So many communities ... so little time. What makes a community successful? by Kevin Jarrett

So many communities ... so little time. What makes a community successful? by Kevin Jarrett

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Module 3 Evaluating the Impact of a PLC

As I read Martin-Kniep’s (2008) Evaluating the Growth and Expertise of community Members (p. 133-154), I begun to think about the outcomes that a Professional Learning Community (PLCA) can experience and how to measure those outcomes. Martin-Kniep provides several documents that can be used to measure growth and disposition. However, even though these documents are valuable and can serve as great tools; I am most interested in reading or hearing from real teachers about how PLC has changed their practice. Therefore, I begun to search for available resources that would have some of these components and I found All Things PLC . This is a site devoted to provide tools for the implementation of PLCs . It includes Blogs, literature resources, community locators as well as videos. All available for teachers to download. In fact, they encourage teachers to share them.

In this video, Resources and Leadership, we can observe a conversation among educators who are discussing the conditions they have encountered while implementing a PLC at their schools. Some of the common concerns educators have include: time and money. However, according to Dennis Sparks, these are not the real obstacles. Sparks states that the most significant drawback is the “habit of mind and behavior” and that the crucial point in any PLC is having the courage to begin a new course of action that has not been started before. Once the process has started, schools can see positive results within one year. As Richard DuFour affirms “the will to Act is the fundamental pre-requisite”.

Texas Educators Reflect on Their PLC Journey Middle/Secondary Teachers, includes a PLC panel discussion among intermediate and high school teachers while they are collaborating and sharing the benefits of PLC on their students’ achievement. These teachers consider their reflections, their goals and practices while working in partnership; and question their motives to teach how they do and why they hold the teaching philosophy they have. In addition, they share the changes they have made to their teaching practices and express the benefits of having a common time to collaborate.

The Caribbean and Spanish Class

As I continued to look for Blogs and ideas, I also encountered this Blog containing valuable information, pictures and current news about the Caribbean which I plan to use in my Spanish classes. I believe it will provide an authentic learning experience.

Blogging within a Professional Learning Community

In my search for ways to incorporate technology, I have encountered several Blogs written by educators that were thought provoking. The following Blog challenges us to consider blogging as a community learning tool. In fact, this site includes Blogs and comments from educators who are considering the same question. While some think that the fact that teachers do not Blog is due to the lack of support or understanding from their administrators, others feel they are not prepared to contribute in writing to a public audience. Regardless of the reason, I have chosen to share this link because I feel that before we embark on the incorporation of technology in the classroom we should re-examine our motives for doing so. Is it a matter of personal comfort level or resistance toward change?
Personally, I am finding that the benefits for collaboration surpass any old habits we may have and I can only wonder about the hidden benefits of blogging in students’ intellectual development.
http://www.storiesfromschool.org/2009/06/why-dont-all-teachers-blog.html#more

The journey

As educators we seem bombarded with questions about our practice. The more we reflect, the more we realize that there is room for improvement. In this technological era the topic of incorporating technology often comes to mind. Having tried various forms of media and technology in the classroom has afforded me the opportunity to observe the benefits of technology when used for the right reasons. It is not sufficient to replace how we do things but take into consideration a final outcome. Why incorporate technology? What do I expect to obtain from it? What changes do I expect to see in student academic achievement? How will this technology transfer into real life applications in my students’ lives? These are some of the questions I post myself. By creating this blog I hope to find ways to share my findings and collaborate with others that are as passionate about finding new ways to provide and improve students’ learning experiences. For a list of sites that I have incorporated and that have worked well in my Spanish classes visit the Delicious link.