Why use protocols? The best answer I've found so far is "It's not pixie dust, it's protocol" by Tom Many. In his article, he says that "The regular use of protocols also helps teachers develop a shared language for assessing student work and a common understanding of what quality student work looks like." I think that protocols allow schools to do more than just hold "more meetings" because more ineffective meeting time will not improve student learning.
What is a protocol? It's not as scary or confusing as it sounds, in fact it's just a plan of attack when you come to a meeting. the protocol defines the goal of the meetingand the steps your group will take to get to the goal. Depending on the goal of your meeting, you can pick an appropriate protocol using this document. More templates will be added over time.
There are many protocols already created, and you can create your own to meet the needs of your group. As a staff this Fall, we practiced a few protocls to get people used to using them. We have tried the foundational protocol, professional learning protocol, and problem solving protocol. More protocols are available in my google drive here.
Protocols are crucial to the success of a PLC. The right protocolwill get your team to the crucial questions of a PLC:
- What do you want students to leaarn
- How will you know if they have learned it
- What will you do when they have learned it
- What will you do when they haven't learned it
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