Introduction
psychological effects. School systems’ ability to overcome the negative behaviors to manage pandemic stressors reduces the adverse psychological effects for both students and faculty. Schools need to develop plans to address the social and emotional impact on students and faculty as well. Recognizing and reducing quarantine effects, providing as much information as possible, providing adequate supplies, and reducing boredom are essential focus areas for consideration, in addition to schools’ academic concerns. Table I.2 (page 8) suggests schoolwide resources and responses for meeting social and emotional needs that result from a quarantine. Attending to the five stressors in table I.2 will both promote a sound school-improvement process and address faculty’s and students’ social and emotional needs. Collaborative teams in PLCs provide an opportunity for colleagues to support and address individuals’ challen ges. In addition, weekly or at least monthly individual meetings with school leaders where leaders listen to teachers and staff members is one method to provide emotional support. The agility of the leader to adjust his or her skills with virtual connections including staff meetings, team meetings, and individual one-to-one meetings with faculty via video technology such as Zoom, Microsoft Team Meetings, and Google Meet, enhances not only communication but also reduces the compilation of fear and distrust that is caused when staff feel left out of the communication loop. Increased frequency of staff interactions eliminates the unknown stressors which impact the schools’ culture and faculty members’ well-being. Teachers can use a similar meeting process as they work with students. They can utilize one class period a quarter to meet with students individually to discuss academic needs and challenges the students face. Utilizing a technology such as Zoom or Facetime allows for video conferences to occur during class or on an individual basis. Teachers can have a class meeting in a main virtual classroom and set up a breakout room for private discussions with individual students or a small group of students while the class is still in session in the other main meeting room. If teachers have access to two computers, they can be in both rooms at once allowing for supervision in one room while holding private conversations in another. The demands of virtual learning are now the new normal for education. In a virtual environment, educators should employ the same effective practice strategies that they have employed face-to-face as they learn new strategies, relearn strategies they employed on a daily basis, and unlearn practices that fail to produce increased achievement results for students and faculty.
A Road Map of the PLC Process As career educators, we have led Model PLC schools and a Model PLC school district as principals and district-office administrators, and we have supported thousands of schools as PLC, assessment, and response to intervention (RTI) consultants since 2003. We’ve found school improvement and student learning cannot take a back seat when schools or school systems are faced with societal changes or systemic roadblocks. Students still need to learn. And to ensure learning at high levels, teachers and schools still need to function at their
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