Open Mathematics PLC Protocols

Teachers fist bumping over a busy workplace.

It's a Process
Adoption of instructional materials doesn’t end with the agreement of which materials to purchase. A thoughtful 3-year plan to support implementation of the instructional materials should engage all teachers in ongoing, job-embedded professional learning focused on deepening content knowledge, effective instructional practices, and student learning. 

How?
These protocols were designed to support job-embedded, professional learnng in a structured setting, such as a PLC. This 3-year progression is grounded in the belief that educators need to truly understand the content standards they are teaching. 

• Year 1 - Content focus
• Year 2 - Instructional practice focus
• Year 3+ - Student work focus

The PLC protocols begin with a year overview, then move to a unit/module overview, and finally to a lesson overview.

In response to teachers deepening their own content knowledge, the need to shift instructional practice emerges. Finally, once teachers have their understanding of content deepened and have aligned instructional practices, attending to the shifts that are called for in the CCSS, they can begin to look at student work with the lens of how their understanding in mathematics and shift in practices have made an impact on student learning. Before you can look at student work, you need to really deepen understanding of content and methodology of teaching content.

While we have called this a 3-year progression, you and/or your district may be ready for year 2 as you may have already done the work of deepening content understanding. However, we truly believe an intentional, systematic approach to develop content knowledge for all teachers with your specific curriculum is needed prior to addressing instructional practice and focusing on student work. Unless educators have a common lens of how the content progresses and what students bring with them from previous grade levels and where they are headed next, excuses are made as to why they don’t want to use the provided materials as written. With the deep understanding of content and the progressions of the content within the curriculum, educators are able to move through the lessons as they were designed. (implementing the protocols) 

The instructional materials will support the development of ideas over the course of the year and not necessarily mastered after each lesson or unit. We need to resist the urge to reteach for mastery.

• Resisting the Urge to Reteach for Mastery | Great Minds - Eureka Math

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