The Professional Learning Communities at Work Plan Book

Winner: Association of Educational Publishers Distinguished Achievement Award, 2007

This plan book combines 40 weekly planning pages and space for eight class periods with ideas and activities to help teachers and their collaborative teams work together to address crucial, teacher-specific PLC concepts. It presents essential school improvement tips and inspirational testaments to last the entire academic year.

Benefits:

• Get an overview of the three big ideas that shape a PLC, cultural shifts that schools can expect, and keys to building high-performing collaborative teams.
• Use forms and reproducibles to work with teams more effectively and to collect and organize information about students and classes.
• Equip yourself with 40 weeks of planning pages, which include activities to inform, inspire, and challenge you as an educator.
• Gain a list of professional development opportunities and resources for further study.
• Implement critical PLC concepts into lesson plans that focus on learning for both students and adults.

Contents:

• What Is a "Professional Learning Community"?
• Cultural Shifts in a PLC
• Building High-Performing Collaborative Teams That Focus on Learning
• Critical Issues for Team Consideration (Reproducible)
• Team Feedback Sheet (Reproducible)
• Student Achievement SMART Goal-Setting Worksheet (Reproducible)
• Survey on Team Norms (Reproducible)
• Team Information
• Year-at-a-Glance Guide
• Class Roster
• Seating Charts
• Substitute Teacher Information
• Holidays and Birthdays
• Weekly Planning Pages

Rebecca (Becky) DuFour, MEd, served as a teacher, school administrator, and central office coordinator. As a former elementary principal, she helped her school earn state and national recognition as a model Professional Learning Community at Work™ and as a National Blue Ribbon School. She coauthored twelve books, numerous articles, and several video resources on the topic of PLCs.

Serving as a consultant for more than sixteen years, Becky brought over thirty-six years of professional experience to her work with educators around the world who are implementing the PLC process in their own organizations. Becky was the recipient of the Evelyn P. Bickham Award, Outstanding Undergraduate Alumni Award of Lynchburg College. She consulted with professional organizations, schools, districts, universities, and departments of education.

To learn more about Becky's work, visit AllThingsPLC.info.

Richard DuFour, EdD, in a distinguished career spanning four decades, was a public-school educator, serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. A prolific author and consultant, he was recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process in their schools and districts. Over the course of his career, he was the author of numerous books, including the best-selling Professional Learning Communities at Work™, Learning by Doing, and In Praise of American Educators.

During his 19-year tenure as a leader at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Stevenson was one of only three schools in the nation to win the United States Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award on four occasions and the first comprehensive high school designated a New American High School as a model of successful school reform.

Robert Eaker, EdD, is professor emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University, where he also served as dean of the College of Education and interim vice president and provost. Dr. Eaker is a former fellow with the National Center for Effective Schools Research and Development. He has written widely on the issues of effective teaching, effective schools, helping teachers use research findings, and high expectations for student achievement. Dr. Eaker was instrumental in the founding of the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame and was a regular contributor to the Effective Schools Research Abstracts series.