TEL 431: Learning in Workplaces

L3 Activity

Standards for Professional Learning

Construct: Professional Learning
Name: Amanda Pile
Date: 10/30/17
Your Assigned Facilitator: Workman

NOTE: Please bold all your responses so nothing is missed when your work is assessed.

In this activity you will determine specific professional development goal(s), then seek to engage
in conversation with other professionals who might support your development in some way.

According to the article by Linton (n.d.), a professional learning community (PLC) is composed
of collaborative teams whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals linked
to the purpose of learning for all.
Linton, J. (n.d.). Building and maintaining an online professional learning community. Available
at http://learnnc.org/lp/pages/7012

A PLC is a structure for continual growth and development, in collaboration with colleagues. In a
PLC, educators can talk about best practices, share data, and plan for innovations surrounding
areas they believe can be improved in a practice they share.

Professionals can benefit by expanding this idea beyond face-to-face interactions, or by

spanning geographical distances, through the use of digital tools for collaboration such as social
networks, discussion boards, etc., or even email.

ESTABLISH AN AREA OF INQUIRY

During this lesson you have been learning about Professional Learning Standards. This activity
will support you learning more about those standards, through the use of a PLC.

First, determine one Professional Learning Standard you would like to explore more thoroughly
for this activity. This standard does not necessarily need to be the same one you are
investigating in your small group discussions.

Which standard did you select? Why? After you review leading forward web sources, define the
gist of this standard in your own words. (3 pts)

The standard in which I chose to work with is learning communities. The reason why I
chose learning communities is because they have shown to promote great benefits to
people. According to Learning Forward (n.d) learning, within communities requires
continuous improvement, promotes collective responsibility, and supports alignment of
individual, team, school, and school system goals. In other words, learning communities
push individuals to work together, collaborate, and assist each other in any given topic.
Learning communities are what provide students and learners with various perspectives
and views.

Explain how this standard relates to your future target profession. What behaviors do
professionals who want to excel in this standard need to be good at? (3 pts)

Learning behaviors are huge in education. I plan on becoming an elementary school

teacher. As an elementary school teacher I plan to one of the educators who, who are
building a professional learning community recognize that they must work together to
achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. Therefore, they create structures to
promote a collaborative culture (DuFour, n.d). Teachers must be good at planning, they
must understand learning communities as a whole and the benefits that can arise. Each
learning community has a specific purpose and the teacher must be prepared to provide
that.

In what way(s) will adopting the behaviors depicted in this standard help you grow as a
professional? Be specific. (75-100 words) (3 pts):

Learning communities help anyone grow. The main goal of a learning standard it to
share various points and to open each participant's mind to bigger things. As a teacher,
you can be sure to start your own learning community. By starting your own community
you can gather new methods and strategies. As for the students, once the teacher has
gathered various strategies they will be able to provide a higher level of suggestions and
tips to their students. The teacher will grow as a professional due to the fact that they
are both being a part and participating in learning communities as well as observing
them. Over time, the teacher will have developed various viewpoints and strategies to
best accommodate themselves and students.

Your word count: 123

FIND OTHERS WHO ARE DISCUSSING YOUR AREA OF INQUIRY

When you graduate from ASU you will want to stay cutting edge. You will not want to rely on
your employer to provide professional development for you. Professionals who want to stay on
the cutting edge need to take on this responsibility themselves. One way to do that is through
internet-based collaborative tools

Your next step is to find at least three relevant online conversations that might help you learn
more about your area of inquiry, and to filter through those resources to gain some new insights
about your area of inquiry.
The Linton article you read provides an initial list of collaborative tools including wikispaces,
Twitter, Ning, Etherpad, and Google Drive. LinkedIn has groups, searchable posts, and articles
that also generate collaboration among professionals. Additionally, web sites for organizations
associated with your future target job may have discussion boards or social networks that relate
to your area of inquiry. For example, if your future target job is to be a professional developer,
Learning Forward, the association that promotes the Professional Learning Standards, has
discussions taking place on their web site that might be helpful to you. See
http://community.learningforward.org/Home/

As related to your area of inquiry, explore 3 or more conversations about your area of inquiry
from 3 separate resources, each authored by professionals (e.g., LinkedIn conversations,
Medium.com, Edutopia, etc.).

Here are a few starting points:

https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/social-networks-for-students-and-teachers
http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx?tabid=100&entryid=2974
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/social-networking-sites-teachers.html

List them here. (Add more rows to the table if needed)

(9 pts):
Originator or URL By lurking, what new information did you
Sponsoring attain, and/or what insights did you gain,
Association about your standard?
(from 3 separate
originators)

Linkedin https://www.linkedin. After having lurked through this

com/pulse/21st- website and given article, I was able to
century-boss-tim- understand that learning communities
westergren/?trackin and 21st century boss have things in
gId=xq%2B6Y%2BA common. The 21st Century Boss
0EaHnnAXpbV98cw explains how in education many things
%3D%3D are trying to be changed and or
developed. Learning communities are
something that will promote the
development in a major way and
ensure The 21st Century Boss is
getting all they are setting out for.

Medium.com https://medium.com/ On this website I stumbled across the

darius- article Always Invest in Your
foroux/always- Education. This article explains how
invest-in-your- important it is to do things for yourself
 education- to develop your education. Learning
8d36273e7ec1 communities are made for just that
purpose. If one wanted to invest in
their education they would involve
themselves in a learning community to
help them receive additional help as
well as perspectives that will benefit
them.

Edutopia https://www.edutopi This website shared an article titled

a.org/blog/turning- Turning the Community Into a
community-into- Classroom. This is exactly what
classroom-suzie- learning communities are for. In this
boss article's case, a learning community is
what will push individuals to make
their community into a classroom in
efforts to help one another learn.
Coming together in a community to
learn will positively benefit each
participant.

PARTICIPATE IN ONLINE CONVERSATIONS

As related to your area of inquiry, make 3 attempts to initiate new conversations, and/or extend
existing conversations, surrounding your area of inquiry (e.g., professional blogs, LinkedIn
conversations, Medium.com, Edutopia, etc.). List them here. (Add more rows to the table if
needed)

(9 pts):
Date & Paste the text from your post. If you URL to this
time of received a conversation
your initial Below that, paste a screenshot of your post. response,
post what did you
learn, as
related to
your area of
inquiry?

10/30 @ I think social emotional health is

2:05pm crucial to any students learning https://www.li
ability. Having issues regarding your nkedin.com/p
health mentally and socially will drag ulse/21st-
century-boss-
an individual down preventing them
tim-
 from personal growth. I do feel as westergren/?t
though classrooms need to rackingId=xq
emphasize the need for healthy minds %2B6Y%2BA
inside the classroom as well as 0EaHnnAXpb
V98cw%3D%3
outside.
D

10/30 @ Everywhere anytime can be a

2:15pm potential learning experience. If there https://www.e
are people in the area who are willing dutopia.org/bl
to provide effort and are willing to og/turning-
community-
learn, their can be and will be a
into-
classroom. Education does not
classroom-
always need to happen in a school suzie-
setting to be considered a classroom. boss#comme
If there is educational information nt-302401
being tossed around, already it can be
considered a classroom.

10/30 @
2:19pm Always taking the time to better https://mediu
yourself is great. Wanting to better m.com/@aspil
yourself as well as the amount of e/always-
taking-the-
education you have is even better.
time-to-better-
There are many cases in which
yourself-is-
 people can go about investing in their great-
education as well as their future. Daily 23f4ca023cf8
opportunities are given to various
individuals to better their future
regarding their educational needs.
Learning communities is one this in
which you may always strengthen
your education.

REFLECTION AND PLAN FOR ANOTHER AREA OF INQUIRY

Describe the process of using the Web to engage in collegial conversations with other
professionals? Reflect about any successes and/or struggles. How did you overcome the
struggles? (150-200 words) (5 pts):

I feel as though using the internet to connect with other professionals is a great tool.
The reason in which I find it to be so useful is everyone on the internet, for the most part,
are willing to provide and share personal experiences to benefit others. The
conversations on these certain blogs and articles are what teach people how and why
they need various perspectives in their educational career. One struggle I can potentially
see is people having negative views and or comments. Unfortunately there are many
people who seem to think and believe being negative to others is okay and there is
nothing wrong with it. I see to think that a learning community and these professional
conversations is where people should be able to go and feel comfortable. One way to
overcome this struggle it to simply not acknowledge the negativity. Another way to
overcome the struggle is to understand why you were in the conversation in the first
place, to be open to others views and points.

Your word count: 171

Describe the insights you gained through this investigation.. (100-125 words) (5 pts):

The insight I gained throughout was that there are many communities in which you
can go to learn. My main focus this week is on learning communities and doing the
assigned work of commenting on peoples blogs and articles opened my eyes to the fact
that that in itself is a learning community. For the most part those who are commenting
and providing feedback revolve around positive words. I feel as though I will take the
time to comment and provide personal viewpoints on peoples blogs more often. If I am
taking the time to give my feedback, not only am I learning, but so is the individual who
wrote the piece and the others who read it as well.

Your word count: 120

Now that this inquiry process is complete, what new question(s) do you have related to this
particular standard? (4 pts):

The main question I have regarding learning communities is how we as teachers will
respond when our students are not benefiting as we once thought they would. In that
case, I would want to know what the best course of action would be. In addition, if
learning communities work for most people, what would be suggested for those who
learn better on their own?

List 3 activities that will help you address this new area of inquiry. Explain your plan with
detail, including resources you wish to explore, individuals who might serve as mentors, or
organizations that might provide insight. (9 pts):

Detailed explanation of Resources that will help you Helpful mentors or

Activity (write in APA format) organizations

Ice breakers: learning
communities are all about
working with others and
getting to know their views
and perspectives and
icebreakers are a great
beginning activity.
Heathfield, S. (8 July 2017).
Top 10 Ice Breaker.
Retrieved from
https://www.thebalance.co
m/top-ice-breakers-1918426
The mentor I think would
be great in this topic would
be my mother. My mother
is a teacher and has a lot of
experience with
icebreakers and the best
way to do them

Book study: Books are one
thing that can spark a
conversation at any time.
Reading a book on any
topic while having learning
communities participate
will develop dialogue and
progress.
Williamson, R. (October I think a great mentor for
2013). Five Collaborative this is my mother in law.
Professional Learning My mother in law is an
Activities. Retrieved from education major and has
https://www.naesp.org/com many book clubs.
municator-october-
2013/five-collaborative-
professional-learning-
activities

Looking at Student work: Williamson, R. (October I think my previous teacher

Having a learning
community look at their
peers work and or their
students work will push
them to find similarities,
differences, what they liked
2013). Five Collaborative
Professional Learning
Activities. Retrieved from
https://www.naesp.org/com
municator-october-
2013/five-collaborative-
Mrs. Dimiceli from ASU
would be a great mentor.
Dimiceli was adamant on
reading and reviewing
peers work and providing
feedback.
and what they didnt. professional-learning-
activities

Based on your list of 3 activities, take one action step now toward this new area of inquiry.
Provide evidence as proof that you took this action (e.g., document, url, photo,
screenshot, etc.). What did you do? Explain why you selected this particular action. What was
the outcome? What are your next steps going to be? (200-300 words) (10 pts; no points issued
without evidence):

As you can see below I took the time to find an activity in which I found could help
learning communities bond. Through experience, I have always loved ice breakers. I feel
as though Ice breakers would be the best way to get a learning community comfortable
with one another. Like I said, I found an ice breaker where you are encouraged to find
peers with common interests and experiences with you. By finding peers with things in
common, you begin to bond and feel closer within your community. The reason in which
I chose this specific action is becuase I really feel the best way to learn from others and
be able to provide mutually beneficial viewpoints is through comfortability. The outcome
was great, I found the perfect assignment and or activity for the next time I am involved
in a learning community. My next steps are going to be to save this document and
ensure I have plenty printed and prepared for future events. Overall, the document is
what will push individuals to get comfortable with one another. The activity pushes and
encourages all to get up and get to know each other whether they have things in
common or not. Once each individual in the learning community has connected to
another peer in some way, the experience will be easier as well as more enjoyable.
Your word count: 228

References (10 pts)

Note: no credit will be given unless your references are formatted per APA. See Owl at Purdue
as a guide.

Williamson, R. (October 2013). Five Collaborative Professional Learning Activities.

Retrieved from https://www.naesp.org/communicator-october-2013/five-collaborative-
professional-learning-activities
Heathfield, S. (8 July 2017). Top 10 Ice Breaker. Retrieved from
https://www.thebalance.com/top-ice-breakers-1918426
Foroux, D. (10 October 2016). Always Invest in Your Education. Retrieved
https://medium.com/darius-foroux/always-invest-in-your-education-8d36273e7ec1

Boss, S. (12 January 2017). Turning the Community Into a Classroom. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/turning-community-into-classroom-suzie-boss#comment-
302401

Westergren, T. (12 November 2015). The 21st Century Boss. Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/21st-century-boss-tim-
westergren/?trackingId=xq%2B6Y%2BA0EaHnnAXpbV98cw%3D%3D

Professional presentation (professional language, grammar, spelling, word count) (10

pts).
Please proofread your work to be sure it meets university level writing standards. Note that if
your written work does not meet this standard, you will be asked to revise and resubmit within 3
days, and these points will be lost. The Writing Center can provide support. See
https://tutoring.asu.edu/writing-centers for details.