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Transforming Professional Development Through Professional Learning Communities

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Best of Bb World 2009 Presentation
Jill Montoya (jstanley@jeffco.k12.co.us), Online PD Coordinator, Jeffco Public Schools
  1. Colorado School District - 85,000 students, 6,000 teachers
  2. Need: Content specialists are few with lots of teachers to service.
  3. Balancing frustration with current PD offerings. Look towards innovation (ongoing, time sensitive, and accessible)
  4. Put everything on Blackboard so that teachers begin to use it to access resources - "Lead the horse to water"
  5. Reduction of printing costs - documents are now digitized
  6. Advantages of putting PD online - heard from all participants in the course
  7. My Content tab - UShare, grass roots lesson plan sharing tool
  8. Teachers have access to curriculum alignment resources, employee information through the Bb 9 content system.
  9. PeopleSoft Integration - 24-48 hour turnaround once someone gets hired to automatically enroll them in Bb with appropriate role (e.g. 3rd grade teacher)
  10. 46 Graduate level courses - once they complete they are automatically enrolled in a PLC with all other teachers who have taken that course
  11. Currently self-sustaining - charge for PD courses ($50 for 300 level graduate course, 20-25 teachers in a course). Facilitator gets paid $1,000.
  12. Briefcase credentials: ETTE and GATE certificates
  13. Blackboard Building Consultants (BBC) - teacher librarian, one other staff member at every school - assist other teachers in the school with using Blackboard. Pull them together 2-3 times a year. Give them the training tools.
  14. Put teachers in Bb first before putting students on the system. Teachers get their feet wet first.
  15. Teachers are moving along on the technology curve quicker because of the integration of Bb.
Professional Learning Communities:
-3rd grade PLC - access to DB, calendars, contact info for content specialists
-Some connected communities are open for enrollment - e.g 4th grade teachers can request access to 3rd grade teacher information
-Grade Level, School, Gifted and Talented, all first year teachers are in a PLC

Key Point for us: PLC can be our Tribe. Move participants out of courses directly into specific PLCs to continue community building, communication and distribution of resources.

Archive: https://blackboard.webex.com/blackboard/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=49705237&rKey=ad05ae6c618cb110

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