“How is your new job going?” This is the question I hear most often these days. My typical response is, “I’m learning a lot.” Once in a while the astute conversationalist follows up with “What are you learning?” Responding to this takes a bit more reflection on my part. Ultimately, however, I realize that for the past ten years I have been in my routine and the smaller world of the high school. What I am learning now is how many amazing people we have across the entire MOC-Floyd Valley School District, and how impressive it is when we all work together for the benefit of our students.
As a former coach, I am familiar with the old saying, “TEAM—Together everyone achieves more.” We at MOC-Floyd Valley are striving to reflect this belief in our professional practices. Staff members in all buildings meet in PLC (Professional Learning Community) teams on a regular basis. The purpose of these teams is to harness the collective power of the team. As renowned educational consultant, Angela Maier puts it, “The smartest person in the room is the room.”
During this scheduled PLC Team Time, we focus on the following:
• Analyzing student work to determine levels of understanding. From this information, decisions are made as to re-teaching the whole group, providing extra assistance for students who need it, adjusting instructional strategies, and/or clarifying tasks.
• Planning instruction, designing tasks or assessments that push students to deeper levels of understanding. Challenging, pushing, and prodding each other to develop meaningful units for our students.
• Learning together and teaching one another. This is becoming increasingly important as we embrace the opportunities that technology provides in the teaching/learning process.
• Monitoring student needs and collectively developing interventions and supports that allow us to best meet those needs.
We certainly invite you to become a part of our overall Professional Learning Community. Please talk with your child’s teacher or principal to see how you might be able to work with us to help your child, or others who may benefit from your contribution.