Rethinking Teacher Time Infographic

Rethinking Teacher Time Infographic

Students perform better in schools where teachers have meaningful collaboration with their peers for extended periods of time. So Kentucky teacher leaders are posing this challenge: Rethink professional learning and restructure the school day to make learning more effective for students and teachers. The Rethinking Teacher Time Infographic presents 3 recommendations from 15 teacher leaders and one administrator from CTQ-KY, a virtual community of more than 140 educators from across Kentucky:

1. Redesign school schedules to prioritize learning for students and teachers

• Dedicate staff meetings solely to professional learning
• Provide uninterrupted time for teacher reflection and planning
• Let teachers choose supervising tasks and leadership opportunities

Schedules for better teaching and learning: More and more, teachers in Kentucky have had to shift their focus from student-centered activities to administrative ones. Teachers' overburdened schedules leave little time to prioritize student or professional learning. A restructured teacher schedule allows for more student-centered reflection and planning; collaborative professional learning; and shared, delegated, or self-selected responsibilities.

2. Promote teacher-driven Professional Learning Communities

• Capitalize on teachers' capacity and expertise to design and lead professional learning
• Nurture teacher-organized PLCs in which teachers drive planning and reflection around student learning
• Schedule monthly teacher work days for extended professional learning

3. Rethink classroom structures and needs

• Schedule co-taught classes that free teachers to work individually with students and design shared assessments
• Allot additional planning and feedback time for teachers with larger class loads and more special needs students
• Reduce time spent on supervising tasks so teachers can design project-based learning experiences for flexible learning styles