Casey Reason

Casey Reason, PhD, is a leadership and PLC thought leader and expert in emergent, digital instructional design. He’s won national recognition from Forbes.com, Blackboard International, and PDK, where he was awarded book of the year.
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Preparing to Teach Online | (PREP) Pandemic Response and Educational Practices

Preparing to Teach Online: Blending What’s New With What You Already Know

Presenter linkCasey Reason
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Categories: Instruction, Pandemic Response and Educational Practices, Technology

This entry is the 13th in a blog series called Pandemic Response and Educational Practices (PREP), which aims to highlight and further the important work educators are doing amid the worldwide COVID-19 crisis.

Based on Creating the Anywhere, Anytime Classroom

“I’ve been teaching for 24 years, and I am now being asked to teach online. I love my job, and when it comes to teaching, I feel like I know what I’m doing. But in this moment, I don’t know where to begin.”

—Gloria, fourth-grade teacher Read more

All Hands In

Hard Work with Happiness: How School Culture Changes in a Deeply Sustained PLC

Presenter linkCasey Reason
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Categories: PLC, School Improvement

Based on the book Inside PLCs, this is part four in a series on real-world implementations of professional learning communities. To view all posts, see the Inside PLCs blog series.

Several years ago, a group of visiting teachers from Cody, Wyoming, came to spend the day with a neighbor, hoping to gain some insights and advice. That neighbor was Sheridan County School District #2 (SCSD2). They were there for a very good reason. SCSD2 has a national reputation for having struggled mightily academically over a period of years, followed by dramatic turnarounds in student performance. Read more

The Gift of Conflict

The Gift of Conflict in a PLC

Presenter linkCasey Reason
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Categories: PLC

Based on the book Inside PLCs, this is part three in a series on real-world implementations of professional learning communities. To view all posts, see the Inside PLCs blog series.

Several years ago, I was on a call with a group of very nervous South Dakota-based school administrators as I prepared for a two-day training session on the implementation of the PLC model in their school district.

“The staff isn’t getting along at all. They are arguing, finding fault, and picking on one another. Two teachers cried last week and want to stop leaning about the PLC process altogether.”

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Renaming the iPhone: The Hidden Power of “We” in PLCs

Presenter linkCasey Reason
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Categories: PLC

Based on the book Inside PLCs, this is part two in a series on real-world implementations of professional learning communities. To view all posts, see the Inside PLCs blog series.

“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge”
—Thomas Berger

The Four Questions

In the current book I am writing about the professional learning community exemplars from Sheridan County School District #2, I learned about some of the hidden benefits of consistent, faithful implementation of professional learning communities. One of those benefits revolves around the relentless pursuit of the four essential questions of a professional learning community and the hidden power of “we.” Read more

Practice PLC fundamentals like musicians practice scales.

Do You Want an Excellent PLC? Play the Cello

Presenter linkCasey Reason
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Categories: PLC

Based on the book Inside PLCs, this is the first in a series on real-world implementations of professional learning communities. To view all posts, see the Inside PLCs blog series.

A PLC Lesson on Fundamentals from a Russian Cellist

Natalia Gutman is a Russian cellist and considered one of the best musicians in the world. In her late 70s, many younger musicians go to her hoping for sacred words of wisdom or access to her secret sauce. Interestingly, she is known to consistently express one fundamental truth about her own development as a musician: “I wish I would have spent even more time simply practicing scales.” Read more