This PLC Thing…
I have to say, this PLC thing (Professional Learning Community)has really been working. I went to Arizona in February to a PLC Summit, thought it was just a free trip to Phoenix. But it wasn’t, it was so much more. Very productive seminars, and I learned so much!
Fast forward to May, and I have to admit, I enjoy using what I’ve learned from it. Now, as a school, we’re not quite there yet, but we are a lot farther than where we were when we started. More people have ” got on the bus”, and it has really helped our students improve. Personally, I love what it has done for my team, we are collaborating and making decisions that are good for our kids.
For example, we looked at our student scores on a common math assessment, and decided to have Math workshops that focused on the skills they were weak in. Each teacher chose the focus skill he or she was strong in, and taught based on the level of the group we saw. Can you say “differentiated instruction”? Of course, I was the “tech” component of our workshop. 🙂 We each created an “Exit ticket” that the students completed at the end of class, and we reviewed the results of the ticket at our next PLC meeting.
The students LOVED it! They traveled with their friends outside their class, they got away from us for about an hour, they spent time with another teacher, and the skills were either reinforced, or enriched. The results were amazing, and the students learned a lot, which was our objective.
When the new school year begins, our district is having all the participants in the summit meet once a month to share ideas. We already had one meeting last month, and one of the teachers shared things that were so simple, yet so helpful. I now get a chance to take that back, and share it with my colleagues. I am part of a number of communities, Twitter, Edmodo, Technology Integration in Education, and so many more, so I understand the importance of collaboration.
You don’t hear too much grumbling about “PLC” anymore, it’s just something that we do now, and I’m loving it! Please Let’s Collaborate!
DIARY OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER 