This Year Had to Be Different

This year it was different. Over the summer, toward the end, I set up a two hour meeting with my principal and together we established a few structures that set up the expectation of collaboration with me as a PD Coach. The year prior, my first year, there were few, if any, rules or expectations, and therefore my two-day a week position was not really used to its fullest potential.

With this new initiative of PLCs—where teachers on grade levels are required to work together to better the learning of all students on grade level, not just those in their particular class--
with this new initiative is a “need” for my role. My principal scheduled meeting times with teams and myself. Instant collaboration. There was also a need on the teams to have me work with them: each team needed to learn about PLC's.

Now, building on relationships that I have established already in the past year, and then these new expectations, we are started in a very different place.

I am also facilitating that core group of team members who first attended the DuFour workshop last year. This turnkey group is the key to making this all happen. I am currently reading Strengthening the Heartbeat by Sergviovanni and in it he states the need for change to both be something that bubbles up in a grass roots sort of way, and trickles down from the administration. This "coming at it from both ways" approach is what is making this a success. And, because of this the tone was positive.

The Background: Launching our PLC's

It all began about ten months ago when my principal and superintendent (AKA Batman and Robin) began inquiring about Professional Learning Communities. My role as Professional Development Coach, or Literacy Coach, was to coordinate a pilgrimage to see the DuFours in person. This pilgrimage would included one representative from six grade levels K-5. An invitation was emailed to all staff, and behind the scenes, the most vocal or influential teacher that volunteered for that grade level was invited to attend a two day workshop given by Rick and Becky DuFour.

I may have been organizing this, but I had my healthy cynicism about this new approach to teaching and learning. Were we ready? Was this worth it? How does my coaching role fit into all of this? Most of all, how does this benefit our students? All of these questions were answered, all of my doubts removed, and all of my resolve strengthened. This simple, why-didn't-I-think-of-that approach to collaboration was the answer.

In the days to come, I will be revisiting moments of challenge, and moments of success, in our journey as a small community of teachers doing our darndest to work together in a new and surprisingly difficult structure of collaboration. I will highlight my work as the ringleader of this circus (on the bad days) and conductor of this orchestra (on the good ones).