Southwest Missouri Professional Learning Communities

If your participation in the MO PLC project is in its 2nd or 3rd year, you have 5 or 3 regional training dates, respectively. Those dates depend on whether you attend the Elementary or Secondary sessions. All dates are available through the links on the left.

When they become available on MyLearningPlan, they will be directly linked so that you might also register more easily!

I hope this adds clarification!

Although the training dates are published on the blog and have been sent to PLC leadership team members, we are still requiring a registration system to register for workshops through MyLearningPlan hosted by RPDCs throughout the state. The instructions for this were handed out at the first training year; also you may download the directions from the My Learning Plan post.

We’re excited about beginning a new year!

Jana, Jay, & Sandy

The SW Regional Summer Academy will give a building principal and his/her school’s Leadership Team the opportunity to learn about learning community school improvement philosophy and process as well as to plan how your team will introduce the concepts to the staff and community. It will prepare the team for their roles as coaches in transforming the school into a professional learning community.

The PLC Summer Academy will be held July 20-22, 2009, 8:30-4:00 p.m. at the Frisco Building in Springfield (Hwy 65 and Chestnut Expressway).

Below is some additional information about the Academy to share with the team:

1. Each new school is expected to send to the Academy the number of coaches submitted on the application, including the building principal (Note: Superintendent may attend free of charge.). Knowing that becoming a learning community requires a cultural shift, consider identifying Leadership Team members who might be respected and influential among their colleagues. It is essential to know how many people will be attending so that we have adequate materials and food. Each team member must register for the academy using the link http://snipurl.com/swplcacademy by Monday, June 15th.
2. Each day will begin at 8:00 a.m. with breakfast. Morning sessions will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 4:00 p.m. Each day will include time for the Leadership Teams to process and plan.
3. Please dress casually. The training will be informal. Because meeting rooms sometimes have “temperature issues,” one might want to bring a light sweater or jacket to ensure comfort.
4. Graduate credit will be available from Southeast Missouri State University for those participating in the Academy and ongoing training. If you are interested in receiving reasonably-priced graduate credit, more information will be available on-site at the Academy.

Our 7 regional trainings dates will also be at the Frisco Building on the following dates:

Thursday, March 11^th

Thursday, May 6^th

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED through MyLearningPlan (which should be available by the Summer Academy)
WELCOME NEW SCHOOLS!

In an attempt to make your arrival at the Powerful Learning Conference as smooth as possible, we are forwarding this bulletin from the Hyatt Regency regarding parking so that you might have advanced notice.  Please be advised …

“Hotel parking will be valet only, we have extended a discounted rate for your attendees $17.00 (300 parking spaces).  The best location for self parking is the Mansion House, 300 North Fourth Street, located right next door to the hotel, the rate is $8.00 per day. They can drop their bags at the hotel prior to self parking if they wish.”

Looking forward to seeing you in St. Louie!

Mary Ann Burns

Director School Improvement Initiatives

Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

PO Box 480

Jefferson City MO  65102

(573)751-2332

maryann.burns@dese.mo.gov

From our state Director, Mary Ann Burns:

————–

The success of the Professional Learning Communities Project in Missouri is due to the contributions and support of many throughout the state.  Therefore, we want to recognize those individuals and schools who participate in and have made major contributions to the Missouri Project and to the field of education.  They will be recognized and honored at the Powerful Learning Conference which will be held

February 1-3, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency in St. Louis, MO.

We need your help in identifying those individuals and schools that deserve recognition by the Professional Learning Communities Project.  A committee will read the nominations and select the individuals who will receive the awards.

Please share this memo with your project coaches and staff.  It explains the awards that will be given and contains the nomination forms for the awards.

Awards will be given in two categories, which are described below:

1. Outstanding Service Award: This award is designed to recognize those individuals who have provided exceptional service to the Professional Learning Communities Project.  Eligible persons might be someone working in a project school (e.g., teacher, administrator, coach, other staff member, etc.) or someone outside of the participating school (e.g., parent, community member, board member, foundation representative, etc.)

2. Central Office Award: This award is intended to recognize persons serving in a central office position who have provided exceptional support to a school or schools participating in the Missouri Professional Learning Communities Project.  Such a person has been instrumental in providing support in a number of ways:

v  Providing release time for PLC work;

v  Providing additional funding for PLC work;

v  Serving on the steering committee, cadres, and /or collaborative teams;

v  Incorporating the school’s plans into the district CSIP plan;

v  Encouraging Board of Education members to be represented on the steering committee, cadres, and /or collaborative teams;

v  Keeping the Board of Education informed of the progress of the Professional Learning Communities work; or

v  Participating in training and serving as a coach

Enclosed are the nomination forms for the awards described above.  Please provide documentation and evidence in your narrative on the forms to show that your candidate is deserving of the award.

All nominations must be mailed or faxed by December 17, 2008 to:

Missouri Center for Accelerated Schools and

Professional Learning Communities

Southeast Missouri State University

One University Plaza MS 0120

Cape Girardeau MO  63701-4799

Fax #:  (573)651-2251

We hope you will join our effort to honor the people who have supported our school improvement projects in Missouri and to celebrate the wonderful accomplishments of the people in the Missouri Professional Learning Community Project.

Last Year’s Award Recipients

Outstanding Service Award Form

Central Office Award Form

DESE Memorandum

When? FEBRUARY 1 – 3

Where? St. Louis’s Hyatt Regency Riverfront Hotel (formerly Adam’s Mark)

Cost? (contact your local RPDC for qualifications)

Available downloads include:

2009 POWERFUL LEARNING CONFERENCE BOOKLET

2009 POWERFUL LEARNING CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM

2009 POWERFUL LEARNING CONFERENCE INFORMATIONAL FLIER

To make reservations for your stay at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront for the Powerful Learning Conference, click HERE

Inquiries may be directed to the conference organizers at (573)881-4849 or to School Improvement Initiatives at (573)751-2332.

As Jana mentioned in one of our regional trainings, we have a Resource List with possible items (books & videos) that SWMO PLC recommends for those interested in not only learning more about what a Professional Learning Community is but also new publications as PLC evolves and authors update their works and revise their thinking.

Here is a link to the Resource List we offer to area schools when they request our recommendation.

Resources-for-PLC

Although the training dates are published on the blog and have been sent to PLC leadership team members, DESE is now requiring a new system to register for workshops hosted by RPDCs throughout the state. Beginning this fiscal year, a participant must register for a workshop through MyLearningPlan. We feel this system is an improvement over trying to email reminders since your account settings at MyLearningPlan will automatically send reminders in advance of a workshop! The down side? You have to register for every regional training! The up side? Guests may also register and we’ll have a better attendance count for food, etc. The instructions for this were handed out at the first training last year; also you may download the directions from the My Learning Plan post.

A few other changes you’ll see this year:

First, we have a new face at SWMO PLC! Sandy Hines, a former principal from a Waynesville Elementary school joins our team as a new PLC trainer and resource consultant. We know that 2nd Year (also known as 18th Generation), and 3rd Year (17th Generation) schools will welcome the additional strength and resources that Sandy brings!

Second, our training location will alternate this year between the Alumni Building, 300 Jefferson in downtown Springfield, and the Frisco Building at the intersection of highway 65 & Chestnut. No trainings this year will be at the Lamplighter Inn North.

Third, we’ll also be bringing a new workshop evaluation system. With DESE’s changes in registration comes an update to evaluation with a standardized evaluation form. These forms can be scanned so that data collection might be more useful for us!

We’re looking forward to another great year of training, staff development, and PLC support!

Jana, Jay, & Sandy

At the recommendation of some of the first year schools, we offer this Worksheet for the 18 Critical Issues for Team Consideration. One project school first gave this at the beginning of the year (Sept) and again in January as a gauge of progress. The intent is to keep the teams focused on the right work!

Copy, distribute, and keep for future reference as an artifact of your PLC implementation!

18 Critical Issues for Team Consideration

Teachers are now able to register for the Powerful Learning Conference, held in Kansas City, on Feb. 8 & 9. Visit the new state website, http://moplc.org , and select the button at the top for more information on registration, sessions, and hotel reservations!

Remember – if you’re a 1st (18th Generation) or 2nd year (17th Generation) school in our SWMO PLC Project, your school receives ONE FREE REGISTRATION for each paid member on your leadership team!!