SEMINAR 1: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Facilitation Notes
Objectives:
1. Build relationships in your PLC group
2. Get to know other people in your group: who they are, what they care about as a teacher,
what their classrooms are like.
Why these objectives now: This group will be best positioned to support each other if they know
each other well. It takes time to build relationships; it might be frustrating to spend two hours just
getting to know each other, but this first meeting is what will enable you to work purposefully
together in the future.
How does this PLC fit into the work we’re doing in PLCs across the year?
Members should be in the midst of gathering priorities surveys from their students and their
families. Take this time to get to know deeply who each of you are. When you meet again, the
priorities survey will be close, and you’ll be analyzing that data together. PLCs will be much better
positioned to support each other in that analysis if they know a lot about their fellow PLC group
members.
After those two sessions, teachers will be asking their students and families for feedback; strong
relationships in PLCs will enable teachers to support each other in analyzing that feedback, which
will likely be a challenging experience. From there, teachers in your PLC will be well-positioned to
create a development plan, rooted in feedback received from kids and families.
Agenda Overview
Determine whether or not you’re going to ask you PLC to do pre-work, then select the appropriate
agenda.
Agenda I (no pre-work, modeled in the video)
1. Opening and Frame
2. Reflection – Who have you always
wanted to be?
3. Sharing your vision with group members
4. Next steps (not in the video example)
5. Closing
Agenda II (with pre-work)
PRE-WORK: Complete the worksheets for this
seminar
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Opening and Frame
Sharing your vision with group members
Whole-group debrief
Next steps (not in the video example)
Closing
Customizable Session Plan
Opening and Frame
Share objectives, purpose, and agenda.
10 minutes
Consider: How do you want to open your first PLC meeting? Are there rituals
you’d like to establish? What will help build culture?
Reflection – Who
have you always
wanted to be?
(REMOVE IF YOU ASK PLC MEMBERS TO DO PRE-WORK)
30 minutes
Heart
 Facilitator frames
 Teachers take time to reflect
 group debriefs
Head



Facilitator frames
Teachers take time to reflect
group debriefs
Hands



Facilitator frames
Teachers take time to reflect
group debriefs
Sharing your vision
with group
members
Ask participants to re-read what they wrote. Consider: How can you debrie
that experience? You might determine your vision “theme song,” share
images, draw pictures, make posters, something else entirely
30-60 minutes
(adjust protocol
times to fit your
group’s needs)
Follow a sharing protol
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Get into triads
Person one shares
Group shares feedback
Person one responds
Repeat
Consider: How can you debrief whole-group? Have members of triads share
out what they loved about each other’s presentation; get into different small
groups, if you have the time, ask people to present.
*You could also do the whole protocol whole-group, especially if you asked
people to do pre-work.
Next steps (not in
1. As a transition, synthesize or ask someone else to synthesize: What do
the video example)
Closing
the members of your group have in common?
2. Ask: How does the discussion we just had connect to the priorities
survey?
3. Discuss technical needs (TAKE NOTES AND BE PREPARED TO DEBRIEF
WITH TARA)
 Estimate: What percentage of your families and students have taken
the priorities survey?
 What challenges have you faced in giving the survey?
 How have you solved some of those problems? Any ideas that might
help the group?
Consider: How will you close this learning experience? How can group
members maintain contact between meetings? Do you want to meet again
before seminar 2?
Worksheets are pasted below.
PRAXIS LEARNING CIRCLE
SEMINAR 1:
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
“Who have you always wanted to be?”
Purpose: The purpose of these worksheets is to develop a teaching philosophy that is driven by your
vision and mission for a better world. These worksheets will also prepare you to consider community
responsiveness as part of how you will practice your teaching philosophy. Please take the time to
answer the following questions. (Please note the differences between a vision and mission.)
HEART—Vision
Why do you teach? Why do you teach in this community?
What is your vision for a better world? How does your vision relate to the reasons why you teach?
Starting with the prompt below, write out your Vision for teaching based on your answers to the
above questions:
The purpose and values in my classroom are...
Given your vision, what does success look like in your classroom?
HEAD—Mission
How does your classroom practice reflect your vision?
What, if any, part of your classroom practice contradicts your vision?
Using the prompt below, write a Mission Statement based on your answers above:
In my class…
What are the impediments to your vision and mission?
HANDS-Action Plan
RESPONSIBILITY
What is your responsibility as a teacher? How does your classroom practice reflect your
responsibility?
RELEVANCE
What are the most pressing needs of the community where you teach? How does your classroom
practice reflect those beliefs?
RELATIONSHIPS
What kind of relationships do you aim to have with the students and families you serve? How does
your classroom practice reflect those aims?
Complete the following sentences:
I became a teacher because…
As a teacher, I want to be…
My purpose/values are…
You will be able to see this in my classroom when…
My responsibility as a teacher is…
I develop relationships with my students by…
My class is relevant when…