...Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) have become common place within educational communities. PLC’s are a collection of educators working collaboratively towards a common goal to increase positive outcomes of students in the learning process. Educators may be involved in multiple groups of PLC’s pertaining to the different groups of students that they serve through their job descriptors. PLC’s were born out of the newest attempt of educational reform surrounding educational standards, in order to focus on best practices within the classroom that achieve the best outcomes. The following websites have been reviewed as a part of research into PLC’s. www.ascd.org The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development...
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...Professional Learning Communities,” (2014) the author, Celine Provini, defines a Professional Learning Community as a “whole-staff involvement in a process of reflection upon instructional practices and desired student benchmarks, as well as monitoring of outcomes to ensure success.” These “communities” have been becoming more prevalent as educators continue to focus on student achievement and professional growth. Provini adds “PLCs enable teachers to continually learn from one another via shared visioning and planning, as well as in-depth critical examination of what does and doesn’t work to enhance student achievement” (Provini, 2014). These ensembles of dedicated educators seek to enhance not only their...
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...second grade, I have been involved in community service that has supported numerous organizations. This passion for service has lasted far beyond my Eagle Scout project for the Durham Ronald McDonald House. While in college, I have taken on several large service learning projects and donated my time at a variety of organizations, such as: the Crisis Assistance Ministry, the Jamil Niner Student Pantry, the Historic Washington Heights Neighborhood, Second Harvest Food Bank, Charlotte Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Sow Much Good, Project Linus, and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern of North Carolina. Each semester, I look for new ways to get involved and give back to the community that has provided me so many amazing opportunities. One such service learning project that I completed was with the Crisis Assistance Ministry of Charlotte. This organization seeks to restore dignity and provide emergency help to those facing basic needs insecurities. Every month, clients are able to come to the Free...
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...The effects of service learning versus community service While service learning and community service are two very similar services, they are two very different entities and can teach us different moralities. Service learning attempts to intergrade schooling alongside community service in a wider range area. Community service is going around to close communities and simply helping out in different ways. They both achieve the aspects of helping the surrounding communities in a number of different ways. Service learning and community service have been studied by numerous psychologists. By doing so there has become a mountain of evidence suggesting that both service learning and community service promotes self-efficacy. Research reviewed by Richard Kraft and James Krug brought them to the conclusion that both approaches benefited students (Kraft & Krug, 1994). Although, similarities between the two leave them hard to tell apart from one to the other. It is the differences...
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...There is no universal definition for professional learning community. But we can see a wide range of definitions are exits in the professional learning community framework. PLC may have nuances of explanations in different contexts. Mitchell and Sackney (2000, as cited in Wang, 2018) interpret that “PLC is a set of people sharing and critically interrogating their practice in an ongoing, reflective, collaborative, inclusive, learning oriented, growth-promoting way.” Bolam et al (2005) describes “an effective PLC has the capacity to promote and susutain the learning of all professionals in the school community with the collective purpose of enhancing pupil learning”. According to Hipp and Huffman (2010, as sited in Wang, 2018) they see PLC as “professional educators working collectively and purposefully to create and sustain a culture of learning for all students and adults”. Another definition by Liberman and Miller (1999) describes PLC as “places in which teachers pursue clear shared purposes for student learning, engage in collaborative...
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...EDU 695 Week 5 DQ 2 Professional Learning Communities NEW To Buy This material Click below link http://www.uoptutors.com/edu-695-ash/edu-695-week-5-dq-2-professional-learning-communities-new Professional Learning Communities One component of the 21st Century Professional Development framework encourages sharing knowledge with fellow faculty, using face-to-face, virtual and blended communications. When we think of sharing knowledge, we often think of using professional learning communities. In several of your courses, the concept of a professional learning community (PLC) is presented and elaborated on. A professional learning community consists of individuals with an interest in eduction. The focus of a professional learning community can be taking measures to ensure students learn, creating a culture of collaboration in the school, for school improvement and more (DuFour, 2004). In this discussion, you will deliberate about the use of professional learning communities as they relate to the 21st Century Professional Development framework with an emphasis on technology. Initial Post: Think about the 21st Century Professional Development framework and technology when working in your mock professional learning community. Next, imagine your state legislatures have asked the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office to advise them regarding the creation of a blended professional learning community across the districts within the state. As an educator who is well versed in employing...
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...Participation Leading to Successful Students and Healthy Learning Communities Amanda Grand Canyon University: UNV 501 April 8, 2014 Online Participation Leads to Successful Students and Healthy Learning Communities Enrollment for online courses is climbing but the input from participants is not keeping up. For years, many have stated that active participation and becoming a part of the learning community in any educational setting is crucial, especially online, when it comes to successful completion. Participation is beneficial to the student, to the students’ grades, and to the learning community as a whole. The authors sought after evidence to show, “the importance of student online visibility apparent in the quantity and quality of participation” (Nagel, Blignaut, & Cronjé, 2009, 38). The study was conducted on a computer-integrated education Masters course that was 8 weeks long (Nagel et al., 2009). The course was presented fully online and consisted of students of varying age ranges. Reaserchers then chose a mixed methodology while conducting this research. This choice allowed them to explore various aspects within the course such as, students’ posts, online quizes, discusion posts, and exmination essays (Nagel et al., 2009). Many factors, for example, the amount of times participants accessed the course and discussions played a role in course completion and integration into the learing community (Nagel et al., 2009). Those who rarely were visible online...
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...Principles That Promote Learning Natalie White ORG 525 Mr. Foster September 4, 2002 Principles That Promote Learning Many of today’s schools are not organized to effectively support and encourage learning. Our existing administrative structures—often organized in a bureaucratic and hierarchical configuration, our value systems, and our professional training programs are often in conflict with the kind of systemic change that the times demand. Teachers are isolated, without opportunities to collaboratively solve problems, share information, learn together, and plan for improving student achievement. Too often, students are not provided with work that is engaging, that meets high academic standards, and that is challenging and satisfying. Time is not always utilized effectively, and technologies that could enhance teaching and learning are either not available or not fully utilized. And our educational leadership preparation programs have not prepared their graduates to identify, address, and resolve these issues. My finding articles “Sculpting the learning community: New forms of working and organization” by Karen E. Watkins and Victoria J. Marsick, talk about how “school are communities in which learning is supposed to take place, but they do not always function well as learning communities. The important of this article is that it gives one version of targets, key aspect of learning organizations as the basis for self-examination. As the learner read...
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...Module 1 DQ 1 I believe that the undergraduate learning experience is a period where there is the introduction to new information. This information is embedded in subject area of concentration that is delivered by the instructor. During this undergraduate period there is a change that happens in the mind of the student as they become familiar with the subject being studied. The student begins to adjust their thinking to the principles, terms and theories of the subject. In a graduate learning community the student has a level of knowledge that is now being expanded upon. The purpose of this in my opinion is to develop a level of mastery in the subject. The student also learns how to develop a deeper understanding of the subject that exceeds that of the undergraduate student and has the ability to develop ideas based on subject mastery that can possibly progress the development in that area of study going forward. I would describe a graduate learning community as a group of students and staff that share the same interests in objectives based on an area of study; that allow these people to learn, grow and develop together. In the learning community I believe that the key elements would include a malleable structured environment for learning that permits both the instructors and students to have input in the way in which the classes are designed. Learning communities must also promote an environment that creates a thirst for knowledge based on both instructor and student perspectives...
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... 1. Describe key areas of the selected company’s code of conduct that are of significant importance to the business, and explain why. State all the areas covered by the code of ethics. Describe each element in detail and explain why they are important to business. Discuss each area/ element in a specific paragraph. 2. Explain the key steps that the company should take to ensure that employees follow the code of conduct. Clearly state the steps the company should take to ensure that the employees follow the code of conduct. Discuss each step in detail. 3. Suggest three (3) ways in which the restaurant can engage in socially responsive activities in the community within which it operates. Specify three ways in which the restaurant can engage in socially responsive activities in the community in which it operates. Discuss each way in a specific paragraph. Describe the strategy and the advantage to the business. References Be sure to cite all your sources. Each reference must have a correspondent in-text citation. Here are examples of references (please deleted and replace...
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...be the best I possibly can in anything I set my mind to. I push myself to undertake activities and tasks that I know are difficult and I strive not only to complete them, but also to excel. Because of these natural tendencies, I believe the Curie learning community will be an excellent fit for me. It will challenge me with the added workload, and I will face these challenges head on. It will give me the opportunity to pursue my interests and better me as learn to overcome obstacles at Virginia Tech in my quest for higher education. I believe the Curie learning community will not only challenge me, but will also be a place where I can find support and...
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...theories, history, change, and influential people. For my final reflection, I have chosen professional learning communities, conflict, and motivation as the three topics that I will address. I chose these topics for many reasons, but the main reason for choosing was simply that I wanted to follow my heart. It was important to me to choose topics that I could relate to or that I had a vested interest in. These topics are also very relevant in my current working situation. Through this reflection, I hope to gain further insight to these topics and to build my capacity as an instructional leader. Overview of Topics Professional Learning Communities A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a group of educational professionals who come together to work collaboratively with the ultimate goal of improving student achievement. According to DuFour (2004), in a PLC, educators engage in on-going dialogue and questioning about teaching and learning. Engaging in meaningful collaborative conversations encourages deep professional learning, and this teacher learning may result in higher levels of student achievement (Dufour, 2004). The research conducted by Ferguson (2013) explored the struggles faced by a school administration in implementing a PLC. The study found that in spite of all of the frustrations associated with implementation, creating a professional learning communities created a more collaborative culture in which teachers worked together to benefit all...
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...that the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) will be the most promising path for sustained and substantive improvement of our school. According to DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker (2008), leaders can take comfort in knowing that there is abundant research to support PLCs. The function of the instructional leader is to teach the employees what the characteristics of a learning organization are and how to achieve these characteristics within the organization. A true leader uses their power for good and gets their faculty on their side not by manipulation, but by taking the personal power route to gain full support and trust from his or her employees. Culture for organizational culture is a set of values, norms, and practices that prevail in an organization transformation-based direction of turnaround. This means enhancing the coordination between the people and to match resources with environment and capabilities. Cultural values are often embedded in people through their direct experience with family, most important, and thereafter in social groups of which they often perceived to be associated with. DuFour et al. (2008) stated that a leader could present the following findings from researchers both inside and outside education to convince those who find research persuasive. Schools should be reorganized to become authentic learning establishments for both learners and educators; establishments that value learning, respect education, and educate for understanding...
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... As an assignment to reorganize this learning organization to be a more professional learning community there will be numerous suggestions submitted that will make this change happen. Even though these changes will cause a great deal of pain and discomfort in some, overall the goals of this plan are to move the organization to the next level and make us a more acceptable educational institution. Hopefully, this will strengthen our capacity and we will be able to grow substantially because of these changes. As you may or may not know, the basis of many of these changes will be taken from suggestions made from the work of DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker’s research which has taken many years of research and development. These suggestions will serve as the framework into our new future and will serve us for years to come. The Professional Learning Communities (PLC) concept As a development design the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) concept will be employed as the foundation to the schools reorganization. How does and what exactly is PLC as it relates to reorganization will be described as follows: In order to better understand PLC a clearer view of learning organizations will assist in this process. Learning organizations are united by a shared vision of student and staff learning together. They have common values of respect, along with a caring and shared value system. These types of school communities are known as learner-centered oriented and are committed...
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...GIFTED CHILD TODAY Features Avenues to Professional Learning Online Technology Tips and Tools for Professional Development in Gifted Education Catherine A. Little1 and Brian C. Housand2 Abstract: The use of online methods for professional development activities is on the rise, with more schools exploring creative ways of providing teacher learning opportunities. Online professional development offers a promising direction for providing increased learning opportunities, promoting professional collaboration, and supporting teacher facility with technology resources. In gifted education, online activities may present effective ways of connecting gifted education professionals across multiple schools and districts and providing professional learning experiences in gifted education for colleagues in general education. In this article, the authors discuss key features of professional development and considerations for applying them in an online learning context. The authors emphasize the importance of coherence with the curriculum, active engagement, sustained attention, and administrative support. They then discuss five avenues or approaches for implementing online professional development, representing a range of interactive elements and opportunities for blending live and online components. Within each avenue presented, the authors share specific resources that would support implementation in the professional learning context. “ Online activities may present effective...
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