Creating a Professional Learning Community

     Learning communities are important in schools because they promote collaboration, which ultimately benefits the students. This can only be done when teachers dare to try something new. Teachers have to be open to sharing ideas, improving lesson plans and classroom management. When teachers begin a learning community it expands the capacity to create results that are desired, they learn new patterns of thinking, learn to capitalize on wisdom of the group, and continually learn "how to learn together". When you are able to create learning communities, you get different perspectives on ideas and critical feedback.
     Learning communities help spread out responsibilities between teachers so one teacher isn't doing all the work, forces people to work together which decreases teacher isolation, leads to more powerful learning, and there's more potential for change in the schools. It also helps teachers see the quality of their students work in different settings with different teachers and they begin to appreciate students talents more.
     Learning communities don't only benefit teachers, as shared above, but also students. Learning communities help students develop real-world skills they'll need, such as, communication, problem-solving, project management, persistence and motivation. We need to be student-centered when collaborating with teachers. We need to ensure that students learn, help create a culture of collaboration for school improvement, and focus on their results. A quote I liked from this chapter that goes along with benefits of students in learning communities was, "What sets these communities apart from more casual communities of practice is the shift from looking at what you teach to focusing on what your students learn." Students learning is the most important thing of learning communities!
     Teachers involved in learning communities need to have a shared vision when starting. They all need to have a clear sense of mission, focus on student learning, commit themselves to improvement, be willing to collaborate, have the same goals and see themselves as life-long learners. Teachers don't stop learning when they are out of school. They learn new things when preparing to teach their students and can also learn from their students.
     The concepts discussed in this chapter apply to the topic of classroom kitchen/catering. As a group, its important for us to share responsibilities on projects assigned. We can't expect one person to do all the work. Also, its good to bounce ideas off each other and give feedback.  It's important to collaborate so we can determine what projects and lessons the students need. Lastly, everyone in the group needs to commit to improving their own teaching which, in the end, will help improve student's learning.