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The Positive and Engaged Learning Community

Transform your learning community from chaos to calm, increase participation, and empower children and adults with hybrid on-demand and live professional development
 
Join the Community
Learn More About Schoolwide & Trainer of Trainers Models

On-Demand Course Content (videos, templates & tools):

MODULE 1

Foundations of Positive Learning Environments

Get oriented with the course and learn a high-impact, concrete strategy to create and maintain a positive learning environment that you can start immediately.

MODULE 2

Blueprint for Success

Develop strategies to build a learning community that proactively prevents many harmful behaviors, and you’ll write most of your learning community plan!

MODULE 3

Teaching New Behaviors

Proactively teach children effective communication skills, routines, and procedures, ensuring that these new behaviors take root to become lasting habits.

MODULE 4

Get Curious About Behavior

Reframe your understanding of behavior, and unpack a specific challenging behavior that you are facing, in order to help children develop positive behaviors.

MODULE 5

Responding to Challenging Behavior

Learn to effectively respond to challenging behavior in ways that maintain dignity, repair harm, and promote independence.

MODULE 6

Putting it All Together

Bring it all together so you can be ready to launch, notice and celebrate learning as it happens, make it stick long term, and keep your learning community on track!

BONUS

Schoolwide Approach

How to apply everything in this course on a broader scale and align it with your program’s mission and values.

This module is designed to support all packages at no extra charge and is specifically designed to support site leaders in program-wide implementation. (note: there is a special admin package if you’re leading your site in this work.)

Start Building Your Positive and Engaged Learning Environment Today!
PELC Course Syllabus and Requirements

As you work through the content, you’ll find that you:

Spend more time leading and teaching and less time ‘managing’ behavior

Feel more confident, more connected with your community, and less stressed

Uncover and address systemic barriers faced by historically and currently marginalized students

The self-guided portion is practical, easy to implement, and asynchronous so you can work through it at home or at school at own pace. It’s designed for an individual teacher, a team, or an entire community to take together—with a lot of support options.

We know that the most effective PD doesn’t happen in a box, but many sites don’t have a mentor available to support this work live… Which is why:

We facilitate ongoing Communities of Practice, plus a range of additional individualized support.

To participate, select the full community membership option

Choose the Right Option for You

Sites can enroll individuals, teams, or entire schools or organizations
 
Teaching Community Membership: Includes 5 seats

$5,000

  • 12 Months Access, for up to 5 teachers, to the self-guided course, including:
    • 6 Modules of Course Content
    • 4 Hours of Video Education
    • Downloadable Audio Files for Each Lesson
    • Implementation Action Items Embedded in Each Lesson
  • Downloadable Learning Community Blueprint with teacher templates (e.g. Reflection Sheets, Expected Behavior Matrix, and Classroom Management Checklist) 
  • Certificate of Completion 
  • BONUS: schoolwide implementation module for administrators
  • BONUS: 1 individual coaching session for Site Leader (must be booked within 3 months of purchase, and used within 6 months)
  • BONUS: Discount on summer workshops, including Summer Planning Retreat and Summer Institute (Must Have Certificate of Completion
  • OPTIONAL ADD ON: Live community of practice sessions facilitated by Dr. Filippini and her team (2x/month - Academic Year)
EXTENDED TEAM PRICING:
6+

Contact for all-school or district rates, see below for schoolwide support options

See package details

District, organization, or school level packages make the most impact

We provide large-scale licensing options and customizable implementation support
 
Sitewide Implementation (school, organization, or district level)
  • 12 Months Access to the self-guided course, including:
    • 6 Modules of Course Content
    • 4 Hours of Video Education
    • Downloadable Audio Files for Each Lesson
    • Implementation Action Items Embedded in Each Lesson
  • Downloadable Learning Community Blueprint with teacher templates (e.g. Reflection Sheets, Expected Behavior Matrix, and Classroom Management Checklist) 
  • Certificate of Completion 
  • Optional implementation support:
    • Leadership consultation for launch or full implementation
    • On-site coaching packages
    • Trainer of trainers for in-house communities of practice or professional learning communities
The 30-min call is a complimentary discovery.
The 60-min call is a fee-based consultation.
Select The Time
See package details

What Does Your Learning Community Look Like Right Now?

Many schools and community organizations are grappling with high teacher turnover, overwhelm, and burnout. This makes it increasingly difficult to create and sustain an engaging learning environment, especially for complex learners. 

While there are many factors outside of your sphere of influence as a teacher or leader, it IS possible to build a positive and engaged learning community that fosters a sense of belonging and connection. Adults and children can come together as a sustainable community, united in a shared commitment to growth and learning.

Build a positive and engaged learning community where...

Children
  • Feel safe and secure, freeing up their cognitive resources to learn.
  • Spend more time engaging with content than avoiding or disrupting.
  • Develop independence, self determination, and confidence.
  • Work together with adults as an interdependent learning community.
Teachers
  • Feel in control, without being controlling.
  • Teach content they love and see children authentically engaged in learning.
  • Feel connected, confident, and less stressed.
  • Go beyond just stopping off-track behaviors to teaching new, adaptive behaviors - lifelong skills.
Leaders
  • Develop shared strategies for preventing and addressing challenging behavior.
  • See a decrease in referrals and suspensions.
  • Spend less time dealing with discipline issues and ‘putting out fires.’
  • Support new teachers effectively and maintain a strong, dedicated faculty.

Imagine children proudly demonstrating a profound sense of ownership over community agreements, knowing that those agreements are in service of their own growth. This environment not only fosters childrens' autonomy and dignity but also recognizes the vital role adults play in shaping an engaged, thriving learning community.

This vision is the reason we became educators, right?

Even if it feels a bit out of reach right now, you can still move much closer to this vision than you might’ve imagined. 

As long as you have...

Classroom Management
That Actually Works

This isn’t another dense book, or another sterile and scripted training that staff barely has time to implement. It’s not a bunch of random strategies to throw at the wall and see what sticks.

This is a practical and actionable blueprint—a process and a toolkit—that can enhance learning, increase engagement and participation with academic content, and prevent challenging behavior while promoting independence.

Classroom Management
Positive and engaged learning communities boil down to the core elements of

Building positive relationships

Teaching children adaptive behavioral skills

And most importantly, believing that children can and want to learn

This empowering learning experience will provide you with the tools to bring these transformative elements to life.

As you implement these strategies, not only will you witness a difference in engagement and behavior, you will also begin to feel a difference in your own self, leaving behind stress and overwhelm to embrace a newfound sense of calm and satisfaction.

So, How Might This Help Build YOUR Community?

The Positive and Engaged Learning Community brings together video content, guided activities, and community to support inclusive and equitable learning environments.

This learning experience, and the actionable blueprint, provides individuals and schools or programs with the tools to:

Take a strengths-based approach to behavior

by shifting from a demoralizing focus on deficits to building on current strengths.

Promote independent learning

by developing children’s skills to make intentional and informed choices within your learning community.

Improve school conditions

by fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion.

Decrease educational achievement gaps

by providing all children with a more level playing field to access a fair, equitable, and high-quality education.

Support academic growth

for all children, including students who are most at risk of failing. 

Develop your own skills

through high quality professional development (and earn CEUs!)

And because no two learning communities are the same…

We can meet you and your staff where you are

professional learning

Whether you’re barely getting by, or have the basics in place but want to make even more time for learning and increase engagement, this learning experience offers guidance for different phases of the journey.

Either way, you might be wondering, “how will I (or my staff) find the time?”

I know this struggle too well, and that’s why I designed this content so each bit of it that’s implemented will create more time for teaching and learning content during class time!

Testimonials

“This professional development experience was incredible! They covered a ton of material in highly engaging ways and truly modeled UDL [Universal Design for Learning] in action for our teachers!”

-Teacher

“From the first session I had with her I left with new ways of thinking about my role as a leader, practical tips and strategies to immediately begin implementing, and an appreciation for all that I already AM in my role.”

- Elementary Principal

“Working with a coach helped me to see the gifts I already bring to the table and to acknowledge the good things that are already coming out of the academics office; at the same time, she was great about having me self-reflect about possible areas of growth in a positive, professional manner.”

-Upper School Administrator

“My coach was … fantastic at presenting insightful questions to process through the emotional and physical aspects of being a teacher.”

-Teacher

“I [got]concrete strategies to help me improve how I work with my students.”

-Teacher

“I always appreciate the time to learn from others and hear the structures, strategies and success/ dilemmas colleagues are experiencing or trying out. I also value the time to think about my own next steps.”

-Instructional Coach

“Can't wait to try some strategies with my most difficult kids! Makes me even more excited to be working with them.”

-Educational therapist

“Looking at meaning behind behavior really helps [me] figure out how to address behavior.”

-Educational therapist

“Your presentation was VERY well received and your work is just what we needed. I’m looking forward to the year!! Thank you so much!”

-Educational therapist

“Alexis is incredible to work with. She is extremely professional, knowledgeable, and flexible. There have been many instances where she adeptly took in the varied goals of multiple stakeholders and produced agendas and professional learning experiences that encompassed those goals and received high praise. Teachers, site leaders, and district leaders have expressed deep appreciation for Alexis and her vast expertise.”

-Administrator

Meet Your Instructor

Hi, I’m Dr. Alexis Filippini.

This journey toward supporting children’s positive behavior started when I was teaching reading intervention as part of a research study in college. I had a massive amount of knowledge and training on linguistics, literacy, and even a decent amount of cultural competence, but in the first moments one child hid under the table and the rest of the group dissolved into chaos.

I had a great mentor who coached me through this, and my next job was as a behavior clinician supporting children with autism and their families. I got my PhD in special education, and then a job as an assistant professor at San Francisco State University.

All that previous experience came in handy when I taught the “intro to positive behavior supports” course for special educators at State. I loved that class, because from week to week the teachers enrolled could try things out in real life, share it with the class, troubleshoot, and experience real progress.

I heard again and again that this was the best course, the most useful, and the few general education teachers (who had originally enrolled just for the credits) wondered why it wasn’t part of their curriculum.

Since then—2010—I’ve been training, mentoring, and coaching this material for hundreds of teachers, leaders, and staff, in all kinds of environments. I’m committed to making it more widely accessible, which is why I’ve worked so hard to package it up in this course that you can take at your own pace.

And I still teach reading—mostly outdoors at Words in the Wild where we build literacy skills through nature, curiosity, and scientific inquiry.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

I know the material in this course works and works well… but I also know you can’t know that for sure until you’re working with it yourself, in YOUR learning community. That’s why you can join now, watch the videos, try out the exercises, and go through the process for 30 days… and if after that you’re unsatisfied for any reason just email us for a full refund.

Funding

We want to work with you to find funding! These offerings are typically considered eligible for federal programs funding. Positive and Engaged Learning Community supports these federal title program goals for public schools and private schools equitable services:

Title I Part A

Provide[s] all children with significant opportunity to a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, for all students, including eligible students who are most at risk of failing.  

PD for teachers of private school students served in Title I. (if applicable)

Title II, Part A

Strengthening the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders to increase student achievement.

High-quality, personalized, and evidence-based for teachers, instructional leadership teams, principals, or other school leaders. 

Title IV, Part A

Provide students access to well-rounded education.

Improve school conditions for student learning.

How the Positive and Engaged Learning Community can help you meet these goals:

Developing a universal tier of positive behavior supports is a step toward a level playing field for children most at risk of disciplinary action or school failure.

This experience includes the flexibility of a self-guided course and the personalized, live support of Community Coaching. The year-long membership is more effective than a “one-shot” PD.

Children are more able to access academic content with clear behavioral expectations, the tools to meet those expectations, and strong community relationships.

FAQs

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