Professional Learning Resources

Professional Learning. Rich Resources.

Teachscape provides a rich array of Internet-based multimedia resources to deepen content knowledge and to promote the use of proven, research-based practices. Enhancing the knowledge and skills in both content and pedagogy for administrators and teachers means improved achievement for students!

Our professional learning resources include:

• Video resources: (1) best-practice videos to show the research-based practices in action in the classroom; (2) commentaries by noted researchers that are designed to provide a research-based perspective on the practices illustrated; (3) teacher reflections to promote better understanding of the featured teacher's instructional decisions; and (4) student commentary on the featured classroom processes and their experience of the instruction.
• Text resources designed to deepen content understanding: (1) background material focused on building academic background knowledge and the featured pedagogy; (2) research summaries that support the featured practice and help teachers understand why and how the practice works; (3) classroom resources, including lesson plans, sample student work products from the featured lesson, assessments (including rubrics) for assessing the student work, and suggestions for addressing the diverse learning needs of students; (4) professional books; and (5) activities to build knowledge.
• Graphical models that enable participants to manipulate and engage with the content in order to: (1) deepen content knowledge for teaching; (2) promote greater understanding of complex topics; and (3) illustrate key ideas.
• Communication and collaboration tools designed to: (1) support ongoing communication among professional learning community members; and (2) provide a virtual forum for participants to collaborate on their work, reflect on their practice, assess student work products, share action research, and provide on-demand communication and collaboration.

These professional learning resources inform and focus the professional learning activities for both instructional leaders and teachers. This helps to develop a common set of reference experiences and vocabulary to enrich professional conversation about the work of teaching. Learning activities, which take place within practice-focused professional learning communities, include:

• Analyzing and discussing best-practice videos
• Reading and applying pertinent research
• Studying and discussing professional literature
• Applying and analyzing the results of the featured practices
• Assessing the impact and outcomes of the practices
• Engaging in ongoing professional discussions
• Providing ongoing review and refinement of the professional learning

As new knowledge and skills are acquired, these should become evident in classroom practice. Observation protocols help school leaders and professional learning communities measure changes in practice, ensure transference of professional learning, and guide ongoing work of the PLCs.

For a complete catalog of Teachscape's professional learning resources, click here.