Working in Professional Learning Community (PLC)

A professional learning community (PLC) is a way to organize teachers into working groups. They can be organized by grade level, content area, common goal, or interest.

PLC allows educators opportunities to directly improve teaching and learning by 

• sharing successful instructional strategies
• brainstorming innovative ways to improve knowledge and drive student achievement. 
• helping each other to stay on top of new research and emerging technology tools for the classroom
• helping teachers reflect on ideas
• exposing members to different perspectives and ideas.
  

PLCs can build stronger relationships between team members and provide a network of support. 

The activities in this lab will provide you with tools to a good start. 

Purpose

The intention of this experience is for you to:

• Collaborate with peers in a professional learning team
• Build a safe, positive learning climate of openness, mutual respect,support, and inquiry.
• Develop shared values and expectations for respectful interactions, rigorous academic discussions, and individual and group responsibility for quality work.
• Promote each other’s learning and recognize the importance of peer relationships in establishing a climate of learning.
• Individually and collaboratively select and create learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals and content standards, and are relevant to learners
• Contribute to the knowledge and skill of others, and works collaboratively to advance professional practice.
• Takes initiative to grow and develop with colleagues through interactions that enhance practice and support student learning.

This activity aligns with:

• ISTE Standards for Educators: 2. 4a
• InTASC Standards for Pre-Service Teachers: 3a,c,n,o; 7a; 10 f, r

These activities engage skills found in these unit of the Google Educator Level 1 Training Connection:

• Unit 2: Expanding Your Access to Help and Learning
  • Build Your own Learning Network

Task and steps

Before functioning as an effective team, you must build a safe, positive learning climate and develop shared values and expectations.

Your task is to do just that! Talk, get to know each other personally and professionally, exchange contacts, and set team norms that foster mutual trust and respect for each other. Some of the best teams in the past consciously tried to meet outside the school setting (bowling, dancing, movie night out, team coffee, dinner or lunch, ice skating, escape room, sport event or activity). Maybe you will gain a new friend in the process.

To help you stay organized and practice a collaborative use of Google tools, you will create a team folder and use our template to follow the steps listed there.

1. Talk (connect) to each other and select one person in a team (liaison) to: 

• create a team folder in Google Drive (make sure to Login to Google for UNI with your CatID)
• invite the rest of the teammates as editors.
• make a copy of a "PLC Team Building and Work Form template" and move it to the team folder, so everyone has access. 
• Here is a link to the template (also linked from the course schedule)

2. Entire Team collaboration:

• access the copied PLC template 
• complete steps 1-3 
• you can revisit the video introduction assignment to learn more about your teammates.

Good communication is critical so educators can share opinions and feel that what they do in the classroom matters. 

Note: This team document will also guide you through the next group assignment: Designing the Thematic Unit of Instruction

You will stay with your PLC throughout the entire semester.