PLC Reset
It's a Professional "Learning" Community!
It's a Professional "Learning" Community!
Shaylee Ryan, Landstown High School
February 2024
Why are PLCs important?
Effective PLCs are essential to fostering collaboration, promoting innovation, and ensuring alignment.
Fostering Collaboration: Effective PLCs value the contributions of all members and operate on a foundation of respect for other's ideas. Collaborating with PLC members can lighten the load for all members!
Promoting Innovation: PLCs should provide a space to share struggles and successes. An instruction-focused PLC provides the opportunity for each member to be supported when implementing new strategies.
Ensuring Alignment: When PLCs work together, all members engage in meaningful discourse regarding standards, skills, and notation.
Use the resources below to help set your PLC up for success in this new term!
PLC Current Reality Reflection
Whether you have a PLC that has been together forever or your PLC is ever-changing, it is important to be realistic regarding your current reality.
The following PLC Current Reality Reflection is a great tool for your PLC. Consider having each person complete the reflection or reflect together as a group. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the successes of your PLC during Term 1 and set goals for improving during Term 2.
Seven Stages of PLCs
Even great PLCs have areas they can improve. Have your PLC determine where it operates in the Seven Stages of PLCs (link).
Stage 1: Filling the Time
Stage 2: Sharing Personal Practice
Stage 3: Planning
Stage 4: Developing Common Assessments
Stage 5: Analyzing Student Learning
Stage 6: Adapting Instruction to meet student needs
Stage 7: Reflecting on Instruction
It is common for PLCs to be strong in some areas and never attempt others. Challenge your PLC to focus on one of the suggested "move forward" strategies throughout Term 2.
*If your PLC needs resources to review student data, reflect, etc. please reach out to a math coach for support*
Navigating No Common Planning!
Does your PLC not have a common planning block? Hopefully, your PLC can utilize a regular meeting time during One Lunch, but even that can not feel like enough time to check in and collaborate with your PLC.
Explore how PLCs at Bayside, Kempsville, and Landstown use digital organization to overcome the barriers of lack of common planning. With unit calendars and checklists, these PLCs have a common place for resources and a central location to communicate within the document to one another.