Teachers attend training day

Most schools in the county shut down Oct. 8 so teachers could attend the second annual day-long conference on learning at Colfax High School. Two hundred and eighty-five educators gathered to learn about Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)—an educational model for teachers learning to work together to boost student performance.

Teachers and some classified staff members commuted to Colfax in school buses to attend the session.

Palouse Superintendent Bev Fox said the day of learning re-affirmed what her teachers were already working on.

One new idea she gained was a different way to help out a student struggling with a particular subject with teachers sharing class time. For example, the teacher of a struggling geometry student could ask another teacher of that student to give up an hour or two of class time so the student could catch up in geometry.

“You become more collaborative on how to solve these issues,” Fox said.

Colfax science teacher Kathryn Vogler also said the idea of teachers having more one-on-one time with students was helpful.

The educational model of PLCs is a common idea throughout the United States.

Last year was the first “in-service day” for Whitman County educators gathering to learn about PLCs.

The Whitman County Principal’s Association came up with the idea for a training day in light of dwindling state dollars supporting teacher training.

As the state’s education budget shrinks, state-paid teaching training days have become less frequent.

To compensate for this, the principals association came up with the idea of the PLC day for teachers and support staff to gather and learn from each other. It’s a chance for local educators to pass on their knowledge to one another. Smaller groups of educators will meet twice more this school year to put into practice what they learned about collaboration.

The principals association won a state award for sponsoring the day last year, one of eight awards given out by the state’s Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development organization.

ESD 101, the educational district for eastern Washington, nominated Whitman County for the award which is targeted toward “instructional leadership and professional growth of educators.”

“We’re just really pleased that Whitman County is taking this coordinated approach to professional development and working together,” said Chris Tuckerman, director of ESD 101’s math and science program. He worked with the principals association during the learning day.

White River School District on the west side of the state is a state leader in PLCs, Tuckerman said.

Janel Keating, assistant superintendent of White River, was the keynote speaker at the learning day in Colfax. Eight educators from White River led the PLC sessions at Colfax last Friday.