4d: Participating in a Professional Learning Community

Schools are, first of all, environments to promote the learning of students. But in promoting student learning, teachers must work with their colleagues to share strategies, plan joint efforts, and plan for the success of individual students. Schools are, in other words, professional organizations for teachers, with their full potential realized only when teachers regard themselves as members of a professional community. This community is characterized by mutual support and respect, as well as by recognition of the responsibility of all teachers to be constantly seeking ways to improve their practice and to contribute to the life of the school. Inevitably, teachers’ duties extend beyond the doors of their classrooms and include activities related to the entire school or larger district, or both. These activities include such things as school and district curriculum committees or engagement with the parent-teacher organization. With experience, teachers assume leadership roles in these activities.

Danielson, C. 2013

Artifact 4d-1

Instructional Map & Collaboration Log Week 6.pdf

Collaboration Log

This collaboration log was a result of my literacy practicum. In this practicum, I collaborated with my co-teacher and the teacher who taught the same group of students on alternate days of the week. This was a valuable experience for me because it allowed me to develop effective communication skills, helped me share strategies that had worked for me with my students, and listen to and adopt strategies that my partners shared that worked for them. I grew so much as a result of this collaboration. As a unit, we were able to jointly plan lessons and behavior management strategies that helped our students learn to the best of their abilities. Additionally, throughout the semester I was able to see how our collaboration helped the three of us to become better teachers, collaborators, and planners.

Artifact 4d-2

Case Study Maria 11th Grade.pdf

Literacy Case Study

The creation of this case study was the result of my collaboration with two other teacher candidates. The experience of creating this case study was invaluable. In this case study, the three of us graded the video assessments of a student’s reading abilities, assessed her reading level, and offered different teaching methods, activities, and even books that could help strengthen this student’s reading abilities. Through this case study, I learned the different ways that teachers could come together to assess a student’s needs and provide different recommendations for that student based off of their unique backgrounds and interests. I was able to learn about different literacy strategies and methods for implementing them, that I would not have otherwise learned about, if it had not been for my partners. Working together, we were able to create a strong case study that I believe would benefit a student like the one we used for the case study. Due to the nature of this assignment, it was never actually implemented in a classroom. However, I would love to implement a plan like this in my future classroom if it was needed, and I would not hesitate to reach out to my colleagues for advice or recommendations because of this experience. As teachers, we are stronger when we work together.

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