Did you just attend a summer PLC institute and you’re all fired up to get back to school and start your journey? Are you thinking how can I do this alone? Who can help me? How? Are you thinking about your first steps? These questions should help drive your work in the initial stages:
How can I increase my capacity as the leader of my building by empowering others to be leaders?
Who will be part of my guiding coalition? What will be their roles?
What is our current reality?
How will we work together for the benefit of all students in our district?
- Focus on a small number of goals.
- Use high-yield strategies.
- Determine very specific actions, and set tight and loose expectations.
- Monitor for support.
- Model best practices.
Can we base our decisions on these questions?
- How will this benefit kids?
- How will we know?
- What evidence will we accept that this is making a difference?
- What process will we use when dealing with issues?
- What are the barriers, obstacles, and speed bumps?
How will we make decisions?
- Vote: What percentage will we use?
- Consensus: What does consensus mean for us?
What approaches will we want to avoid?
- “Delective”: Pick and choose components of a PLC that we like.
- Managerial: Checklist of things to do.
- “Sacred Cow”: Fail to apply the six essential characteristics of a PLC.
How can we build a common knowledge and vocabulary and at the same time create a sense of urgency around learning?
You are energized, so there is a fierce urgency to begin this journey. It’s time to move from learning to doing. The website allthingsplc.info has a wealth of resources to help you and your team on your journey. Good luck, because it is a journey well worth taking.
[author_bio id=”36″]
