A PLC is meant to be a dynamic community where ideas are supposed to flow among

colleagues. Their main goal is to find out how they can improve the system that they are

currently in. There are many functions of a PLC that can go array if a PLC is not taken seriously.

The PLC that I will be relating to is, my current, sixth grade mathematics and science PLC which

consists of a total of six teachers. Within this paper, I will be discussing the attitude, time

commitment and overall dynamics of the PLC that I am currently a part.

To begin, the attitude that is within a PLC can decide the success or failure of the PLC.

There are days where a PLC meeting may not be at the top of a teacher’s to-do list, but what all

educators need to understand is that every meeting with your colleagues can lead to creating

success. When you have a person or persons in your meeting who is displaying a negative

attitude, it makes the rest of the PLC feel as if their ideas are unwanted. If you feel as if your

ideas are unwanted, then people will not want to share any ideas or be open with you, in fear

of having an idea be rejected. In my experience, when you come into these PLCs with a smile,

people become more open to share ideas. When you speak with passion about your job or even

your ideas, your PLC will have a better chance of helping you perfect your ideas or even better,

implementing your ideas into their classroom! It is difficult to succeed in the educational field

on your own, but if you have a trusted PLC where the conversation is supportive, you have a

better chance of enhancing your educational knowledge.

Time, it is a crucial part of an educator’s life. It is a gift that educators treat like gold if

they get a little bit of extra time. There are multiple times throughout the year where I

complain about the time that I must “waste” going to PLC. As educators, we need to treat PLC

time like gold, the reason we should be so high on this time because it is an opportunity to
share all of your hard worked ideas. Within a PLC you can collaboratively plan with those

trained professionals around you. The people you work with may be some of your best

resources. For example, at Summit Middle School, we are slowly working to become a project

based learning school, without the help of those around me, these learning experiencing would

not be possible to create. When you work together, you can cut your time in half. Work hard,

and come prepared with the time you have spent on your lesson plans, so you can reveal those

to those all around you! The time that we spend developing this exciting criterion for our

students can only be improved by our PLC.

There are no two PLCs that are exactly alike, the dynamics between these PLCs are very

crucial to promote success. To begin, nothing will be accomplished in a PLC if there is no trust

within the meetings. For example, my first year in Johnston, our PLC was a mess. I honestly feel

it was because there was not trust, or relationship established between me and the other

members. When there is a stranger within your place of work, it is hard to be yourself nor for

you to have the ability to feel confident sharing your hard-developed lessons. After building the

relationships with my colleagues, the ideas have been flowing like wine, and our work has been

much more pleasant. One large thing that I have learned within my PLC is that you must be

okay with failure. Our philosophy in our PLC is that we would rather try something innovative

and fail, rather than just lapsing back into our ways of teaching. With failure, comes reflection.

We, as a PLC love to reflect on why an idea failed. Was it the presentation? Were the students

not ready for that level of thinking? When you can reflect group, you can see the different

angles of why something failed. Along with failing, you must be able to admit that you need

help. When you seek out help to those around you, it is amazing how a great PLC will flock to
assist you where you are struggling. On the other side of admitting you are wrong, there is also

the listening aspect of a PLC, you must truly listen to the problems that arise in the PLC. When

you become an active listener, you go back to building trust. As stated earlier, no two PLC will

be alike.

The PLC is a well-oiled machine, it will have its ups along with its downs. Educators need

to get into the proper and positive mindset while entering these collaborative meetings, within

these meetings is where the magic of transforming education occur. When the relationships are

formed, and the meeting become a safe environment for all ideas, educators can really spread

their wings and fly toward changing our educational system for the better.