RISON, Ark. — By now, teachers in Arkansas are well into their lesson plans— and finding ways to keep students engaged while learning has been a challenge since long before the pandemic.
Leaders at Woodlawn School District in Southeast Arkansas have a plan that could answer the question of how to keep students engaged.
And that plan all started with their teachers— who are oftentimes referred to as leaders of the classroom.
"There's a lot of responsibility in a classroom," said Principal Barbara Varnell.
Varnell admitted that in the past. some authority was taken away from educators who knew what was best for their students.
"When you lead people who are so amazing and competent at their craft, you got to let them make some of the decisions," Varnell added.
Before becoming a principal, she was previously a classroom teacher.
According to Varnell, teachers in the district have collaborated regularly for nearly three years to see how they can help meet students' needs.
This teaching philosophy is known as a Professional Learning Community, or PLC.
"Having a student own their own learning where we talk about, 'okay, this is what it's going to look like when you know this' and 'this is how we're going to get you there'," Varnell explained.
The method has been supported by the Arkansas Department of Education and has been implemented in at least 10 school districts in the state.
Because of this method, many schools like Varnell's have continued to see success.
"We have a lot of growth on our ACT Aspire [and] I'm super excited about that," she added.
Because the school is located in rural Arkansas, Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock said there have been some challenges.
"We struggle for resources," Dr. Hancock said.
Despite these challenges, he said that the success the district has seen this year, albeit preliminary, wasn't surprising.
"The work that the teachers were doing in both the secondary and elementary level, I knew they were making positive strides in addressing student learning," Dr. Hancock explained.
Perhaps this will serve as a reminder to us all that schools are adapting in ways that will best suit all students.
"We focus on what the kids need to know and I try to make sure that it's okay to have fun while we're learning," Varnell said.