Blog
Q&A on Guided Reading in a PLC
The following is a Q&A email correspondence between Susan Huff, PLC at Work™ associate and principal in Spanish Fork, Utah, and Cynthia Watkins, a third-grade teacher in Asheville, North Carolina... Read more
Homework That Motivates
As a parent and a school administrator, I am saddened at times to see the view that my own kids have about schoolwork. Homework is seen as the pursuit of arbitrary points and compliance with a . . . Read more
Are You "Doing" PLCs or "Being" a PLC?
As more and more schools embrace the tenets of the professional learning community journey, how do we explain why many are able to navigate the road toward quality learning for all students while . . . Read more
Reflections From the 2011 Las Vegas PLC at Work™ Institute
Rick and Becky DuFour, both keynote speakers at the conference, spoke powerfully about the need for building a collaborative culture within the professional learning community of a school. As a teacher who is new to the process... Read more
Q&A on Incorporating Specialists Into PLCs
We received this question from a reader of AllThingsPLC and wanted to share the response with all of our readers. Please share your responses in the comments below or by mentioning @SolutionTree or #atplc on Twitter. Read more
When It Comes to Change, Are You a Committed Sardine?
When schools and districts transition from teachers working in isolation to working in cultures of collaboration, one of the most frequently asked questions is, “What do we do if every . . . Read more
Kid-by-Kid-by-Kid
This is just my second year at the big old high school in our little town. Despite the stereotyping that goes on in education about large high schools being places where kids fall through the . . . Read more
Thriving Inside the Creative Tension
Today, a tension exists in professional learning communities that are striving to do what’s best for students and learning: teachers feel caught between the desire to do more with formative . . . Read more
New Twists on the Old Exam Week
Over the past few years, our district and our school staff have been working to improve our assessment practices. Most of this has been centered around AFL: Assessment for Learning. In our high . . . Read more
What If Efficacy Did Not Matter in Schools?
What if efficacy did not matter in schools or on the PLC journey? What if we focused exclusively on the knowledge and skill set of every individual on a team? In the sports world... Read more
PBIS: The Perfect Fit for Behavior Intervention in a PLC
Two years ago, our school decided to implement PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). We felt that we had a good handle on the academic side of the PLC, but something was missing. . . . Read more
Creating and Supporting High-Performing PLCs: One District’s Journey
The state of Florida has 21 national model schools of PLCs at Work™ listed under the “PLC Locator” tab on the allthingsplc.info website. 20 of these 21 schools are located in one . . . Read more
Are We Educational Hoarders?
In this age of reality shows, many people’s lives become transparent to the world. One of those shows is "Hoarders." This is a show in which a person’s gathering and keeping . . . Read more
PLC Team Efficacy: If We Think We Can, Can We?
You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t. You’re always right!” (Not sure who originated that saying, but mothers everywhere seem to have adopted it!)... Read more
Q&A: Rick DuFour’s Response to a Question on Formative Assessment
Last week, educate4life posted the following comment on Grading Formative and Summative Assessments by Rick DuFour: I am new to this forum but stumbled upon this thread. I am a high school mathematics teacher... Read more