week 1

discussions

Professional Communities

A significant part of differentiated instruction implementation is created through professional development. Complete the “Creating and Sustaining a Professional Learning Community” checklist in Chapter 1 of Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice: Training, Implementation, and Supervision (2nd ed.). How many of the questions on this checklist are present in your current school or workplace? Based on the results of this checklist, identify and discuss in detail four activities that would create and sustain a professional learning community in your school or workplace.

Guided Response: Review several of your classmates’ posts. Respond to at least two of your classmates and provide insight on how they may improve their activities. Challenge your classmates by asking a question that may cause them to reevaluate their activities.

School Culture and Differentiated Instruction

View the video, Transforming a School into a Professional Learning Community. Considering your required readings and this video, what effects do differentiated instruction and professional learning communities have on school culture? How does differentiated instruction reflect the attitudes and values of a school building? How can the development of a professional learning community and differentiated professional development benefit students? Identify two examples, one negative and one positive, in your school or workplace that affect school culture. Identify how a professional learning community could benefit your school or workplace culture in the context of these situations.

Guided Response: Review several of your classmates’ posts. Respond to at least two of your classmates and provide additional thoughts to the benefits of professional learning communities. Do you agree with their conclusions? Why or why not?

Journal entry

Implementing the Professional Learning Community

Consider the benefits of the activities proposed in your discussion of professional learning communities. How can you implement these activities in your organization or how will you implement them in a future position that you will hold within an organization? Why would these benefit your organization or a future organization? What do you feel will be the outcome of this collaboration?