About+the+MATCh

Welcome to Our Professional Learn﻿ ing Community

//"Teachers - like children and everyone else - feel the need to grow in their competences; they want to transform experiences into thoughts, thoughts into reflections, and reflections into new thoughts and new actions. They also feel a need to make predictions, to try things out, and to interpret them...Teachers must learn to interpret ongoing processes rather than wait to evaluate results." // //~Loris Malaguzzi //

//Our Wiki: Rules of Engagement//
As part of the New Teacher Induction at our school, we will engage in collective reflection, and this wiki is a means to that end. In order for the use of information technology to be "risk free", all members of our PLC are asked to follow the //Rules of Engagement//. These norms will help to ensure productive reflection and privacy as we learn together:
 * We will protect the privacy and dignity of our students and colleagues. When in doubt about the appropriateness of content, we will not post.


 * We will uphold confidentiality among our PLC. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!


 * We will listen to understand and avoid judging others.


 * We will actively participate and collaborate to promote our individual and collective growth.

**// The Most Amazing Teacher Challenge (MATCh) //**
As part of your professional learning we will examine important topics each month. During our after school sessions, you will have a chance to share what you already know, read about best practices, ask questions, identify new strategies to implement, implement the strategies with as much or as little support as you desire, and reflect on the efficacy of the strategies you've tried. This process is //The Most Amazing Teacher Challenge//, or MATCh for short.

The MATCh steps are as follows:

Make notes and engage in bursts of dialogue during the Lecture Burst about the topic.
 * Step One:**

Set a goal related to the topic for the month.
 * Step Two:**

Examine and read information on our WikiSpaces site to broaden your understanding.
 * Step Three:**

Identify and commit to a strategy that you'll try this month.
 * Step Four:**

To the extend that you need or want, work with your mentor to plan for, implement, and reflect upon the strategy you selected.
 * Step Five:**

Collectively reflect at the next professional learning sesson about what you tried, how it worked (or didn't work), and why. Share any additional strategies or resources you found related to the topic.
 * Step Six:**

Professional learning for newly hired teachers is differentiated to help you become the BEST teacher YOU can be, applying the very BEST instructional practices to promote STUDENT learning... just like Maria:

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History of MATCh
In 2008, co-mentors Stacy Bryan and Kate Johnson were faced with a professional development challenge: They were working with 35 non-tenured teachers of varying experience levels in a school that was undergoing major organizational change and reform related to state mandated restructuring. To ensure that all of their protiges were being provided an opportunity to learn starting at their own entry points, the mentors developed a process for consistently delivering differentiated professional development that met Maryland State Professional Development Standards.

In 2010, Stacy moved to a high school on the brink of restructuring where the majority of the newly hired teachers were, themselves, 21st Century Learners. She modified the original MATCh process, and included increased oppotunities for application of 21st Century Skills. Thus, the birth of this WikiSpaces site. This is a work in progress, and she is happy to have you along for the ride!