What is "PLT Field"?

Several years ago, Alpha: Blanca Alvarado Middle School had an "Advisory" program, and a "PE" program.  We very quickly realized that many of the students who needed the most help developing their social-emotional skills (communication, collaboration, self-control) were also students who were quickest to "buy-in" to our PE program.  On the other hand, some of our students who were the most engaged in our Advisory SEL curriculum in the classroom were intimidated by PE.  

And so we bring you "PLT Field" - the second, complimentary half of our SEL program:   

Just like any other type of research and learning - the Field is the opportunity to take what happens in the Lab, and try it out in real-life conditions.  In the Field, students put their PLT Lab vocabulary and skill-building to practice by engaging in high-intensity team challenges and individualized, competency-based fitness and SEL "progressions" - with ongoing, real opportunities to practice leadership with peers across grade levels.  You can think of it as a combination of Outward Bound, a Challenge Course, and a Personal Gym run almost entirely by students. 

Read more about PLT Field here or here.  

See PLT Field in action:

Interested in seeing PLT Field live?  Schedule a brief tour of the program and a chance to meet our student leaders to learn more about what makes PLT Field a success.

Looking to implement PLT at your school?  Then come join our PLT Tour and Workshop to get a hands-on understanding of the program, as well as personalized coaching to tailor the program for your school environment.
  • Team-Building
  • Student Leadership
  • Process Debriefs
<
>

Because Life is a Team Sport
In real life, it doesn't matter how amazing you are at any one thing.  If you don't have a strong team - or you can't get along with your team, you're not going to be successful.

Two days a week, our students practice working together as a team - succeeding or failing as a group, based on how they are communicating with, leading, and following each other.

The clip to the left shows one of our pipe-shuffling relays as our students get a chance to figure out how to work hard as a whole class to achieve a goal (and yes, you'll notice some larger individuals - teachers - participating with their students because we're in it together).  

Building a Student-Led Growth Culture

We start the year off with "Summer Jam" - half-days of school in August focused on culture-building.  Our 8th graders (all of them, not just an elite few) take over PLT Field during this time to lead new students through various exercises - getting a chance to practice real leadership, while also helping instill a Growth Mindset in our newcomers.

The clip to the right is of a few of our 8th graders teaching a group of 6th grade students how to effectively (and safely) work together to do pipe sit-ups.  

*trust us - it's even harder than it looks*

It's All in the Debrief . . .

It's hard to get better working as a team if you don't take the time to debrief afterwards.  The most lasting learning comes from analyzing mistakes, and that's what debrief is all about.

After any team exercise (and some individual ones), our students debrief what happened - highlighting the successes and what they need to improve on to do better the next time around.  This helps keep the focus on growth over "wins," as well as pushing students to keep practicing their effective communication and feedback skills.  

Whenever possible, our students lead debriefs themselves - because we're serious about that "leadership" thing.

(this clip shows some of our 7th graders debriefing a pipe relay; that thing they keep doing with their hands is our "I agree" signal)
Copyright © 2015 Greg Callaham