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| IT IS A JOURNEY |
I had the privilege of attending the PLC at Work Institute in Atlanta, Georgia this week. Before attending this conference I thought I had a good idea of what a Professional Learning Community was; however, while some of what I knew was confirmed, much of what I learned was new information.
The biggest AHA* I had throughout the 2 1/2 days is that implementing a PLC is a journey, not a destination. What is the difference? Well, a destination has an end point in mind. You know where you are going, and you know when you have arrived. There is a definite beginning and ending. A journey is not the same.
Dictionary.com defines journey as: "passage or progress from one stage to another." If we are to have PLCs that work, we have to envision our work as journey. We will always be progressing from one stage to another. We will never "arrive."
So, understanding that we are on a journey and not just setting out for a destination, let's be intentional about the ideas and concepts we allow to become a part of our mindset. This is essential if we are going to successfully implement a PLC in the way it is truly intended to be implemented. The ideas we give credence to will be the ideas that shape our understanding and change our thinking. So, just as we are thoughtful about what we pack in our suitcase when going on a journey, we need to be thoughtful and intentional about the ideas we pack into our "mind-case**."
I am devoting the next several blogs to the concepts and ideas I have learned from the experts*** on what a true PLC looks like. Once we begin truly believing what a PLC is and what it takes to create and sustain it, our minds will change and student learning will mean more than ANYTHING else we do.
The biggest AHA* I had throughout the 2 1/2 days is that implementing a PLC is a journey, not a destination. What is the difference? Well, a destination has an end point in mind. You know where you are going, and you know when you have arrived. There is a definite beginning and ending. A journey is not the same.
Dictionary.com defines journey as: "passage or progress from one stage to another." If we are to have PLCs that work, we have to envision our work as journey. We will always be progressing from one stage to another. We will never "arrive."
So, understanding that we are on a journey and not just setting out for a destination, let's be intentional about the ideas and concepts we allow to become a part of our mindset. This is essential if we are going to successfully implement a PLC in the way it is truly intended to be implemented. The ideas we give credence to will be the ideas that shape our understanding and change our thinking. So, just as we are thoughtful about what we pack in our suitcase when going on a journey, we need to be thoughtful and intentional about the ideas we pack into our "mind-case**."
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| Definition of "mind-case": the place in our brains where we allow ideas/information to enter that has the potential to change our attitudes which will cause us to react and behave in a certain way. |
I am devoting the next several blogs to the concepts and ideas I have learned from the experts*** on what a true PLC looks like. Once we begin truly believing what a PLC is and what it takes to create and sustain it, our minds will change and student learning will mean more than ANYTHING else we do.
*I am paraphrasing my definition of AHA from Kyle Idelman. It is a 3-step process and all 3 steps are necessary. There is an Awakening to a new truth or idea. Then there is Honesty in which you evaluate what you already know with the new information you are learning. Finally, there is Action in which you DO something with the new information.
**Mind-case is a term that I came up with when writing this blog. When I typed the term into dictionary.com to see if it had a definition all that came up was, "Did you mean 'nut-case'," so i think it is safe to take credit for this term.
***The ideas presented in this blog are an attempt to synthesize what I am packing into my "mind-case" from what I am learning from great minds, such as the DuFours, Tim Brown, Mike Mattos, and others. 
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