This week, we’re going to change up the PD and PLC process slightly from weeks past. Kat and I have noticed a shift in the questions we’re getting and in the needs of staff across the district. To respond, we’re going to try an experiment with PD on Tuesday and the way we run PLC discussions on Thursday. All sessions are posted, and you can take a look now.
Unified Professional Development
Each PD session this week is geared toward general instruction and will include experts in ELL instruction, special education, high ability, and technology. The topics cover all grade levels and content, from vocabulary to building relationships and creating accessible courses for all students.
The sessions are meant to give classroom examples so you can reflect on your own work and identify areas for improvement or grab a few extra good ideas in order to best help students. It may be something as small as cleaning up your Canvas home page to rethinking how you ask students to respond to prompts. You’ll see actual examples of what teachers are doing with their classes during distance learning to address student needs. Come ready to take notes and ask questions so you can adopt and model the resources for your own classes.
PLCs Focused on Implementation
Kat and I have heard great ideas in our grade level and content area PLCs that are limited to those groups, but could be applied in any class. This week, our PLC times will parallel the PD on Tuesday and are open to all teachers. We want to bring in expertise and perspectives from all staff rather than limit discussions to our grades or content silos. Insight from colleagues in different realms can help us all become more well-rounded and respond to students more effectively as a result.
The Thursday schedule is already posted, so you can plan your day around joining topics you would like to actively discuss and get feedback on. This is the guided inquiry component of the PLC process…groups who come and discuss problems and solutions will benefit from participation from each attendee.
We’re Still Here to Help
Kat and I are still committed to helping you solve specific problems. Thursday afternoon, we have office hours from 1-3 PM for general questions. You can also reach out via email individually or as a group and we can schedule a time to talk in a smaller setting about your specific goals or concerns. We’ve seen amazing work from staff over the last month and we want to continue to support your individual projects.
The featured photo is lightbulb experiments 02, a flickr photo by vlad shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) license.
