Professional Learning Community Resources
This quote from the ALL Things PLC website provides a clear and comprehensive definition of a Professional Learning Community (PLC):
A Professional Learning Community is “an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.”
In many schools today, teachers are engaged in activities that are being called PLCs that are really something else—perhaps professional working communities (PWCs). Much of my writing, presentations, and facilitations are geared toward getting teachers to ask the question, “What do students need us to learn?”
Blogs and Podcasts:
Can a PLC Group of Teachers Become a Team?
The word team is frequently used in schools to describe various groupings of people that are working under different understandings of what their […]
Introducing Peer Coaching
I had a request to assist a team of teacher leaders who had accepted the task of providing an introduction of peer coaching […]
Connecting Vulnerability and Trust
Adam Grant conducted an interview around how trust works and how it can be built, with Daniel Coyle, the author of “The Culture […]
Coaching to Extend Professional Learning
In an earlier blog, I shared results from the Research Partnership for Professional Learning, Building Better Professional Learning: How to Strengthen Teacher Learning. […]
Developmental Stages for Leaders and PLCs
In a paper that focuses on developing leaders, Nick Petrie, illustrates that our thinking is influenced by our developmental stages similar to Piaget’s […]
PLCs to Strengthen Teachers’ Professional Learning
A recent white paper, published by Research Partnership for Professional Learning, “Building Better Professional Learning: How to Strengthen Teacher Learning” reinforced the importance […]
Coaching, Teaching, and Learning Like an Innovator and an Entrepreneur
I stumbled across a TEDX video, titled The Power of Wonder: by Jeff Hoffman, who is a global entrepreneur, CEO, motivational speaker, author, […]
Peer Coaching Extending The Depth of PLC Learning
One of my ongoing coaching projects is with a group of teacher leaders who have the title of PLC Leads. They facilitate grade […]
Generating Long Term Increased Learning
I found this diagram in a white paper from NWEA, titled From Survive to Thrive: Why partnership is an Essential for School Improvement. […]
Learning Through Learning Walks
Guest Blog: Tracy Fasick I have had the pleasure of working with Tracy and the staff at Manheim Central School District over the […]
Perspective, Assumptions, and Decision-Making in PLC Collaboration
In a Ted Talk video, Patrick Cisler and Patrick Moran raise three areas for self-reflection as you collaborate that I believe are applicable […]
Professional Learning Conversations
I focused on the phrase “professional learning conversations” while reading an article by Dr. Kristine Needham titled 5 Conversations for Professional Growth. She […]
Noise, Grades, and Evaluations
I had another one of those connecting insights moments while on my daily walk, listening to a podcast. I had been in a […]
Iteration and Falling
I have written blogs and posted podcasts on building teachers’ professional growth plans and professional learning community goals around hypotheses and evidence collection. […]
Facilitating the End of Meetings
Elizabeth Doty writing on the website, Strategy + Business, explored the need to end meetings with clear decisions and shared commitments. She writes, […]
The Push Classroom Vs. The Pull Classroom
I was intrigued as I read Drew Perkins post, Are You Pushing Or Pulling Students In Your Classroom? In the post, he provides […]
Podcast: PLC+ With Nancy Frey & Doug Fisher
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve is joined by Professors of Educational Leadership at San Diego […]
Podcast: Coaches Working With PLCs
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve looks at the role of coaches in PLCs. Read “The […]
Collaboration Building Teacher Efficacy
“Collective teacher efficacy refers to the collective self-perception that teachers in a given school make an educational difference to their students over and […]
Instructional Coaches Working with PLCs and Teaching Teams
This is the second of three blogs illustrating how coaches can apply the backwards process of connecting the desired student learning production behaviors […]
Year-End Goal Setting
Much of my work with PLCs includes setting learning goals for students and then collaborating to plan the paths to achieve those learning […]
Identifying and Respecting Teachers’ Goals and Values
As coaches and instructional leaders work with teachers individually and in PLC’s, it’s important to recognize what teachers want to accomplish as they […]
Podcast: Creating PLC Conversations That Increase Collective Responsibility
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve looks at how to create conversations in PLCs that increase […]
PLC Conversations That Build Shared Responsibility for Student Success
For PLCs to move from functioning as franchises to teams requires conversations built around student work. Teacher collaboration to strategize for student success […]
Podcast: Multi-Age Learning Environments
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve is joined by principal Todd Sumner, and teachers, Maria Cuna […]
Teacher Goals and Shared Student Achievement Outcomes
Using a backwards planning process reinforces that teachers develop their decisions/plans by beginning with the identification of student learning outcome goals. Teachers have […]
Podcast: Involving Teachers or Empowering Teachers?
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve is joined by Kelly Hastings, Principal at Young Junior High […]
Podcast: Leading With Stories
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve discusses how using stories can bring power and meaning to […]
Podcast: Some Thoughts on Mentoring: Supporting Beginning Teachers
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve ponders how to best support and mentor beginning teachers. Subscribe […]
Podcast: Administrators Modeling Vulnerability & Continuous Improvement
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve is joined by Ben Weinberg, Headmaster at American School of […]
School Leaders: Getting Teacher Input or Empowering Teachers
In an earlier blog from August 2017, I explored the topic of leaders empowering PLCs. I included in that blog lists from Mindsteps identifying compliant […]
Teaching and Learning Through Analysis
Analysis frequently precedes appraisal, evaluation, or problem solving. When analyzing we are separating into parts, groups or elements. Often a generalization or understanding […]
Podcast: Multi-Year Teacher Collaboration
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve ponders “Multi-Year Teacher Collaboration.” Listen as Steve discusses how increasing […]
Teachers Observing Teaching
How do we get teachers to be more open to observing in each other’s classrooms and discussing their thoughts and ideas with each […]
Podcast: Building Team Effectiveness
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve ponders “Building Team Effectiveness.” Listen as Steve contemplates how teachers […]
Podcast: Celebrating a School Success
In this week’s episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve is joined by Melanie Martinez & Angie Koser from Wharton […]
Administrators’ and Instructional Coaches’ Involvement in PLCs
From time to time, I am asked about how administrators should be involved in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). I’ve written an earlier blog, […]
Driving Action from Mission and Vision
A recent post from Seth Godin led me to reflect on leading others and guiding my own actions with reflection on mission and […]
Facilitating Conversations: Empowering Teams
Conversations among teachers are critical to real change occurring in classrooms. Instructional coaches and teacher leaders are often tasked with facilitating team or […]
Grade Level Meeting or PLC
Teacher: “I used to go to a grade-level meeting and now I go to a PLC. What’s the difference?” Professional Learning Communities are […]
Empowering PLCs
I just finished reading Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani. I recommend it for teachers […]
Leadership Teams
A blog on the Gates’ Foundation website explores 4 Ways that Leadership Teams Create Conditions for Success in Schools. Here are the four with […]
Podcast: Supporting or Hijacking Professional Learning Communities
In the fourth episode of the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast, Steve ponders “Supporting or Hijacking Professional Learning Communities.” Listen as Steve […]
Leaders and Teacher Collective Efficacy
My current reading is Jenni Donohoo’s book, Collective Efficacy: How Educators’ Beliefs Impact Student Learning. “Collective teacher efficacy refers to the collective self-perception […]
Collaboration Skills
I read with great interest a white paper titled, Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration. As a teacher […]
Soft Skills for Students and Teachers
During the past four years, I have had the opportunity to work with school leadership and teachers in the Bismarck, North Dakota district. […]
Focusing on Learning
How do school leaders continuously guide the flow of teacher conversations, PLC’s and planning from a focus on teaching to a focus on […]
Teacher Leaders—Middle Leaders
I was asked to facilitate a day-long session of middle leaders for a K12 school. As I gathered information about the participants, I […]
How Mastery Oriented Are Your PLC Conversations?
If we recorded the conversations during your PLCs, how much of the language would be identified as being mastery oriented vs self-limiting? In […]
PLCs: From Data to Action
I recently worked with several PLCs looking at how to take data they had regarding student learning and use it to decide, “What […]
Facilitating Reflection
Reflection can provide a valuable learning experience for individuals and teams. Simon Sinek identifies its value in this short clip. “Reflection turns experience […]
A Vision for PLCs
Over the past few weeks I have met with teachers who are new to working in professional learning communities. I find that I […]
PLC or PWC?
I have begun describing many of the meetings I observe that are labeled PLC as more correctly defined as a PWC….professional working community. […]
PLCs and Coaching for Teacher and Student Learning
I recently conducted a workshop with teacher leaders exploring their role in facilitating PLCs with their colleagues and the next day, in another […]
Instructional Coaching and School Improvement Plans
I’ve been facilitating meetings with instructional coaches who are planning the focus of their work for the year in connection to their school’s […]
Innovation for Teaching and Learning
A project that I currently have underway has me examining the role of innovation for students, teachers, and school leaders. One of the […]
A Collaborative Continuous Improvement Culture
I spent a day with a middle school staff exploring the need for and strategies to create a continuous improvement culture. I thought […]
Learning PLC Skills and Practices by Doing PLCs
Over the last several months I have had requests from some school leaders to provide a day or two day training for their […]
Value from Coaching and Collaboration
A blog post on Ed Surge by Karen Johnson , 5 Things Teachers Want from PD, and How Coaching and Collaboration Can Deliver […]
Reframing a Gripe to a Goal
Michael Shapiro posted a blog titled, Converting a Gripe into a Goal, for Small Business Daily. He presented the work of speaker, Mike Murray,….“ […]
Building Trust…Purposeful Actions
Trust Noun — firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Synonyms: confidence, belief, faith, certainty, assurance, conviction, credence; […]
Innovations in Learning
I recently retweeted a blog by Wil Richardson that received many retweets of my retweet. Here is the statement from his blog that […]
Coaches and PLCs
This week I took part in a twitter chat with #esc11coach examining the work of coaches with PLCs. (You can find the entire […]
Questions and Discussion in PLCs
I’m reading Questions for Classroom Discussion by Jackie Acree Walsh and Beth Dankert Sattes. The authors report that “questions and discussion work in […]
How Do Educational Leaders Respond?
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission released a troubling statistic that 44% of public school teachers in the state leave within the first five […]
Learning Process
Over the past years I have had an increasing focus on the student behaviors that produce desired learning results. My classroom observations and […]
Videos:
Professional Learning for Student Achievement
Teaching as a Team sport in a Public Act: Why are Teams Critical for Student Learning?
Professional Learning Communities
End of the Year Goal Setting as Team Building: A Vertical Elementary School Example
What’s the difference between “sharing” and “teaming”?
Other Downloads:
Blog Archive:
- School Leadership Team Goal-Setting
- PLCs: From Data to Action
- A Vision for PLCs
- PLC or PWC?
- PLCs and Coaching for Teacher and Student Learning
- Learning PLC Skills and Practices by Doing PLCs
- Coaches and PLCs
- Questions and Discussion in PLCs
- VIDEO: Changes in Teacher Behavior
- Peer Coaching and PLCs
- Instructional Coaches and Professional Learning Communities
- Facilitating Conversations: Empowering Teams
- Case Study: The Austin Independent School District
- Driving Action from Mission and Vision
- Why Teams?
- Teaching and Learning Through Analysis
- A Conversation with Jim Knight
- PLCs: Playpen or Playground
- Teacher Goals and Shared Student Achievement Outcomes
- PLC Conversations That Build Shared Responsibility for Student Success
- Year-End Goal Setting
- Collaboration Building Teacher Efficacy
- Building Collegiality With a Three-Year Commitment to Students
- Planning Questions for Coaching Conferencing and PLC Facilitation