ACPS Talent Development

Professional Learning Website

Visit PLMS for a comprehensive list of all Professional Learning

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The Professional Learning Management System (PLMS) manages registrations for professional development workshops, courses, and other professional learning opportunities. The system also tracks individual user’s accumulation of recertification points earned for completed professional learning activities.

Log in to PLMS using your ACPS employee ID number as both the User ID and password.

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Information for Professional Learning Facilitators

In order to place a course on PLMS please contact your department or building PLMS point person. If you are unsure of who this is, please contact Lyn Wingfield in the Office of Professional Learning. Please note that feedback forms are integrated into the Professional Learning Management System; participants must complete feedback forms in order to receive their recertification credit.

 

2018-2019 NBCT Cohort

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The new NBCT cohort will be collecting applications for the 2018-2019 NBCT cohort from August 28, 2017 until 5pm September 11, 2017. There will be a committee who reviews the application pool and a decision will be reached by September 18, 2017. This cohort will be made of 15 ACPS teachers who will make a commitment to stay with ACPS for the next 5 years.

NBCT Cohort Leader Search

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Office of Talent Development in search of NBCT 2017-2019 Cohort Leader
If you are interested in leading about 20 teachers who are interested in applying for National Board Certification over a two year span, please consider applying for this leadership opportunity. The pay will be $3500 per semester to lead the cohort with the total being $7000 for the school year.

All applications are due by 4:30 Friday, August 18. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Debra Lane at debra.lane@acps.k12.va.us or 703-619-8313.

Link to application:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHtouT8zUhW7N_3dtQAKP3BIi7ugaLnTkkPMCB5qL8j-9dMQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Aspiring Superintendents Program

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The Aspiring Superintendents Program is a full course credit opportunity designed specifically for school administrators who aspire to become a school district superintendent. The program is a partnership among the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS), the Virginia Tech School of Education and the Virginia Tech Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement (COTA).

Each of the three seminars will focus on exploring and developing the skills, knowledge and commitment needed to succeed as a superintendent. Program faculty will provide multiple perspectives on effective leadership. Emphasis will be placed on the value of coaching and mentoring as an important link between academic and practical preparation for the job.

Institute Fellows will gain increased awareness about the importance of building and nurturing relationships and effective communication with school board members, elected and appointed officials, parents, the media, and the community at large. Institute Fellows will expand and refine their existing leadership skills, acquire new skills, and learn about the search and interview process, conducting contract negotiations, and entry planning. Session facilitators will present strategies designed to cultivate balance in managing their professional and personal lives.

Institute Fellows will engage in readings, small group discussions; voice of experience conversations with seated, recently appointed, and retired superintendents; simulations; mock interviews; and analyses of case studies. Each institute fellow will identify and interact with a mentor/coach and keep a reflective journal. Final products will include an entry plan for the first 90 days on the job as a superintendent and a reflective synopsis that identifies new awareness of the superintendent’s role and the application of what has been learned.

Graduate course credit and a certificate will be awarded by the School of Education at Virginia Tech for successful completion of the program.

Completion of a School Leaders Institute program will increase leadership capacity and enhance the ability to use reflection as a powerful leadership skill. Each institute fellow submits an evaluation of seminar discussions, activities, and lectures and completes and submits a reflective journal synopsis based on their total program experience.

To learn more: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/sli/asp/

 

Classrooms in Focus- Collaborative Learning

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Our featured videos look deeply at the culture, routines, protocols, and instructional techniques required to teach in a  collaborative learning model.

Collaborative learning is a structure of learning where students work together to accomplish tasks. Effective collaborative learning practices rely on positive interdependence, promotive interaction and individual accountability (Johnson & Johnson, 1998) and result in higher levels of student engagement and student achievement.  Collaborative learning may occur in partners, and/or small or large groups. In order to bring collaborative learning structures into your practice, it is necessary to explicitly teach and reinforce the behaviors necessary for effective partner and team collaboration. Click here to learn about collaborative learning.

Elementary

Secondary

Objective: By the end of the video, viewers will have an understanding of how to use a variety of collaborative learning structures during instruction.

Essential Question: How can collaborative learning improve student understanding and achievement? How can I bring collaborative learning practices into my instruction?

Questions to consider as you watch the video:

  1. How does Ms. Bhatia initially introduce the behaviors necessary for effective collaborative learning?
  2. How do Mr. Hammond & Ms. Bhatia reinforce effective cooperative learning behaviors throughout the lesson?
  3. How does Mr. Hammond use data to set up his collaborative groups and determine roles?
  4. How do the collaborative learning structures support student language acquisition and increase engagement?
  5. How can I bring these effective collaborative structures into my teaching practice?

Tools & Templates for Collaborative Learning:

Texts on Collaborative Learning : 

Related Videos:

Have an idea or routine in your classroom for using Collaborative Learning you believe other teachers would benefit from learning about or seeing? Email PL, write “Collaborative Learning” in the subject line.

Tools & Templates Used in the Lessons

Mr. Hammond’s Unit Plan: Unit 6: Cultural Diffusion & Economic Interdependence

Templates:

Ms. Bhatia’s Lesson Plan: Probability 

Templates:

The Practice of Authentic PLCs: A Guide to Effective Teacher Teams

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Much of this year’s work will be on establishing, maintaining, and refining our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). In order to help guide this important work, our featured text is “The Practice of Authentic PLCs: A Guide to Effective Teacher Teams“ by Daniel R. Venables (2011).  The text can be downloaded in its entirety (or in pieces) from the Virtual Library  by clicking on the title link and entering the ACPS code (please contact your building administrator for the code).

 

About the Publication: This text provides numerous strategies, activities, exercises, and guidance for PLC (Professional Learning Community) leaders, including FAQs and a troubleshooting guide to common obstacles.

Big Ideas:

Questions to Consider as you Read:

  1. According to the author, what are roles and why are they necessary?
  2. How should a PLC establish norms? What are my PLC’s norms? How did we establish them? Should they be revisited?
  3. What is the suggested process for looking at student work?
  4. How does my PLC design common assessments? Is this in line with the author’s suggestions?
  5. What team building activities did my PLC complete? Do we need to do more? Which activity from the book can I bring to my PLC.

Featured Videos

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Our featured videos are the Classrooms in Focus- Collaborative Learning pair from our own ACPS elementary and secondary classrooms. The first is from the exciting 4th grade classroom of Ms. Rachel Bhatia from Patrick Henry Elementary. The video features instruction during math and focuses on the structures necessary for effective collaborative learning in the elementary classroom. The second video is from TC Williams High School’s International Academy. The dynamic teachings of Mr. Ben Hammond are unpacked and his secondary collaborative teaching practices are showcased and discussed. As always the videos are paired with the necessary tools and templates to put the practices seen in the video into your classroom.

Learning Forward Virginia Project Based Learning

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Learning Forward Virginia (LFVA ) is excited to bring Project Based Learning to Virginia. Project Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach in which students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Students learn about a subject by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, challenge, or problem .

PBL cares about our mission to educate all by integrating knowing and doing. Students work to uncover understandings of content as opposed to serving as bystanders while the teacher covers curriculum through lectures, worksheets, and disconnected tasks.

Educators will register for one of the following three-day workshops:

LEARN: PBL 101

This workshop provides participants with the skills and knowledge needed to design assess and manage a rigorous, relevant, and standards-based project.

ENHANCE: PBL 201

This a deep dive focused on advanced practices in PBL implementation including topics Building Culture, Assessing Student Learning, and Creating Effective Team Roles.

COACH: Coaching Academy

A dynamic workshop that engages instructional coaches in best practices for providing sustained support for teachers to enable high quality PBL design and instruction.

LEAD: Leadership Academy

The academy engages leaders in exploring best practices in leading a school or district in the effective, sustainable implementation of Project Based Learning.

REGISTER HERE .

Cost:
Early Bird (before July 15): $650.00
Regular (after July 15): $700.00

*Registration fee includes your selected session, meals during the conference, and materials needed during the session

Sponsored by Learning Forward Virginia , Buck Institute , and Chesterfield County Public Schools

For updates go to http://www.learningforwardvirgina.org

Follow us on Twitter @lf_virginia #LFVApbl

ImpactLab Teacher Fellowship

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Dear Educator,

Teachers like you have the best ideas in education. What if you also had support to help bring these ideas to life at your school?

Now you do.

The ImpactLab Teacher Fellowship helps change-making teachers turn an idea into a sustainable and replicable “solution” in a supportive, small-group format.

The application for the 2017-18 Fellowship is now open . We have limited space and will accept teachers on a rolling basis, so if you’re interested don’t wait!

Ready?
GO !

Should you have questions or need additional information, please contact me or any member of our LFVA Board. Contact information is also listed on the LFVA web site. ( www.learningforwardvirginia.org )