Professional Learning Communities

Amanda Hathhorn, district math specialist and mentor for the Aspiring Instructional Coaching Academy at Pasadena ISD, has over 20 years of experience in education. Notably, she played a pivotal role in successfully implementing the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work® process and subsequently earning a Model PLC at Work school distinction at V. W. Miller Intermediate.

In this session, we will explore how teams develop effective mathematics instruction using 6 elements of lesson design. The process of designing engaging, targeted, and high quality instruction allows teams to dig deeply into both best practices in mathematics and grow in content knowledge. Participants will leave with a set of tools and discussion protocols to enhance their instructional planning and teaching of mathematics.

The focus is to show how your urban school can make an impact on student achievement and change the trajectory of student lives using the time available during the day, the resources in the book, and the Brilliance in the Building - your amazing staff! The greatness of this webinar is the review of all the resources in the book available for educators to use immediately. I created all of the reproducibles based on 25 years of extensive research and actual use in schools. Leaders and staff in urban schools cannot do this work in isolation; they must work together to accomplish their goals, so therefore the work in this book is grounded in the PLC at Work principles. Let’s go!

Alvin Thomas, EdD, is a principal in a school district in Georgia and a part-time professor at Kennesaw State University and Georgia State University. He has 17 years of experience as an assistant principal, student behavior program specialist, and teacher.

Adam R. Hill is an assistant superintendent overseeing 13 middle schools in a large metropolitan school district in Georgia.

Dr. Loni Fife currently serves as the director of curriculum and instruction for the Littleton Elementary School District in Arizona. She has worked to bring greater awareness to the power of educator collaboration to enhance student learning.

Laura Conwell is the principal of Longfellow Elementary in Bozeman, Montana. She has nearly 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher and principal.

During her more than 15 years in education, Tina Smith has proudly served Pasadena Independent School District, a Model PLC at Work® district, as a four-year, district-level summer school program manager while working as assistant principal at Nelda Sullivan Middle School, a Model PLC at Work school.

Cultivate and sustain a productive academic environment for every student with interventions featured in this Behavior Solutions Portable Event Package. Using professional learning communities (PLC) and multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS/RTI) processes, educators can use targeted intervention methods to improve behavior and foster a positive school culture.

Josh Chastain, EdD, is currently the superintendent of Harrisonville Schools in Missouri. In his 25 years of educational experience, he has served as an elementary school teacher in Springfield, Missouri, a principal at multiple levels, and the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, professional development, digital learning, and federal programs in Nixa, Missouri.