Quiet No More

PLCs, Protocols, and Homogeneous Grouping

At the start of the school year, a friend — a coworker — texted this to me. I saved it.

Once a month, teachers at my school attend professional learning communities, otherwise known as PLCs.

“A PLC is a team of educators who share ideas to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential.”

Last week, administration asked for suggestions for next year’s PLCs. I emailed the principal. I heard back. I typed my thoughts and met with the assistant principal in charge.

These are my typed thoughts. Copied and pasted from the word document I brought to my meeting.

Grade Level Learning Communities Diving into Topics Meaningful to the Team

I am part of a multi-grade level PLC and would find it more beneficial if there were just second grade teachers in this community. I also found that the enthusiasm to attend died down about halfway through the year. Two PLCs a year, instead of one, might be the answer.

I have an idea.

Each team comes up with two ideas for a PLC. The teachers on the team decide which learning community to join, without the goal of divided evenly. The team will choose facilitators. Halfway through the year, the team chooses…