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

We felt that the PLC Coaches’ Academy was a great HIT! We were especially proud of how well attended the sessions were by our regional schools and how “on-task” our project schools were! We acknowledge that you’re serious about implementing the recommended shifts in awareness and culture in your schools, and we’re eager to help!

Some of the positive comments we received from the final evaluation by teachers, administrators, and central office administration include:

I’ve felt somewhat overwhelmed but excited. However, I am looking forward to the monthly meetings to clarify and answer my questions. I can’t wait to get started! Thank you for a wonderful, professional and personal growth experience.

Great conference! Enjoyed the info! Breakouts were great, especially the video clips!

As hoped, we also received some comments that will help us improve in presenting and fine-tuning our Academy. All comments will be shared not only by us in your regional center but also with the state staff: you were heard.

- Jay