One Child’s Story

Many educators have been focused on the “SCIENCE” of education for a long time now.  Because of this the “HEART” of education has been put on the back burner and forgotten.  This post is a true story that is a reminder about WHY the HEART of education and relationships are so important.  I have omitted names so that those involved can remain anonymous, but please do not let that take anything away from the amazing story of this resilient young man. 

This story is about a boy in high school who turned out average grades, was a strong athlete, but got into trouble often.  Many teachers and administration had written him off thinking he wouldn’t be able to get it together to be successful in life.  He could be explosive at times and had gotten into a few violent physical altercations.  There was some staff that were even scared of him because they never really knew how he was going to react.

His coach, on the other hand, knew him on a more personal level.  He knew that his home life was tough.  His mom was very sick, his dad was in and out of the country, and this student was left to help take care of his mother and her illness, as well as take care of his little brother.  He was holding down 2 – 3 jobs at a time.  One of his jobs was delivering papers which required him to start his day at 3:00 in the morning, and others included retail jobs or fast food jobs.  Somehow this student continued to make it to school, make it to his athletics, and maintain decent grades.  The pressure he was under was more than just about any adult could take.  Of course he was explosive!  Please keep in mind that he also learned from his family that explosive behavior is how you get people to listen to you.

One day this student was observed by his coach, which also happened to be his teacher wearing the same clothes a couple of days in a row and looking as though he hadn’t showered.  The student appeared to be more tired than normal.  When he was asked if he was ok, the student broke down and told him that he had been kicked out of his house by his mother and he was living out of his car.  The coach immediately got DHS involved and invited the student to live with him and his family.  They lived together for a couple of months until the student was able get things patched up with his mother again and he decided he wanted to move back in with her.

A month after he moved back in with his mother, he had another violent act at school.  Administration kicked him out of school and told him he couldn’t return.  The student decided he was going to give up and drop out of school.  His coach immediately went to his house, picked him up, and drove him to an alternative school to help him get enrolled there.  The student was reluctant, but ultimately decided to give it a try.  Fast forward several months later and he graduates high school.

With his high school diploma he earned a job as a teller at a bank.  Within one year he had a management position at the bank.  In less than four years this man is now only one managerial position away from having his own bank to run.  

Every child’s path to success is different.  But the one thing that EVERY child needs is someone who cares about them, will never give up on them, and will work hard to find a path to success that works for them.  

The science of education is important, but it is time for all educators to look deep into their HEARTS and remember WHY they got into education in the first place.  If it was to help all children grow up to be successful young adults, then maybe we (the educators) need to be passionate enough, creative enough, resilient enough, and LOVE our children enough to find a path that works for each and every one of them.

Discipline Through Love and Support

This past week I attended the National School Discipline Conference in Vegas.  The conference was great, and gave me a lot of time to reflect on my own practices and beliefs.  On my way home from the conference I had a huge revelation.  I will get into that a little later.  This conference had many great speakers such as Alfie Kohn, Principal Baruti Kafele, Brian Mendler, and Larry Thompson.  Each of these speakers continued to drive home what many of us already know, but seem to lose track of when we get “stuck in the weeds”.  The POWER is in the RELATIONSHIPS.  For our most difficult students, there is no consequence that can be issued that is big enough to change their behaviors.  However, if you are able to develop a relationship with them and work with them, they will many times follow you and take direction.  There is also great power in teaching students the specific behaviors that you expect.  Respect, Integrity, and Responsibility are not specific behaviors.  Instead we must teach them what each of these mean in our building, classrooms and in life.  These behaviors must be taught through direct instruction with the whole student body and individuals when needed.  Only when these two things are combined can you begin to help support all students.

Another big piece that I learned at the conference is how important climate and culture are to the learning environment.  I have always known this, but this conference has helped me to think about it a little differently.  I have always been a strong believer that strong instruction improves behaviors.  I still believe this, however I also now believe that there is another component even more important than instructional skills.  That component is the ability to show students you REALLY care about them / LOVE them and will NEVER give up on them.  This cannot be achieved by disciplining students the old fashioned way.  I knew this as a teacher.  I lived it and breathed it, but never thought about it as a key piece.  It was just something I did because it was a part of me.  It was my personality and I couldn’t do it any other way. When a student was acting out I’d try to have a private conversation with them to learn about them and what is going on.  The conversation IS the relationship and by taking that supportive approach I was able to get to know the student.  I was only able to issue an appropriate consequence once I knew the student and that’s if a consequence was needed at all.  In order to have a supportive, caring climate and culture all staff need to have this same belief.  Everyone learns best in an environment where they feel cared for and supported.

Now for the big revelation I had coming home from the conference.  I have been an administrator for the past four years.  During this time, I have not lost track of the importance of relationships and showing students you love them.  However, my personality and need to support everyone has gotten in the way of me doing what is right for everyone.  When a teacher sends a student to the office, I want to issue the consequence so the teacher feels supported.  I also know that often times the student needs support, so I have the conversation with them to get to know them and what problems they may be having.  This is where my new found revelation gets me thinking.  We all know consequences do not change behavior for our most difficult students.  Again, there is no consequence big enough for them.  RELATIONSHIPS are the key.  When I issue the consequence to a student sent to the office I am taking all ownership and power away from the teacher and I am missing out on a huge opportunity to help build that relationship between the teacher and the student.   The issue was between the student and the teacher, it was not with me.  If I truly want to support teachers and students, I have to stop issuing consequences for the smaller day to day stuff and empower the teachers with the tools and skills necessary to have the conversations that build strong relationships with every student.

Larry and Angela Thompson have written a book called Give ‘em Five that does just that.  In this book it talks about the five key pieces to every conversation a staff member has with a student to help them feel cared for and supported.  The five pieces are: support, expectation, breakdown, benefit, and closure.  Every conversation will look different depending on who is involved.  It is important that everyone incorporates their own personality and style into each conversation.  The only thing that needs to remain constant is that each of the five pieces is present in all conversations that involve changing a person’s behavior.  When these five pieces are present in a conversation the person will leave feeling supported and feel as though the other person cares about them.   I have to start supporting teachers by both using these same five elements in every conversation and by teaching them how to use them.

Let’s start showing everyone we do not just care about them and want to help them.  Let’s show them WE LOVE THEM and will NEVER give up on them!

For a resource on how to have supportive conversations that help students take ownership of their behaviors you can read Larry and Angela Thompson’s book Give ’em Five and/or visit the following link – http://www.dev-resources.com/RCD2012.pdf

Academics VS Learning

What is a school supposed to offer our students?  Really stop and think for a little bit about that question before reading on.  Years ago school was designed and even advertised as a place people go to receive their academics.  If you look up the definition of academics on Dictionary.com you will find the following definitions:

1.  pertaining to areas of study that are not primarily vocational or applied, as the humanities or pure mathematics.

2. theoretical or hypothetical; not practical, realistic, or directly useful.

Today many schools are still operating in the same way.  Teachers deliver academics for students to receive and then regurgitate on tests to demonstrate they still remember hypothetical, non-practical, realistic, or even directly useful information.  No wonder our students are disengaged!

What would happen if every school began to focus on learning?  The definition of learning on Dictionary.com is:

1.  knowledge acquired by systematic study in any field of scholarly application.

2.  the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill

3.  the modification of behavior through practice, training, or experience.

Now those are some key terms I can get into.  How would schools need to change in order to support learning?  With learning comes application, and changing of behaviors.  What would happen if a school’s primary focus was to turn every student into a life-long learner?  I know we have to teach the Common Core.  What happens if the Core is not our primary focus, but instead is a tool we use to support students in becoming life-long learners?

If we as educators remain teachers and continue to be the keepers of all knowledge and deliver academics to our students we will never develop the large number of curious, risk taking, creative, problem solving learners we need in this world.  Instead we must become Facilitators of Learning and mold young learners back into their early childhood state of being curious, risk taking, creative, problem solvers.

The Core should not be our focus, instead it should be a tool we use to guide our learners into becoming the young adults we need to help not only them thrive, but the world as well.

What Educators Should Stop Doing

I am currently reading the book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith.  It’s a great read if you are looking for a leadership book.  This book is all about what you should stop doing to become a more successful leader.  It got me thinking about our education system and the current transformation that is happening to a Personalized Learning Environment.  There are a lot of things that we currently do that are going to keep us from making the jump to a true Personalized Learning Environment.  In this blog I am going to outline several of these.  After reading them please comment and let me know if you disagree with any of them or if there are some that I missed.  Be sure to elaborate and tell me why you feel the way you do.

Stop using a textbook as our main resource in the classroom.

Textbooks are outdated the moment they are placed in a learner’s hands and most textbooks are used for 6-10 years in our classrooms.  Imagine how outdated they are by then.  Textbooks are also limited in the information they can provide.  There is something we have called the internet that is constantly being updated and provides a wealth of knowledge within seconds of activating a search.  It is more important for our learners to learn how to conduct a quality search and be able to spot a strong resource from a weak one.  It is also more important that our learners learn how to analyze what they are reading and be able to summarize and use what they learned from that reading.

Stop grading behaviors, skills, and knowledge together

How many of us have given points to students because their work is nice and neat?  How many of us have given points to students for bringing in a box of Kleenex?  How many of us have taken points away or even given a 0 for late work?  None of these things indicate what a learner knows and is able to do.  They should not be grouped in the same grade/score as a students knowledge.  Neat, organized, and on time work is important in the work place.  Good behavior/conduct is also very important in the work place.  In fact, they are so important I feel these behaviors should have their own score.  Separate this score and call it a Citizenship and Employ-ability grade.  By having a score that represents a students mastery of the standards and a seperate score that represents their behaviors and work ethic everyone will have a much clearer picture of the learners abilities and work ethic.

Stop the grading periods and hard deadlines for learning targets

By having grading periods we are supporting the philosophy that when a learner knows something is more important than that they learn something.  Isn’t it more important that a learner learns?  If we get rid of grading periods and set soft dates for our learners to give them a guide for pacing, learners will never feel as though they are being left behind.  It is up to us as the educators to find a method that best supports the learner.

Stop grade levels – Start levels of learning

We need to stop grade levels and start levels of learning.  If learners are not all moving at the same pace, grade levels would no longer be needed.  They should be replaced with levels of learning.  Learners would still be working with other learners close to their age and learners close to their ability.  Learners may also be working with peers that have similar interests and passions as they collaborate and work together to solve real world problems.

Teachers should stop being the Keepers of all Knowledge AKA Sage on the Stage

Don’t get me wrong, there is still a place for lectures when a student or group of students would learn best from this.  However in most cases this can be obtained with the use of videos so that students can access the lectures at any given time, from anywhere, and have the ability to pause and rewind them.  It is also my opinion that students need to learn the skill of how to find information on their own and interpret, summarize, analyze, evaluate it, and eventually create from it.  This is not done by educators giving the students all the information through lecture and having students memorize it for a test.

Stop assigning practice homework to students who already know it.

Some people would say stop assigning practice homework completely because even if the student does not know it they will probably need the teacher’s support to help them.  I believe today’s technology fixes this issue and therefore would support students working from home if they would like.  I am instead advocating that we stop assigning practice homework to students who have already demonstrated mastery of a learning.  My daughter comes home every night from school with a math assignment that she rarely gets even one problem wrong on.  This homework takes her 20-30 minutes and rarely, if ever, stretches her thinking to higher levels or supports her in learning something new or deeper.  In my opinion we are doing all of our students an injustice if the homework is only assigned for repetition of something they already know how to do.

Stop believing that everything assessed must be learned in the 4 walls of our classroom.

There is an entire world outside the 4 walls of our classrooms.  What would happen if we had a student who was interested in computer programming and he/she was partnered with a mentor who currently worked in this field.  The mentor allowed them to come to work with them and work along their side to learn on the job.  I’m guessing they could learn some math standards while on the job and even learn some Language Arts standards as they wrote a report about what they learned and did.  The same could be said about someone who was passionate about becoming a botanist, healthcare worker, engineer, mechanic, lawyer, performing artist etc…  If our students are passionate about these and would like to learn about them in the real world, couldn’t we find them mentors to work with and then come back to present out what they learned in the field to demonstrate their mastery of the Common Core and how it all applies.

Stop spoon feeding students.  The learning is in the struggle.

We must create an environment that is built on a growth mindset and teach students how to be resilient in order to work through things that are more difficult for them.  It is ok to try and fail.  The key is for our students to stop viewing them as failures and instead view them as opportunities for growth.  If we want our students to become life long learners they must also learn how to use the resources at their disposal to teach themselves.  We as educators should be there to support, lift them up, and guide them to be the best they can be.  We should become Facilitators of Learning instead of teachers or keepers of knowledge.

Stop segregating classes and standards.

In the real world there is not a job that exists where the subjects live in isolation.  You can not become successful in any job unless you are well rounded in all of the core areas and have the ability to use your knowledge of them together at the same time.  We have to be creative and collaborative to create projects that are cross curricular and show students how each of the subjects supports the other.  I’m not saying that we should stop having teachers (Facilitators of Knowledge or FOL’s) that are experts in a specific field.  I’m advocating for our FOL’s to collaborate together and with learners to create projects that are interdisciplinary and aligned to student interests and passions.

What else should we stop doing as educators?  What other walls do we need to tear down in order for us to unleash the full potential of every child?

Evaluation Tool to Support Personalized Learning

I was sitting in a classroom the other day observing a teacher for her evaluation.  I have the 8 Iowa Teaching Standards sitting right in front of me as I observe her and I am completely focused on what she is doing to meet the students’ needs in her classroom.  That’s right, my entire focus is on what she, the teacher, is doing.  While I am doing this, I have a huge epiphany.

She was doing a fantastic job of setting up activities for students to collaborate and think critically.  Her transitions were fantastic when having students move from one activity to another.  Students knew her expectations and followed them at all times.  She was constantly assessing students learning and adjusting her instruction to meet as many of their needs as she could with her current structure.  She is a great teacher who is meeting all 8 Iowa Teaching Standards at a high level.  Why am I not satisfied with the evaluation I am writing?

Then I realized what the disconnect was for me.  I have a passion for flipping the focus from what the teacher is doing, to the students and their learning.  My entire evaluation is focused on what SHE is doing to support the students.  If we want to get away from the Sage on the Stage and Keeper of All Knowledge platform and move to a more Personalized Learning environment where the students’ learning is the focus then I feel we have to change our evaluation tool.

A few years ago a new set of teaching standards were released called the InTASC standards which were created to articulate the standards teachers need to meet to create a more personalized learning environment to meet the needs of each and every one of their students which they call, and I like to call, “learners”.  The InTASC standards are a great step to better support this movement.  They are still very much focused on what the teacher is doing, but have a stronger influence on what the teacher is asking students to do, how much voice the teacher is giving the students, how the teacher is personalizing each learner’s path, and how the teacher is making the learning relevant and real world applicable.  I love just about everything in the InTASC standards but struggle to get past the fact that there are 10 different standards instead of 8 and most of the standards have 15-20 criteria under them.  This gives them a feel of being much more complicated than the previous standards.  They are also missing, just like the Iowa Teaching Standards, a growth mindset.  Teachers are either meeting the criteria or not meeting.  If we want our learners to have a growth mindset, we must also create an evaluation tool that supports our teachers in a growth mindset with a scoring rubric that pushes them to meet each criteria at higher levels as they improve.

It is my opinion that we need to find a way to simplify these a great deal, add a piece that focuses on what the students are actually doing while keeping the majority of it still focused on the teacher, and create a rubric that supports a growth mindset for all teachers.  I feel by adding the student piece we will get a more clear picture of exactly what is happening in the classroom.  And, by adding a 4 point scoring rubric we will be able to provide better support for our teachers to change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

Has anyone created anything similar to what I am asking?  Is there anything else you would want in the evaluation that would help support this movement?  Please share so we can create something that we can all get behind and find useful.

If you would like to view the InTASC Standards you can find them by clicking on the following link.

http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2011/InTASC_Model_Core_Teaching_Standards_2011.pdf

Culture of Learning

I am currently reading the book Professional Capital by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan.  If you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage you to take the time.  While reading this book I began to think about my current school’s culture and the impact it has on teacher and student growth.  I also began thinking about what kind of culture I would want to have in my building.  If you have read any of my previous blogs you know that I am all about learning.  Learning is essential for anyone and any organization to grow.  Why you and your employees or colleagues learn, is probably the most important question to be asking yourself.

Let’s think about that for a second.  Many people are focused on WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW everyone will be learning the next Professional Development or whatever it is that we are teaching our class the next day.

How often do you stop and think about why you learn in general?  Do you learn because you have been told you must learn a specific topic?  Do you learn because your friend or colleague has learned it, and you don’t want to be left out?  Do you learn because you love learning and continuously seek further knowledge?  The reasons we learn are extremely important to the culture of your building, classroom, or business.  I would be willing to bet, that even in the educational setting, most people are learning because they have been told they must learn by someone of authority.  What happens in these organizations when there is no pressure to learn something from the higher ups?  In most cases the learning STOPS!

Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan are strong promotors of a different culture.  A culture where all of your colleagues, employees, and employers are learning because everyone is pushing them to learn, or better yet because they want to learn for their own personal reasons.  In a culture like this, people are constantly either pushing each other to get better or pushing themselves.  These are the highest functioning cultures of learning and what every organization should be striving for.

So, how do we create such a culture in the educational setting?  I believe the best way to create this culture would be through a healthy balance of personalized professional development for all teachers and using a framework for teachers to collaborate and support each other around improving their instruction, assessments, and student produced work.  By personalizing the PD for all teachers you are giving them the freedom to learn about the things they feel are important to them and treating them as professionals.  By using a framework for teachers to collaborate and support each other a culture of learning will be created where the employees are holding each other accountable by pushing each other to be better at all times.

Currently at Callanan Middle School we are working towards creating just this.  With the help of some vital people from the district office we have created a rubric that scores tasks that our teachers create for students.  These tasks are scored on 5 different hallmarks.  The hallmarks are Prior Learning, Cognitive Level, Integrated Skills, Relevance, and Authenticity.  We then created a framework to guide the conversations our teachers have around improving each of these hallmarks for the tasks they have created.  Our next step would be to create a rubric and framework for improving our student work and instruction.  But first we must build a culture of trust so teachers feel comfortable sharing their instruction and receiving feedback to improve from each other.

To personalize the learning for each teacher we are using Marzano’s Instructional Framework and coaches to support our teachers.  We ask that teachers pick a couple of areas to focus on improving.  After they have chosen the areas in which they would like support in improving, the coaches will go into the classroom and provide specific feedback on what level they are currently at within the categories of their choice.  They will then coach them through a conversation on how they can improve in these areas and offer support in finding resources for them.  Although I do not feel this is a perfect way to personalize the learning for each teacher, I do believe it is a step in the right direction.

What are the next steps for you?  What are you currently doing that is not supporting the culture or learning you want?  What do you need to do now to begin supporting this culture?

Passion = Fuel

All of us have had things we needed to do that we struggled to get done.  Not because they were difficult or that we couldn’t find the time, but because we didn’t have the passion to do them.  Passion is the fuel that drives us.  If we are passionate about something, excuses seem to magically disappear and we immediately begin finding solutions to getting the project done.  When I think about this, I immediately begin trying to find ways in which I can use this knowledge to better support all learners and educators.

Think about the traditional classroom…  Each educator has their lectures, assignments, labs, projects, and assessments.  We all know that the vast majority of them are not things the learners want to do.  What is it that motivates them to get them done?  This motivation is different for each learner.  For some it is the drive to make their parents happy, others have an internal drive to do well on whatever they work on, and then there are grades, college, future careers, relationships with friends and educators, and many more.

There is one motivation that they all have in common.  That is passion.  The problem is… We as educators rarely tap into this motivation.  I believe one of the main reasons we don’t tap into it is because of a fear of loss of control.  In order to truly tap into each learner’s passion we would need to listen to the learners and allow them to have some say into what they are learning about.  I know, I know, there is that Common Core thing that we must all follow.

Really take a look at the Social Studies standards and you will see that they are comprised of a lot of skills.  These are not countries and time periods.  The Language Arts standards are also a list of skills that are needed.  Why can’t we use this to our advantage to allow our students to tell us what they are passionate about and let them come up with a project they would like to do?  Or, present the students with a project then be open minded enough to listen to the students if they ask to do something similar aligned to what they are passionate about.  We can then tell them what they will have to do through this project to meet the standards.   Who knows… you might even be able to fit some of the math and science standards into that as well.

So, if passion = fuel I say we start filling our learners up with some highly combustible passion that will take them wherever they choose to go.  I can just about guarantee you they will get much further and faster with this than anything else you fill them up with.

 

Differentiation vs Personalization

Differentiation has been the buzzword for many years.  Everyone has been saying that we must differentiate our instruction for our students to support their individual needs.  Recently personalization has become the new buzzword.  I have had many conversations with people about personalization and it seems to me that the majority of people are using these two terms interchangeably.  Are they the same thing?  If not, what’s the difference?

I believe that the two are very different.  Teachers differentiate for their students by giving alternative assignments or modifications to assignments for students to better support a student’s needs.  It is the teacher that makes the majority of the decisions for differentiation.

Facilitators of learning, (i.e. teachers) personalize learning by giving learners, (i.e. students) both a voice and choice in their learning.  Learners are pushed to take more ownership of their learning and are not just given choices, but allowed to have a voice in what the process looks like.  No, they are not permitted to skip over Common Core learnings.  Instead they are given the standards, benchmarks, and proficiencies they must learn and given the freedom and ownership to have a voice and choice in how they learn them and how they demonstrate mastery of the learning.  The facilitator of learning will make the final decision on whether to approve the learner’s process and demonstration of learning both before proceeding and after completion.  The facilitator will also be able to give suggestions on how to move forward, but the ownership is shared by both the learner and facilitator.

This has a very different feel than differentiation.  When you talk about personalization, what are you really saying, meaning, and hearing?

What is Personalized Learning?

When you hear the words “personalized learning” what do you think about?  Stop and really take a moment to think about this before you continue reading.  I believe it is important for us to have many conversations around this topic.  We must challenge and support each other through these imperative changes in education if we are going to get it right for all of our children.  After reading this please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

To me, personalized learning means giving students what they need, when they need it.  It means allowing students to progress through learnings at their personal pace.  And… it requires us to feed every learner’s passions and interests to motivate them and help them see the purpose of learning.  To create such a learning environment we will need to give all learners a voice and give them a choice in their learning.

Many educators have transformed their classrooms to create a more personalized environment.  The following are some of the strategies that have been used: adaptive learning, blended learning, differentiated instruction, the flipped classroom, 1:1 learning, project based learning, individual learning plans, and learning labs.  In my opinion, I do not believe that any of these are truly personalized learning if they stand alone.  I do, however, agree that each is a more personalized environment and is an improvement from the traditional classroom.  Below I will explain my reasoning.

Adaptive learning is a great start towards a personalized learning environment.  With adaptive learning it is important that every student have access to some form of technology.  Today’s technology has allowed programmers to create programs that adapt to fit each and every learner’s needs in every moment by responding in a way that supports the learner based on their previous responses to questions.  If a learner has forgotten a specific learning target, the program will take them back and re-teach that learning.  If a learner has mastered a learning target the program will move them on quicker.  The problem with adaptive learning is that it doesn’t work with every subject and many people believe it does not support higher order thinking.  How does a computer program support the learning of debates and arguments?  This is an essential learning for all of our students to master.  How does this program support the student that needs more face-to-face interaction with a facilitator of learning?  How does this program give each learner a voice and choice in their learning?

Blended learning is a step up from adaptive learning.  With blended learning students could be engaged in an adaptive learning program, but also pulled away from the computer at times to receive more direct instruction from the instructor with a small group of similar ability peers.  Students are getting to move at their personal pace and receive the instruction the computer program or instructor feel they need at the time.  However, the learner has no voice in how they learn.  The computer and/or instructor decide how the learner learns with little to no input from the learner.

Differentiated instruction is a strategy the teachers use to change assignments to meet the students’ needs.  Assignments can be manipulated by the teacher to become easier or harder depending on the needs of the student and their ability level.  The issue with this is that the teacher more often than not, makes the decisions with no input by the student.  The assignments more than likely do not meet each student’s interests because the student is never given a voice or choice in the assignment.

The flipped classroom is a new big buzzword.  In a flipped classroom students are viewing the instruction in the comfort of their own home for their “homework” and then engaging in the problem-solving phase of instruction in the classroom.  This allows the instructor to support each student at the time they are working on their assignments in a more individualized manner.  However, students still are not given a voice or choice in their learning in most instances.  They are many times permitted to move at their own pace and view instruction at different rates and times, but are required to do the same assignments no matter what their interests are.

1:1 learning is occurring all over the world at an increasing rate.  In a 1:1 environment every learner has access to some form of computer at all times.  This computer can be used in the classroom for students to send and receive assignments, research on the web, use applications that support their learning, or work on an adaptive learning program to support their learning.  All of this is better than the traditional classroom with no technology.  I believe that a 1:1 learning environment is essential for personalized learning to occur, however without teachers giving students a voice and a choice in their learning, the 1:1 learning environment still does not rise to the same level as personalized learning I would like to see.

Project based learning is an environment that requires learners to research and work on a project that answers a driving question.  In this environment learners are given a voice and choice in their project and once approved by the instructor the student is released to begin working on it.  Several conferences with the learner may occur throughout the completion of the project to support the learner and insure that they are progressing in a way that will meet the requirements of the learning.  The issue I find with this environment is that there are many students who will need more concrete practice and instruction to meet their learning targets and to retain the learning.  What supports does this learning environment give to these students?

Individual Learning Plans are designed for each student to keep track of what each student’s interests and needs are, so that educators can better tailor the learning environment to meet each child’s needs.  It is not the same as an Individual Education Plan, which has been designed to support only those students with a learning disability.  Every student has the opportunity to have an Individual Learning Plan, and every student and parent has a voice and some choice in the development of their Individual Learning Plan.  In order for a personalized learning environment to exist every student would need an Individual Learning Plan.  However, just having a plan would not be enough to create a truly personalized environment.  Learners, parents, and teachers would all need to continue to work together with the assistance of technology to find the best path for each learner to achieve success.

Learning labs have been created to give learners an environment that supports more hands on activities and encourage students to problem solve and find solutions to real world problems.  These labs have potential to becoming a Personalized Learning environment, but fall short without the student voice and choice in their projects and without a more personalized environment to support the learning of concrete skills needed to solve specific problems.

I believe that Personalized Learning can only be achieved through the use of all of the above.  All students’ roles should change to learners and teachers’ roles should change to facilitators of learning.  Through the help of a 1:1 learning environment we can adapt and blend the learning to meet each of our student’s needs.  We can then also flip our classroom so that students are receiving the instruction when and where they want to.  Through Individual Learning Plans and the support of technology to adapt the learning we can also differentiate our instruction and assignments to meet the needs and interests of our learners.  We can also allow students to have a voice and choice in their projects through project based learning and learning labs to allow them and support them in solving real world problems that they are passionate about themselves.

How do we create the best personalized learning environment that supports students’ learning by tapping into their interests and passions and unleashes the full potential of every child?

Let Them Own the Learning

How do you learn best?  What are your interests?  What are your strengths and weaknesses?  What motivates you?  How fast of a learner are you?

Are your answers to these questions the same as everyone else you know?  My point is, we are all very different.  So, if we are all this different, why are we forcing students to learn the same way and at the same pace?  I know that I learn best when I take ownership in my learning, by having choice in what, how, when, and how long it takes me to learn.  Do you?  I have been thinking a lot about what an education system would look like that personalized learning for every child – a system where students become learners who are actively seeking knowledge instead of receiving it.  I would like to create a school where the learners are presented with every standard, benchmark, and/or competency they will have to demonstrate mastery of.  After they are presented with these, learners are given the freedom to piece them together however they like and begin learning them in what ever order they like.  They may choose to learn from a teacher in a traditional classroom setting, on-line, through a work-study in the community, or by doing some kind of project.  There could be other ways that I haven’t thought of yet that students might come up with at a later time.

My point is… every person in this world learns differently, is engaged in different things, has different motivations, has different strengths and weaknesses, and learns at different paces.  If we give every child choice in how they learn, where they learn, how long it takes them to learn, and how they demonstrate mastery of their learning, they will take more ownership in their learning.

So what exactly would this look like?  Below I have included some examples.

If a learner wanted to work on a project that covered several competencies in multiple subject areas, they would only have to present their proposal to the facilitators for approval to begin working.  If the facilitator did not feel it was enough to prove competency, the facilitator would help support the student to improve their proposal to meet the competency.  Once the project was approved, the learner would have permission to begin working on it.  After completion, the learner would turn the project in to be evaluated.  If improvements needed to be made to meet competency, the learner would be given more opportunities to reach it.  Failure is not an option since more opportunities will continue to be given until competency is achieved.

If a learner wanted to work on a group of standards through an online course, or through direct instruction with a facilitator, these options would be provided.  There are many learners who like the structure of being told when to learn something, how to learn it, how long to spend on it, and how they will be assessed on it.  For these learners, there will continue to be traditional classes and on-line classes available to them.

There are also many learners who learn best when completely submersed in real world application of the learning.  For these learners, the school would partner with the community to provide authentic, hands on learning in the community.  The issue with this model is that community members cannot reward credit for completion of a competency.  Because of this, learners would still need to check in with their facilitators (teachers) to discuss how they will prove mastery of the competencies.

In each of these examples, it is the learner who chooses their personal method with the approval of a facilitator.  Currently we have a system where teachers hold the majority to all of the control.  In order for a system like the one I envision to be successful, teachers will need to give up some control and become facilitators of learning, and students will need to take more ownership and become learners.  We all learn best with the right motivations.  Most of us are intrinsically motivated to do more and learn more when we have some choice in the process.  Let’s release some control and let the students own their learning!