Hight Jackson

MORE EXHIBITORS. Top left, Paul Hively and Jonathan Adams with Nabholz visit with a conference attendee. Top right, Jason Holsclaw with Stephens, Inc., right, visits with Farmington Superintendent Jon Laffoon. Bottom right photo, Kellye Neal with Chartwells, right, speaks to Wes Gates, left, and David Dobbs with the Hoxie School Board.

Conference

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quiet with the status quo, a constant search for, is there a better way?” he said.

Owens said working as part of a team requires more of a time investment because it’s easier for teachers to go into their classrooms and work with their students by themselves. The technical piece of professional learning communities is easy and involves practices such as having a meeting agenda and studying standards together. Planning lessons is more like molding clay, she said. Teachers can’t keep their best ideas to themselves. It’s not OK if their students are doing well but other students are failing.

Brown said goals are useless unless they are accompanied by action plans.

“None of what we do to accelerate the learning of a student is going to be an accident,” he said. “We can’t just hope it happens. We’ve got to plan for that. And that’s going to be a continuous journey for these teachers, and for those students, and for the school board.”