Consider the benefits of the activities proposed in your discussion of professional learning
communities. How can you implement these activities in your organization or how will you
implement them in a future position that you will hold within an organization?
When I begin working in a classroom setting I am going to start off by doing a student survey to begin to
know my students. I will meet with my staff at the end of each day to make sure we understand our
students and the way they learn and if we are meeting the needs of all our students. I can build a
community among my teaching staff by being a mentor and having a positive attitude toward change. I
will have trainings for my staff to make them feel better about the changes and to give them a better
understanding of what is expected of them.
Why would these benefit your organization or a future organization?
These changes will benefit my future organization by being abreast on the changes within our student
body and knowing how to become a positive differentiated classroom for our students.
What do you feel will be the outcome of this collaboration?
I feel the outcome of this collaboration will be positive if we all want to meet the needs of all the diversity
we are going to experience within our classrooms. I have to be realistic in thinking that not all staff will
be willing to make the changes needed to do this, but being positive and persistent in this change will
bring those staff members around.
There are about 9 questions on the checklist that are present in the school district in my community. Our
whole school district is only 1200 students and our staff works in Teams within each grade level.
Our teachers have shared planning time to develop lesson plans once a week and share strategies to help
students. This gives the staff time to examine data to see how students are progressing.
Our teachers get time on a daily basis to talk about teaching and learning at the end of the day to reflect
on the teaching and learning of the day.
Within each grade level we have teacher mentors. We have a “seasoned” teacher who is a mentor for the
other staff to mentor them for the whole year and help them to understand how the community works
within the school. This doesn’t have to be “old” teachers and could be “new” teachers who do the
mentoring.
Our administrators in all 4 buildings, along with the superintendent, and teachers work together to decide
what kind of professional development training needs to be done with their staff within each building.
“We must build organizations where people continuously expand their capacity to create the results they
truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set
free, and where people are continually learning together” (Gregory, G.H., 2008, pg. 6).
Gregory, G. (2008). Differentiated instructional Strategies in Practice: Training, Implementation, and
Supervision 2nd. Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA., Corwin Press.
Content
Total: 1.50
Distinguished - Responds with a thorough reflection that is related to all aspects of the journal prompt.
Applies professional, personal, relevant prior knowledge, and/or other real-world experiences in a manner
that is rich in thought and provides valuable insight into the topic. Analyzes preconceptions and biases by
deconstructing elements of personal assumptions and synthesizes own awareness using new modes of
thinking.
Proficient - Responds with a reflection that is related to almost all aspects of the journal prompt. Applies
professional, personal, or other real-world experiences in a manner that provides valuable insight into the
topic. Provides a limited analysis of preconceptions and biases and somewhat synthesizes own awareness
using new modes of thinking.
Basic - Responds with a reflection that is related to most aspects of the journal prompt. Applies
professional, personal, or other real-world experiences in a manner that provides limited insight into the
topic but may not be wholly relevant to the journal prompt. Demonstrates self-reflection by identifying
preconceptions or biases compared to new modes of thinking.
Below Expectations - Responds with a reflection that is related to some aspects of the journal prompt.
Attempts to apply professional, personal, or other real-world experiences, but their relevance to the
journal prompt is unclear. Self-reflection is vague and/or fails to relate to preconceptions or biases and
new modes of thinking.
Non-Performance - The journal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.
Coherence
Total: 0.30
Distinguished - Effectively communicates ideas or points in a logical and organized manner. Reflections
are sophisticated and formulate wholly appropriate and pertinent connections between the journal topic
and relevant prior knowledge.
Proficient - Communicates ideas or points in a manner that is mostly logical and organized. Reflections
formulate appropriate connections between the journal topic and relevant prior knowledge.
Basic - Communicates ideas or points in a manner that demonstrates a limited understanding of content
organization. Attempts to reflect upon journal topic, but the connections between the journal topic and
prior knowledge are vague.
Below Expectations - Attempts to communicate ideas or points; however, the content organization is
extremely limited. Fails to provide a reflection that connects the journal topic to prior knowledge.
Non-Performance - The journal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.
Mechanics
Total: 0.20
Content
Total: 1.50
Distinguished - Journal contains no errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
Proficient - Journal contains only a few minor errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure,
but they do not distract the reader from the content.
Basic - Journal contains a few errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, which slightly
distract the reader from the content.
Below Expectations - Journal contains major errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure,
which distract the reader from the content.
Non-Performance - The journal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.
Coherence Total: 0.30
Distinguished - Effectively communicates ideas or points in a logical and organized manner. Reflections
are sophisticated and formulate wholly appropriate and pertinent connections between the journal topic
and relevant prior knowledge.
Proficient - Communicates ideas or points in a manner that is mostly logical and organized. Reflections
formulate appropriate connections between the journal topic and relevant prior knowledge.
Basic - Communicates ideas or points in a manner that demonstrates a limited understanding of content
organization. Attempts to reflect upon journal topic, but the connections between the journal topic and
prior knowledge are vague.
Below Expectations - Attempts to communicate ideas or points; however, the content organization is
extremely limited. Fails to provide a reflection that connects the journal topic to prior knowledge.
Non-Performance - The journal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.
Mechanics Total: 0.20
Distinguished - Journal contains no errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
Proficient - Journal contains only a few minor errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure,
but they do not distract the reader from the content.
Basic - Journal contains a few errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, which slightly
distract the reader from the content.
Below Expectations - Journal contains major errors related to grammar, spelling, and sentence structure,
which distract the reader from the content.
Non-Performance - The journal is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.