Learner Reflections

The learners are well aware of the benefits of personalized learning.  Watch this: Alina and Ashley!!!

Once learners reach a point of meeting a standard they reflect and add to their learner profile.  They consider what they discovered about how they learn.  We ask them to contemplate on the progress they made towards meeting the goals they set at the beginning of the unit.  For instance, once learners read, discussed and wrote an essay on To Kill a Mockingbird, we also asked them to identify the strategies that helped them grow as a reader and writer.  They express what they learned about their reading and writing process.  Considering a learner’s approach to reading we might ask the following: did you access visuals, audio or summaries to help your comprehension?   How much of a text did you read at a time? Did you find post-it notes, interactive bookmarks or other reading strategies helpful?  If you got stuck or distracted how did you work through it?  We ask similar questions when it comes to writing.  Some examples are as follows:  What did you learn about your writing process?  How did you feel starting the essay mid-way through the book?  Which brainstorming, outlining and drafting techniques did you try?  

All of this reflection helps learners continue to create their own learning pathways. They are not simply following the teacher's instructions, they are working side by side with us to be active participants in their education.  After learners reflect, we always conference with them to discuss what/how they learned.  These conversations also allow for us to encourage learners to outline the course they took to meet a standard.  Throughout this personal reflection process we believe it's important for individuals to move forward with purposeful learning.  

Connecting to the Learners' Passions
While learners reflected with us one on one, the other learners continued working toward meeting another standard(9.9.8.8 As an individual or in collaboration, create a multimedia work, a remix of original work and the work of others, or a piece of digital communication for a specific purpose ).  Once again, each learner had a choice in how he or she wanted to demonstrate meeting the standard.  This approach was similar to what individuals did at the start of the school year, we just required that they use a multimedia platform to “show what they know”.  We created an essential question that related to the unit/standard.  We asked: How is one impacted, influenced, or inspired by their community? Learners could choose their own way to answer this question.  Anxieties were higher the first time learners tackled voice and choice to this degree.  Notably, the second time around, we witnessed a dramatic decrease in anxiety and a highly visible increase in engagement and energy around the work.  They were ready to embrace this creative process as an active participant.  

In the past we outlined entire projects for learners.  In retrospect we see that we had done all the critical and original thinking.  The result is a group of learners just checking off the steps in order to complete the task.  Now we are assisting learners as they do all the inventive thinking and problem solving.  The most rewarding part for learners is the invitation to tap into personal areas of interests and passions.  One group of learners came running into class with more enthusiasm than we have ever seen regarding class work.  They created a web cartoon and plan to carry it out long after the project parameters.  They were motivated by the choice they had in their project and have a goal to gather followers and expand their vision.  They came in during lunch, put in extra time on weekends and beamed with excitement around the ideas they went after.  Other learners also investigated topics around personal interests such as sports, fashion, music, art, literacy, the environment, community service, gender equality, racism and distribution of wealth/social class.  One learner even focused on how society paints this image of perfection using makeup.  Indeed, our learners continue to inspire us in ways we never could have imagined.



The faces of engaged learners.

We were excited to present at the Minnesota Middle School Conference on personalize learning, check out our presentation: Personalized Learning Snapshot

Our "pillars" for Personalized Learning.

   

Letting Go!

The Choice

            One of easiest changes to make, but hardest to let go of is the teacher control in a class.  Letting learners make choices in how they want to learn and show personal growth goes against the intuition of many teachers.  Why is it we feel the need to tell learners everything they are going to do every step of the way?  We know the value of learning through trial and error, but do we ever let learners experience this in the class?  Why do we feel that all individuals are able to learn at the same pace?  If one knows the learning outcomes/standards isn’t it possible for example to have some learners to slow down while others speed up as they strive to reach the same end point?  How often is it that the same four or five students in a class are doing all the talking?  In letting go, we have actually seen levels of engagement dramatically increase.  We are hearing more voices on a daily basis by those who seem to feel empowered by the voice and choice.  We can’t help but believe this increase in engagement and participation is due to the walls of the “right answer” or “the right way” being broken down.  Our learners are finding their own way and it’s fascinating.  An added bonus is the little amount of time we spend managing behaviors.  Truly it’s minimal at best.  

In most of our classes there is time set aside for learners to delve into the content on a very personal level.    During this time we let learners have voice and choice with how they work with the materials or information.  For the last few units that choice for learners has been working individually, in collaborative groups, or sitting in on a teacher seminar.  Some advantages learners have experienced when working individually is they can work at their own pace, whereas learners who choose to work in collaborative groups prefer that social interaction with others.  Teacher seminar provides learners with the guided instruction that some feel they need to process and make sense of the content.  Individuals ebb and flow throughout different choices depending on their knowledge of their needs.  One young man expressed how he appreciated the chance to work independently, tune into the teacher seminar when he wanted, then go back to his individual work without being reprimanded for “not paying attention”.  We have our classroom set up with designated areas for each learning environment.  At the front of the room is are tables that form a half circle for teacher seminar, at the back are clustered tables for collaborative group work and to the side of the classroom are tables that allow for individuals to work alone.  Voice and choice time always begins with everyone hearing the objectives of the day (instructions related to the activities that are based on standards, reiterating the WHY?) followed by learners moving to the area of the room that matches their choice.  This mobility helps the learners focus and lets us, as the teacher, easily see what the learners’ choices are.  Here is how we set up this learning experience with our classes: https://youtu.be/bMdY16cq-GQ

We are finding much more pros than cons in this new format of class time.  The pros included learners feeling validated and respected by being trusted and in control of their learning.  Our instructional coach (teacher assigned to observe and reflect with us) noted during an observation that 100% of the students in teacher seminar were on task and not using their device to be distracted in any way.  He felt that because of the fact that there was an individual choice to be there without the traditional coercion they’re used to, the learners were more invested.  He also noted he felt the learners having to physically get up and move was effective in focusing students, even if it was a subconscious factor.  Another advantage is during the teacher seminar we get to work with about 8-15 learners at a time.  We have found that for the most part the learners that choose teacher seminar are the ones that we would have selected to work with us, or they are the learners that we would have been trying to circulate to during class work time.  Now we have their attention in a much more personal way with a more consistent framework, proving to be more effective.  There was a lesson where everyone in the class choose teacher seminar, but it still felt more focused because everyone got up, moved to get closer to the front of the room, and CHOSE to be a participant.  The only con that we have come across is that a few students have chosen to work by themselves or in a group and have not been able to show any formative evidence of how they are building their capacity to learn.  For these few students we have asked that they remain in teacher seminar until they can show progress around knowing their learning needs, and how their choice of how to learn, helps them work toward the standards.    

The Voice

Through our training with Dr. Sharroky Hollie with culturally responsive teaching, we have more strategies for making sure everyone has a voice.  We want all the voices in our class to be heard and if we are not intentional about discussion protocols we find the same few students speaking out.  As much as we try and personalize the learning, we also take advantage of the collaborative opportunities that arise out of a large group discussion in the classroom setting.  Part of our work with personalizing learners is making sure all learners are engaged, affirmed and validated throughout their time with us.  

Here are some of the CRL strategies we use on a regular basis:

• Clock partners: for a fun classroom building exercise we asked learners questions and they made clock appointments.  Questions such as, “Find someone with the same birthday month. Find someone who has the same favorite food, is wearing the same color as you, falls in the same birth order, similar shoe size, favorite season, and so on…”  They are not allowed to have the same person more than once and we only make 6 appointments at a time.  Throughout the year at different times in the class we ask them to get with their clock partners (go to a 1:00 appointment) in order to discuss the anticipatory set, journal, content or anything else.
• Numbered heads: when students are in groups each member has a number and we roll a dice to see who will speak on behalf of the group (after the group has already had time to discuss).
• Shout Outs: when appropriate we have students call out answers and not raise hands.  
• Whip Around: works well as a debrief where we go around and every learner says one word or thought on the content we worked through  
• Popsicle Sticks: Learners’ names are on sticks and one is pulled to see who will share out, to engage all learners and hear from a variety of voices.
• Speed Learning: we make an inner and outer circle of learners, the match up with another person (we usually have them greet one another with a class handshake that we make up together) and then they discuss for a few minutes the topic at hand.  Next, one of the two circles rotate so they have a new partner, greet one another and share out.  Learners get to talk to numerous students in a short amount of time.  
• Bright Ideas:  each student is given a star and as they share his/her bright idea they throw in their star.  
• Phone a friend:  learners phone a friend for help with problems or answers in a call and response format.
  
    
  

Change the Sequence

Another way we have found to personalize learning has been to change the sequence and allow for learners to meet standards throughout the unit and not wait until the end.   Learners don’t need mastery to begin applying the skills.  When an athlete learns a game he or she practices the skill for a bit, plays a game and comes back to practicing the skill(s) again.  Because we begin the unit by outlining each standard, learners can meet the standards at different times.  For example, learners began to write their literary analysis essays midway through the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  In doing this, we as teachers can give learners formative feedback so they could apply it as they moved forward with the essay.  Giving more intense and thorough feedback early on rather than waiting until after they have finished has proven to increase engagement.  Learners can continue to work on their essay as they progress through the novel, once again allowing for learners to finish their work at different paces.  

In this unit of study, we also give learners the option for meeting the other standards they need to demonstrate at any time in the second half of the novel.  We model and practice different reading strategies that address standards in the first half of the novel and in the second half the learners choose the evidence of meeting the standard.  This choice encourages original thoughts and ownership of the learning.  Once again our attempt is to take away the “one size fits all” model and allow for students to work at different paces and meet standards when they are ready.  This is in addition to the way we personalize how students engage in the work (teacher seminar, collaborative groups or individual work).    

This year we are intentionally aware of how we are implementing personalized learning and this framework is our first go round.  We look forward to the continued data we will be collecting including parent and learner feedback, as well as a learner’s final essay and projects in order to continue gauging how effective the work is for learners and their families.  Stay tuned for the results!

One learner commented, “Mrs. Pettis, if I were reading To Kill a Mockingbird on my own I would not appreciate at it, but because of your enthusiasm and our discussions I really like it.”  The essence of teaching is not lost in personalize learning, it is ever more important in guiding learners in their journeys.  Recently at a conference Kaela picked up the quote, “our best one to one device will always be great teachers.”  To us it has become clear that learners NEED their teachers, just in different ways.

What are ways you have personalized your class?  

The Why and The How

We are having a hard time sleeping at night these days thinking about the why and the how of personalized learning.  It has become a driving passion of ours.  There is a vast amount of research around personalized learning that illustrates the why and the how, but in this forum we are going to share ours.  Our why is rooted in our belief that ALL kids can learn and that some kids learn differently.  When we look at kids we try to see the whole child and not just see them as a “student”, which is why we use the terminology “learner”.  It is a mindshift for teachers to think about how can we build learners' capacity to learn, connect to their passions, and meet them where they are at.  Instead of asking ourselves, “How are we going to teach our lesson?” we are asking, “How are we going to ensure learning?”

We have had conversations with teachers where, “They will be fine once they get out of school,” has actually been said.  Meaning, some learners don’t fit into the school “system” but have talents or qualities that will make them successful in life.  In our experience we have found that the traditional school system works great for about 70-80% of kids.  But that is not equitable, and it is not preparing all children for the future.  

In the “real world” we need all children to feel worthy, capable and engaged.  We are not preparing learners to all have the same career, we don’t even know what the future jobs will look like.  Future employers will want to know things like, what can you create, how do you work with others, how do you problem solve and what can you learn?  Teachers do not have to be the keepers of content, we want our children to become independent and not rely on teachers for learning.  All learning is personal, it happens when a child makes a connection or has an experience.  Learning begins with the leaner and not the lesson.   Check out this great video that illustrates this point “I Just Sued the School System.”     

How:

There are many paths to personalize learning.  Here are some that we have used to personalize our course.  Currently, we still organize our class around units that address the standards, so each unit will look different.  We are always asking ourselves, “What are the different ways learners can access, engage and express their learning?” This thinking lead to a change in how we introduced new terms with learners.  Rather than have all kids take notes on the terms as we explained them, we shared the notes with them electronically.  This allowed us to link videos to each term.  After giving them a brief overview, we told them they had 15 minutes to engage with the words by whatever method they felt best helped them learn.  Some learners chose to watch the videos, some made note cards by hand or using quizlet, and a few sat with us to go over the terms orally with the teacher. (see notes example here).  Once again we saw ALL learners engaged.  This has not been true when we stood in front and lectured about each term in the past. 



Teacher Seminar

We have also personalized a unit that is centered around a novel the whole class reads.  To Kill a Mockingbird is the classic novel we use to address standards around theme, writing arguments, and using technology.  For this unit each class followed this structure:10 minutes of independent reading, 10 minutes of dialogue journals, 50 minutes of voice and choice, and ended with 20 minutes of whole class discussion.  During the voice and choice time learners will choose to work independently, in a collaborative groups, or in a teacher seminar.  After three class periods of building prior knowledge(students inquiring and doing research on topics addressed in the novel, building their capacity to make connections and learn while reading), we began day one of the novel study.  On this first day learners discovered what standards they needed to meet and how the unit was outlined, then made goals.  We shared a document with learners via google classroom that contained all this information.  (Click here to view the document).  This is also where learners track their progress and know what topics are discussed each day for teacher seminar and large group discussion.  The standards tell learners why we are reading the novel so that they can have voice and choice in the how they show their learning.  Check out this illustration of why this is so powerful:  “When you know your why you how can have more impact…”              

Collaborative Group Work

With learners being at different places in their learning, one strategy we use to address questions is a classroom document where questions can be docked and answered at any time.  See here. Learners and teachers can look at these any time offering questions and answers. We’ve found that learners often surprise us by offering solutions and insights to their peers.  This creates even more buy in for learners studying the unit.  

Here is our unit outlined by standards, assessments, and formative work: TKMB Personalized

Here is how we explained what our daily classes would be like: Video

Here is the letter home to parents we sent regarding this unit: TKMB Letter To Parents

In a recent observation another teacher noted that during “voice and choice” time 100% of learners were engaged, this illustrates the value of giving learners different paths to learn.  We are excited to see where these paths are going to take the learners throughout the course of this study...stay tuned to see...

Independent work

 

 




Taking risks and allowing the unexpected.

Earlier I mentioned how Tricia and I are simply "better together".  One way that is true comes through when trying something new and taking a risk.  This school year will be all about risk taking for us as educators, because we are changing a lot of what we experienced and what we were taught about school.  Tricia called me last week to say, "I took a risk...I was nervous...but I am SO happy about how things turned out."  Her "risk" was stepping away from a teacher directed lesson and instead setting objectives learners could work toward with more voice and choice.  This last unit we encouraged learners to choose a path that is best for them as they began to work toward the standard.  Daily, learners could choose to participate in collaborative groups, teacher seminars or work independently.  Again, in our work Rickabaugh's words, "Allow learners to be active participants, as opposed to active recipients," inspired us to step out of what felt comfortable and into what felt better...better for our learners. 

Observing how learners participate has been fascinating.  Some students would work independently one day and join a teacher seminar the next.  Others worked independently the entire time returning back to the large group with a look of satisfaction.  Several learners chose to collaborate with others and produced solid work.  With that came a group of learners who realized one choice was less successful and productive learning time was lost.  The benefit, those individuals made more effective choices the next class period.  What felt intimidating to both Tricia and me was spreading kids out to various learning spaces.  We weren't used to loosening the reigns and allowing kids to learn without us being able to observe their work "just in case".  Just in case they "wasted their time", had a question, had to get a drink, or perish the thought, GOT OFF TOPIC FOR A SECOND."  Guess what?  We all survived.  And guess what, we all learned from the experience. 



Our learners recently took a unit summative (a "final" assessment) in order for learners to "show what they know" (term coined by one of our learners because of the connotation behind the word "test").  Tricia and I had in mind to have learners reflect using a "Personal Learning Profile" (as designed by Bray and McClaskey).  This means students think about how they Access, Engage, and Express information.  In order to help students get there we had them complete an end of unit reflection.  As learners began building background knowledge for the upcoming unit, we sat down one on one and talked with each individual about his or her learning process thus far.  Tricia is using hard copies for all reflection unless a learner asks for electronic.  I am asking students to track growth in a chart that I adopted from educators at Pioneer Ridge in Chaska, MN.  Tricia and I are excited to share results comparing hard copies vs. electronics. 

One on one learner reflection, goal setting "meeting".

Throughout this process we have now realized that the "Access, Engage and Express" language isn't working for our learners or frankly for either of us.  (Here is a student example) Now we are simply going to have students reflect continuously on how their learning is going.  We took the feedback our learners offered about what they found helpful in reflecting about their learning and chose to continue with reflection just not using the format/language Bray and McClaskey presented. 

Elvis Presley was quoted saying, "When things go wrong, don't go with them."  We hope this blog serves as an effective format where we candidly share our successes and our failures, missteps, flops if one will.  We didn't like how one part of  the learner reflections were going so we are leaving it behind and moving on.  As we continue our work we have a goal to be effective communicators.  One way to help bridge understanding of the work we are doing with learners between home and school is through the use of unit letters.  At the conclusion of one unit and the beginning of a new unit we send a letter home to help parents/learners to help offer some more specific insight into the work we are doing in class.  By communicating in this manner, we have found that individuals are more supportive of the work we are doing in class and are less critical and more open-minded of "something new". 

Success with Personalized Learning

“If we hope to help all learners find success, we need a new approach--one that taps the potential of the most underutilized resource in most traditional classrooms: the learners themselves.” (Rickabaugh)

Those words out of James Rickabaugh’s, Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning:  A Roadmap for School Leaders stopped us in our tracks.  Further reading out of Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey’s, Make Learning Personal:  The What, Who, WOW, Where, and Why, helped us spring into action.  We hold ourselves accountable to “best practice” as educators.  Our passion to instill personalization throughout our work has grown immensely.

We dove into personalized learning with our first unit of study.  Over the summer our learners were asked to read one of three given titles.  Traditionally we start off the year with everyone writing a thesis driven essay based on the book they chose to read over the summer.  Most of these essays need to be revised, as it is difficult to jump into this type of writing right off the bat.  This school year we decided to offer more voice and choice for the assignment and let learners choose how they would demonstrate their growth.  The results exceeded our expectations and validated everything we've read thus far in our quest to personalize learning.   

We begin every unit with the standards.  The Minnesota State Standards we address with the summer reading novels are:

9.4.10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature and other texts...

a. Self-select texts for personal enjoyment, interest, and academic tasks. b. Read widely to understand multiple perspectives and pluralistic viewpoints.

9.9.6.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts, audiences, tasks, and feedback from self and others, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

In our class we guide learners through formative (practice) work that prepares them for a summative (final assessment), where they demonstrate their mastery of a standard.  We intentionally plan formative work that generates different ways to access, engage, and express information.  For our first unit we carefully planned formative work where learners could experience working independently, in collaborative groups and engage in a teacher seminar (direct instruction from a teacher).  We asked individuals to be thinking about which experience they preferred as a learner while they focused on their work.  By the end of the formative work learners had done some, question storming, research, written analysis (defend/refute/or qualify), discussion of information, all solidified in some form with self-reflection.  Our goal was to help learners have a recent experience around different learning situations they could reference, in order to craft a personal learner profile.

The summative asked them to address the following essential question, “How does reading create an experience that allows one to grow?”  Students were instructed to answer this question figuratively or literally for their final assessment.  As learners began to demonstrate their growth, Rickabaugh’s words rang true.   Our learners became the most valuable sources of new learning for themselves and each other.    

Learners wrote essays, reviews, journals, interviews, letters, poems, children’s books and fictional stories.  They made many different types of connections, applied concepts from Government Class, created storyboards, drew and painted illustrations, produced book trailers, invented slogans, and flip books and dug deeper into characterization through analysis.  One individual took her pencil drawing storyboard, downloaded an app that allowed her to upload her images, add color and make them digital (Click here to see her project, it blew us away).  She became an immediate resource by showing another learner, who was looking to enhance his drawing around symbolism, how to use the app she found.  Another individual learned how to voice record for his book trailer and became the class expert for anyone else that wanted to do some voice recording. We had the pleasure to see what one young man learned when he created a RAP BATTLE and we eagerly await the finished product of a learner who chose to design and make her own shirt where the colors used will be symbolic and speak to how she grew.  Almost EVERY single learner turned in an assignment!  We would argue EVERY learner was engaged, and EVERY one of them learned something.  We have never started the year off with almost 100% participation and completion of the first summative assignment.  

One of our struggles is to find a way to make Personalized Learning work within the grading system. In order to truly capture their learning each person reflected on what they did to express how they met the standards.  In this unit our learners weren’t the only ones inspired.  As the mentors in the room we were quite moved.  We are ecstatic with the results of our first unit and are preparing for quite a ride with these inventive learners.

Learner volunteering to read his poem