement is a process that is requiring a great deal of iteration. The initial feedback has
not been welcome because it seems the suggestions of bringing in outside consultants
does not fit the needs of the teachers.
• Finding the commitment to attend our bi-monthly meetings on time and gather quality
conversation from our 30-minute meeting times has meant that we can often feel
disconnected between our meetings.
• It has been difficult to be authentic in the DT process and following up with our empathy
interviews or testing by presenting our prototype to teachers at our school.
• We have uncovered a few branches that contribute to the frustration around teaching the
course, so it has been difficult to focus our problem statement and action plan.
 Progress
• The benefits and progress of this PLN are seen in the conversations that we are having about
the direction of GT Block to a depth we have not previously had. A team of teachers has
come together to improve the course, and administration supports the time and energy it
takes for us to share our concerns and understand our problem.
• To improve the role and effect of the PLN, we should formalize our plan for activating
change with the course. One proposition is to have teachers that teach the course come in to
build content and curriculum throughout the summer when we have more capacity to craft
the course. This proposition has not yet been detailed, so it would help for us to meet with
administration to create a productive and specific plan of action. Our initial thought was to
help with the curriculum ourselves, but we have realized the importance of the teachers in
the course themselves create the experience they want to guide with students.
 The Design Thinking
Teacher Team PLN
FCS
Innovation
Academy
(IA)
PLN Artifacts 3 Dr. Kevin Graziano ITEC 7460 Spring 2023
 Falcons Kids Club: County-wide Competition
• I mentioned in my reflection that I was a lead coach for a Design Thinking competition with the
student group that works in parallel to our PLN. The below artifacts show how we utilized different
websites, Microsoft programs, and Teams to connect with people that work directly with the
program so that our redesign would be targeted and relevant. While I coordinated the interview
with the program lead, I also showed leadership in my coaching and guidance with the
students, who created and performed the presentation themselves.
 Leadership in the GT Block PLC
• Though we are still determining the formal Professional Learning Committee (PLC)
lead for the GT Block course, I have become the liaison between the Design Thinking
Teacher team and the GT Block teachers. I have led the team in a way that helps
bridge the conversation between the empathy interviews we held as a PLN and the
responses we gave as GT Block teachers.
• I lead the conversations with our PLN now to help guide the direction we take with the
solution portion of our project.
• The below artifact shows our prototype we developed as a solution on our Design Thinking teacher
team PLN. We completed this planning process with a student team to get student feedback, and
we presented this to teachers at our school as a kickoff to the course in the fall. We are still working
on the prototype before we finalize it, so I will continue to help lead the team.

Prototype for GT Block Course

 2023-2024 School Year: Course Plan
• The below snippet of a project plan emphasizes a specific component of my
leadership of the PLN through the focus on Digital Portfolios. Through the PLN
discussions, we have learned that there is a gap with developing soft skills that are
necessary for freshmen at my school. Thus, the implementation of a digital
portfolio throughout the course will help employ a greater reflective skill set in
students for them to showcase their work during our unit that already focuses on
website design. The November plan involves other teachers in the school to better
integrate communication about the course, one of the pain points we discovered
in our interviews.
Summer Course Lead

• I will actually extend my role as the leader of this PLN because of the role I
will play with the organization of the course and the preparation of course
materials during this summer before the 2023-2024 school year. This was a
portion of the solution we had been planning, so the details are still
uncertain and require approval from administration. However, my
leadership for the PLN will continue to help connect our empathy research
as a Design Thinking team to the materials we develop in the summer.