1. On-site professional learning communities: One center’s experience with site-directed learning

2. Our setting

3. Winnemucca Adult Learning Center o Small, rural site, 113 students o Seven part-time staff members o 200-plus miles for professional development o Limited time for improvements

4. Where we are Winnemucca, Nevada

5. Our students and staff

6. Our problem: How can we:  Make professional development relevant to OUR needs?  Find time for improvements?  Do this without burdening staff?

7. Our answer: learning communities Combine study with action…  Focus on our specific needs  Spend extended time on topic  Collaborative  Credits earned decided by each instructor

8. Our format  Meet monthly  Examine research  Share lesson plans  Support each other  Develop improvements

9. Our topics…first semester Nevada Content Standards… How can we:  Become familiar with standards?  Use our new textbooks?  Include standards in lesson plans?

10. What we did:  Studied the standards  Created monthly lesson plans  Shared experiences with peers  Made it a habit  Built in social time

11. Our topics…current semester Student goal-setting, achievement: o Integrate goal work into classroom o Encourage student ownership of goal process

12. Student goals

13. What we’re doing now…  Reading what research says  Assessing our current program  Creating monthly questions  Creating lesson plans to try-- then share

14. Student goals

15. Learning communities are:  Site specific  Flexible  Staff-friendly  Practical Conclusion

16. Site specific  Focus on Winnemucca  Use materials we already have  Solutions work with OUR students

17. Flexible  Respond quickly to changes.  Snowstorm stopped technology LC  Goal-setting quickly took its place!

18. Staff-friendly  Puts teachers in the driver’s seat  Topics generated by instructors o Builds in time for study, reflection  Gives “excuse” to get together

19. Challenging  Deeper learning over period of time  Instructors as collaborators  Active process “feels” like more work  Actually, time spent is same

20. Who benefits?