The 4 Connections FLC was, and continues to be, an integral part of the success of the 4 Connections at LWTech. In short, the FLC provides time and space for faculty to share best practices, seek support, and develop responses to challenges that arise as the implement the 4 Connections. The FLC also provides faculty with peer relationships that counter the pervasive challenges of isolation and impostor syndrome. And, last but not least, it's an opportunity to have fun.

What follows is a sample outline of meetings for a first year 4 Connections FLC. Feel free to use and adapt it as you need.

Year 1 Outline for FLC Gatherings

Notes about Logistics

Length of Meetings: 90 minutes
Frequency of Meetings: Approximately twice per month (about 4 times per quarter)
Location of Meetings: Conference room, set up in large rectangle for all to sit around - this is really up to you and what your space allows.

Notes about Purpose

The purpose of a faculty learning community is to provide faculty members time and space to collaborate with, support, and be supported by peers. To achieve that purpose, creating the Community Contract in Meeting 1 is essential. As a facilitator, your role is to create context and learning opportunities in each meeting, to participate as a peer whenever possible, to gently remind folks of the Community Contract when needed, and to Practice Paradox. That last item is crucial. Do your best to be attuned to the needs of the group, check in about those needs regularly (i.e., ask, “Here is what we have planned for the next time we meet; does that sound good or should we shift our focus?”), and be ready to let go of this whole outline and do what your community needs. 😊

Meeting 1: Welcome

Introductions
- Name
- Department/program
- Response to: “What made you decide to pledge to practice the 4 Connections?”
Community Contract
- What expectations should we set for our community that will help you feel willing and able to share?
- What will help us get the most our of our time together?
- How can we best support one another?
Discussion Question: How has practicing the 4 Connections gone so far this quarter? Options for responses:
- Share something that worked well.
- Ask for advice about something that didn’t go well or remains challenging.
- Listen and take notes.

Note for facilitators: When working on the community contract, be prepared with examples of expectations.

Share the Air or Make Space, Take Space: If you are someone who tends to share a lot, challenge yourself to listen more. If you are someone who tends to listen, challenge yourself to share more.
Double Confidentiality: What I share here stays here, and I can trust that you will not confront me about it outside of the meeting.
Sharing is by invitation, not demand.
We will all do our best to be present at every meeting.
Etc.

Meeting 2: Learn and Use Students’ Names

Discussion Question: What has worked for you to learn students’ names?
Discussion Question: How do you regularly use students’ names?

Note for Facilitators: Have examples prepared in case discussion lags or folks are at a loss/need support with this connection.

Meeting 3: Check In Regularly

Discussion Question: What have you done so far this quarter to more intentionally check in with students?

Note for facilitators: See the Check In Regularly Module for examples to share.

Meeting 4: Check In Regularly

Focus: Building Empathy
Activity: The Finish Line Game
Discussion Question: If a character was created for the game based on your experiences with/in college, what challenges and what supports would be included in your deck?

Meeting 5: Check In Regularly

Focus Option A: Metacognition and Empowering Students to Check In with Themselves
Activity Option A: Practicing Think Aloud and Talking to the Text (Reading Apprenticeship)
Think-Pair-Share Option A: How will you integrate one or both of these techniques into one of your classes?
Focus Option B: Formative Assessment
Activity Option B: Introduction of Various Formative Assessments
- Minute Paper
- Muddiest Point
- I Used to Think…Now I Think
- Etc.
Think-Pair-Share Option B: How will you integrate formative assessments into one of your classes?

Meeting 6: Schedule One-on-One Meetings

Discussion Question: What have you done so far this quarter to implement One-on-One Meetings?
Discussion Question: What has gone well?
Discussion Question: What has been challenging?

Meeting 7: Schedule One-on-One Meetings

Activity: An “Ideal” Model for One-on-One Meetings Group Brainstorm
Prompt 1: What logistical guidelines would lead to successful one-on-one meetings?
- Time Limit
- Location
- Modality (in-person, online, phone call)
Prompt 2: What topics or guiding questions would help focus one-on-one meetings and support student success?
- Exam review
- Question of the week
- Goal setting
- Etc.

Note for facilitators: Compile results of discussion into a guide and distribute to faculty. And, if faculty agree, send to Sally Heilstedt to be posted in the 4 Connections Canvas site.

Meeting 8: Practice Paradox

Discussion Question: How have you interpreted Practice Paradox and what have you done to implement it?
Discussion Question: What has gone well with Practicing Paradox?
Discussion Question: What has been challenging about Practicing Paradox?

Meeting 9: Practice Paradox

Focus: Clear Expectations
Activity: Transparent Assignment Design (from Transparency in Teaching and Learning [TILT])

Note for Facilitators: See the Practice Paradox Module in the Canvas site for slides and materials to use in this session (if you would like).

Meeting 10: Practice Paradox

Focus: Empowering Flexibility
Activity: Introduction of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Note for Facilitators: See the Washington State Board for Community and Technical College’s mini-course on UDL for ideas and materials for this meeting.

Meeting 11: Initial Data

Note for Facilitators: This meeting will require preparation and partnership with your college’s Institutional Research department. If you are unable to access that support, you can ask faculty to work on their own data using information from past courses compared to courses after they started practicing the 4 Connections. If faculty are collecting and compiling their own data, focus on the first Data Point for Discussion below.

Data Point for Discussion: Overall change in course withdrawals, pass rates, and/or completion rates for all FLC members
Data Point for Discussion: Change in course withdrawals, pass rates, and/or completion rates disaggregated by race and ethnicity
Data Point for Discussion: Change in course withdrawals, pass rates, and/or completion rates disaggregated by gender
Data Point for Discussion: Change in course withdrawals, pass rates, and/or completion rates disaggregated by age
Data Point for Discussion: Change in course withdrawals, pass rates, and/or completion rates disaggregated by income (may not be readily available at your college)

Meeting 12: Wrap Up

Discussion Question: What went really well this year as you implemented the 4 Connections?
Discussion Question: What are you looking forward to modifying/improving next year?

Note to Facilitators: We typically hold this meeting off campus at a local restaurant. If funding is not available to do so, a potluck on campus works, too.

Click here to download a Word document version of this outline.