A k-12 teaching plan must always include the concept of professional learning communities in school. A professional learning community has become a very common phenomenon in every school of the country. These communities are very important for the overall development of a student and thus, it helps in converting a student into a good citizen. It is the duty of the k-12 educators to make sure that the students participate in these communities and they also contribute to it.
The communities will serve a variety of purposes, if they are included in the k-12 teaching plan of the school. These communities help in the reduction of isolation between the students and the k-12 teachers. Isolation is an important reason, why many students tend to go away from the k-12 teachers and finally they leave the school and studies. So, the k-12 teachers can help the students come closer to them, by participating and asking the students to participate in such professional communities.
The participation in the professional communities will help the students by developing leadership qualities in them. This is a very essential for surviving in the outside world. The k-12 teachers can motivate the students to lead the groups in the community, thus increasing the internal understanding of the group besides enhancing the friendly environment in the school.
The k-12 teachers can also form their own professional communities, where they can meet each other once or twice a month and discuss their problems and possible solutions. This will help the overall education system, because being prepared the k-12 teachers can better handle their own students, as they share the experiences of other k-12 teachers.
At times, it has been observed that some professional communities are also created having an equal representation of both students and the k-12 teachers, in order to discuss their specific problems regarding some portion of their syllabus. These forums work very well, as these are much more informal in nature and the students feel free to raise their doubts in front of the teachers. These communities work as a forum of interaction between the students and the k-12 teachers.
Scholars and groups like DRPF Consults are working to find out other ways of utilizing the concept of professional groups in the field of k-12 lesson plan. You will be able to get more knowledge from sites like this and other, found on the internet.