SPARK!

Recently we were asked to present a 'Spark Session' at a Personalized Learning Conference in Chanhassen, MN. "Sure!" Was our response, shortly followed up with "What is that?" The response: "It's just a 5 min. inspirational speech. Just wow them with humor and inspiration. It's a pep talk!"

We were honored and also greatly challenged! Below is our original script for our 'Spark Session' (slightly over 5 min.), and the video of the end result. We loved this exercise and plan to implement something similar with learners this year! 

Spark Session

We are fellow educators who don’t take our careers for granted. Our relationship is unique because we are not only colleagues but sisters as well. Our journey to embrace and practice personalized learning has given us a new lease on careers we love.

We wish everyone had the opportunity to work with their sister because we feed off each other’s energy and creative ideas. More importantly, we give each other courage. Courage to take risks, be vulnerable...lead a ‘spark’ session. That’s one of the things we want to share with you today. In your work, you may not have the opportunity to work with your sister, but we encourage you to find your person that can be that inspiration to you.

Relationships, resources and relevance are three components of personalized learning we found to leverage the purpose of one’s learning.

Relationships and Resources

Scientists have found that our need to connect is as fundamental as our need for food and water. Our instinct for relationships and connections is why most of us became teachers. Our calling is to work with children and have a lasting impact on their lives. The research also says, that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. Every child that walks into our classrooms wants to be validated, and in the words of one of our favorite teachers, Oprah, every person wants to know, do you see me, do you hear me, does what I say matter to you?  

In our work we are reminded that it’s impossible to form connections with every learner if we are standing behind a desk or podium and talking at them for most of the class. Personalized learning invites us to establish deeper connections to our learners because it allows us to shine a light on their interests, talents and gifts. By inviting the learner to engage in the learning process, we have seen those quiet and reserved learners become passionate and excited to share their discoveries. For instance, we will never forget when we went away from our traditional summer reading essay and asked learners to answer the question, “How does reading create an experience for one to grow?”  At first they were hesitant in trying to respond to the teacher truly giving them creative permission. In the end, they each brought unique and creative ideas to express learning, and began to see one another in different lights. New connections were formed and they began to see one another as resources and experts.  It was apparent that the teacher was not their only learning partner in the room. Establishing meaningful relationships and honoring a learners’ voice with choice, has allowed learners to express understanding in ways we never imagined or frankly witnessed in the past.

Our mindshift brought some anxiety because often times as teacher we are afraid to “let go”. This mindset comes with positive intent. We care so much and carry a deep passion for youth and our content area. We want to ensure learners are getting everything we think they need to know. But as one teacher said, “Just because they are sitting in front of me, doesn't mean they are getting it.”  You see a learner may not have found one of our favorite quotes in Animal Farm to support her argument, but she still demonstrated creative and insightful thinking. She (like many of her fellow learners) actually exceeded our expectations. She brought things into the learning community that were out of our “how students show what they know-repertoire”. In letting go we have been able to see our learners as crucial resources in the classrooms. After all isn’t that why kids want to come to school, to collaborate and learn from others including their own peers? Once again when we shine a light as we seek them out as resources, shine a light SO BRIGHT on our learners strengths, we help build their agency to tackle some of their areas of growth. Relationships and resources are the bookends to providing relevance to a learner.  

Relevance

An author once wrote, “Boredom is a sign one loses capacity for awe, wonder and delight.” Our experience as a learners was much about compliance. We were really good at “doing school”. We could fill out a worksheet like nobody’s business, we could neatly write our names and turn in a signed syllabus on time-even early on most occasions. We were masters of extra-credit and we tried hard to find relevance in what our teachers were teaching, not because we were inspired, but because we were compliant. Although we had some great teachers, most of our education lacked any relevance or connection to us. With that came a stifling of much of the creativity and insight we had to offer.

We see this same thing happening with learners today. Take Elise, a young lady who was working on demonstrating her ability to understand rhetoric by researching a debatable topic and crafting a persuasive speech. We gave her the parameters of the assignment which mostly involved the learning target, a list of resources and a timeline. That’s it, a one page google doc with easy to access links and clean cut language that was straight to the point. After a day of brainstorming Elise came up and said “Hey Mrs. Loo, I have my topic now.” “Oh great Elise, what is it?” “I am going to argue how school’s are getting worse.” Wow, if that isn’t a kick in the gut right? I replied “Tell me more about your thinking.” “Look, I just don’t like all this choice. I just want a packet okay? Just give me a packet so I can just do the work.” I was heartbroken, frustrated and exhausted for Elise in that moment and after a brief moment of silence while I went to grab her kleenex for the huge tears rolling down her cheeks, I said, “Elise, you want to move out to LA and design your own fashion line right?” “Yes.” “Elise, do you want someone to tell you the fabric and color choices you can use in your designs? Or do you want to someone to tell you the style of clothes you should produce?” “Head shake no.” “Well then me giving you a packet for this assignment isn’t going to help you get to LA.” Our conversation evolved into her talking about topics within the fashion industry that she could debate. She chose to write a speech about how she is 100% against plastic surgery. In the end she gave a fantastic speech and inspired others to consider the message plastic surgery sends to the consumer. Her speech was outstanding and her research well founded. On her way out the door after class I stopped her and said, “See what you can do without a packet Elise?” She smiled and those tears came back, but this time they meant something different. Elise’s creativity and wonder was overshadowed by her ability to be really good at completing packets. She struggled to find a relevant topic because she was relying too heavily on a packet as a crutch to aid her thinking. When she finally found her pathway and took control of the learning, she was able to build her own agency in ways she never thought possible before. Elise isn’t the only learner who traveled her own path during that unit, all of her classmates did as well. Together we learned a lot about the art of persuasion through a diverse set of controversial topics. What’s more is that together we learned about the unique individuals who were the fabric of our learning community.

We saw each other, we heard each other and what we shared mattered. This is the outcome of a community of learners being honored and empowered in the learning process.