PLCs can't exist without an organizational structure.
PLCs ask, what can we do about students who are not learning? How can we work together to find solutions?
All assessments give us more pieces of the puzzle of student learning. Everything is informative.
PLCs are:
- a form of job embedded professional development
- a formal title of what some schools already do through mentoring/collaboration
- collegial professional learning. We need people to work and talk with. We want to find out what other people are doing.
- interactive learning as opposed to the "sit and get"
- learning by doing
- a variety of contact: face to face or online
- results oriented; want to know the 'what' as opposed to the 'how'
"PLCs ask, what can we do about students who are not learning? How can we work together to find solutions?"
ReplyDeleteAre PLCs only about the students who aren't learning? Are the ones who are learning a little, but not as much as they should be, of no concern?
Do you include in the "students who are not learning" the top students who already know all the material in the class?
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI think we will start by focusing on students who are showing no learning.
I'm not sure how to measure the amount students 'should be' learning to tell if they are learning less than that. But even if they are learning a little bit, then they are ahead of those who aren't learning.
As for students who already know all the material in the class, well why would they be in that class anyway?
We can only attack one problem at a time so in my opinion, I think we would prioritize our problems and work our way down the list.
Thanks for pointing out some blind spots.
It is good to be clear on your priorities, since you can't do everything all at once.
ReplyDelete"As for students who already know all the material in the class, well why would they be in that class anyway?"
Often kids are placed in too low a level of math class, then penalized for not being able to grind through hundreds of review exercises. If your answer is to move kids up or down to the proper placement for their current level of skill, that is a *great* answer. If only more schools did that.