Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step 13: From Here

So,…last week we were a stop on the Design Fellow Tour. The students were showing off how they self-evaluate their writing. They explained to our guests why they made the choices that they made about seating, graphic organizers, and use of the writing rubric. It was a stellar day. The students were excited that someone outside of our school wanted to ask them questions and attentively listen to their answers. Then, Monday was the final Design Fellow meeting. We did a lot of reflecting on our progress and sharing our journey. We started to speculate on what our next steps would be…because our journey has only just begun. Wednesday, I updated the school staff and offered my assistance as they join the journey. I am looking forward to the exciting changes in our future that are going to enhance the student’s learning.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step 12: Learning Zone vs Performance Zone

A crucial part of learning is recognizing that there are times when we are focused on the learning and times when we are performing what we have learned. I hadn’t realized this until I watched: Eduardo Briceño: How to get better at the things you care about. This TED Talk got me thinking and talking to my students about the idea. To introduce it to them, I wrote a 2Voices poem to read at morning meeting. It sparked a great deal of discussion. As students, they are always in the learning zone with short visits to the performance zone. We, as teachers, recognize that the pressure to assess everything, often feels like, we are in the performance zone way too much to be learning anything. But, as my students see it, the performance zone is just part of the learning zone because it helps us to reflect on our level of proficiency. When we embrace it as an opportunity to learn about ourselves, it doesn’t seem so scary. At least not, according to my insightful students. It is interesting how “performance zone” and “learning zone” have become part of our everyday language now that we understand their importance.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step 11: Growth Mindset

An important part of learning is believing that you CAN learn. We spent quite a bit of time at the beginning of the year preaching the importance of a growth mindset and GRIT. As with most things, what you “THINK” is going to highly impact what you do and how well you do it. When we completed our mid-year survey of growth mindset, we discovered that the students thought they were synonyms. To help clarify the difference, I wrote a 2Voices poem Growth Mindset vs GRIT for the students to practice fluency. I explained GRIT as a puzzle piece needed to complete the Growth Mindset puzzle and made a representative puzzle for the students to put together. Then we read some quotes to determine if they represented Growth Mindset or GRIT or Fixed Mindset. All three activities were engaging and helped us to develop more of a growth mindset. Mistakes just aren’t as scary now because we know they’re learning tools and we know GRIT will help us keep learning until we are successful. These life lessons empower students to find their path and fulfill their lives. As a student, the joy of knowing they CAN learn brings smiles and pride. As a teacher, seeing their smiles and showing them the evidence of their learning keeps me soaring.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step 10: Self-evaluation of Writing

The first time they used the rubric on their own work, we reviewed it before they finished the writing so they would have it to use as a guide. I decided the second time we used it, to hold off on having them complete it until a few days after they finished the writing. With a break, the writing would seem new to them. That seemed to be the key. They had to go back to read what they had written; it wasn’t so familiar. When they were finished, more of them seemed proud of their work. They were happy to be given the opportunity to make improvements when they realized that they hadn’t earned the score they wanted. I’m already planning to start this earlier next year. I love the results and the pride of ownership.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step 9: Making Rubrics for Writing

Our next step was to create the rubric for our writing assessment. I wanted to give the students a legitimate reason to check their work. Students don’t like to check their work, especially writing. I called the students to meet with me in small groups to get their input. I explained the objectives and had them tell me in their own words what it looked like. I filled out a blank rubric with each group. In the end, the students’ words were merged to create our writing rubric so they could understand it. We practiced using the rubric with work that was not their own so they wouldn’t feel critiqued. It was beyond powerful having them discuss their choices with a partner and then check for agreement with another partnership. Now not only did they know how to use the rubric appropriately, but they could articulate their findings. It filled my heart.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step8: Choosing Seating

When the students returned after winter break, they found the room rearranged. I listened to their ideas when polled so that we had more short desks than tall ones. Also, we had desks arranged in groups of 6, 4, 3, 2, and single islands. In addition, I removed a few desks to make room and offered space on the class carpet with a clipboard. Students loved choosing daily. For some students, they needed to know they had a seat away from others so they made requests for specific assigned seats. After reminding some students daily that they needed to choose appropriately so that they could work efficiently, they earned assigned seats away from buddies. For most, it has worked out well with daily choices, but it is interesting because even with the choice being theirs, they demonstrate preferences for types of seating. We did have one set back when the students told a substitute that she couldn’t assign their seats. We dealt with that and are back in a rhythm. I do want to point out that everyone else who enters our classroom asks “why” the desks are so short. Being different is difficult to accept for some people, but we love it.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step7: Changing the Environment

I was feeling comfortable with the steps we had taken for student ownership. It was time to change the learning environment. Again, I gave thought to how to transition so that we could have a sustained success. It couldn’t be a drastic change that would disrupt our learning or push us too far outside our comfort zones. I decided to step into the changes gradually giving everyone an opportunity to experience the differences in little pieces. Now that being said, I also decided to make the changes in December which I knew was going to be crazy because of the anticipation of the holidays. It played out wonderfully because it kept the students on their toes throughout the month. First, I kept my teams together, but rotated them around the room to different tables. This threw the students off balance. Then, I continued rotating the teams, but I changed some of the desks so that they were as short as possible by removing the holding screw. For those desks, I let the students use carpet squares on the floor or sit on the desk. During independent working times, some students like to work under the desk so they are isolated. We discussed rules and appropriate choices before making any permanent changes. The last two days before winter break, I let the students choose their seats and took a poll for favorite seating. They were excited about the changes to say the least.

Personalized Learning in 13Blogs--Step6: Student-Led Conferences

Step 6: Student-led Conferences Together we discussed the conference procedure and came up with a script that the students could complete by filling in the blanks. It was decided that all students would complete the script, practice reading it to others, and then share it with their parents. After reviewing their Habits of Scholarship evaluations, the students completed a closed script. It started with an introduction about sharing their progress. They explained how they were successful at something, something they needed to work on, and their plan for achieving it. Then they asked their parents if they had any questions and thanked them for listening. The students chose what to share with their parents. Parents who wanted a personal conference came in to listen to their students and we helped to guide their discussions. The parents seemed pleased with their child’s maturity and ownership of their learning. Parents who didn’t think a conference was necessary, were asked to allow their child to read their script, sign it, and return it. Some were signed and returned, while others were not. The students seemed pleased that they had been given the opportunity to be responsible and share their progress. It was a win for all and another step toward personalizing their learning.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs: Step5 Self-evaluation of Habits of Scholarship

Step 5: Self-Evaluation of Habits of Scholarship Prior to 1st Quarter Progress Reports, the students completed their first self-evaluation for Habits of Scholarship. Their reaction was priceless when I gave them the evaluation form. I explained that they were to write in the grade that they earned for each trait using the rubric. Then they needed to explain why they deserved it. They did okay, but it was obvious that we needed to work more on honest reflections and self-awareness. My co-teacher and I sat down together to review their evaluations and offer feedback. If we agreed with the students’ grade, we put a check. If we disagreed, we gave specific feedback to make the improvement needed. Then the students got their self-evaluations back with our feedback. They were given an opportunity to ask questions and discuss any confusion. For the most part, they agreed with our evaluations and said they were going to use the feedback to plan for the next cycle. I am thrilled to announce that they are better able to do the self-evaluations without further instructions, they know the process, and they are becoming more self-aware as there are more checks on their evaluations. As they become more responsible and self-aware, their pride blooms. It is a beautiful thing to see.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs: Step4 Goal Setting & Reflection

If the students are to own their learning and behavior, they need to know how to set appropriate goals. Having created the Habits of Scholarship rubric on day one, the students knew what the expectations were for each level of performance. They could then choose a level of performance that they could strive to achieve. Learning to plan for success was the next part of the process. Then they would need to learn to reflect accurately so that they would know when they were successful. Knowing this from working with my first graders, I had to design a way for the third graders to think and practice goal setting, planning, and reflecting daily. To accomplish this task, we started a morning reflection whereby the students answered a question about their goal. Mondays, they set a goal. Tuesday through Friday, they wrote about why they chose the goal, what their plan was, the process of goal setting, and whether they were successful. Their daily reflections stayed with them all day, so that they could mark the chart for any Habits of Scholarship warnings they received throughout the day. This practice helps them own their behavior because they must acknowledge it by writing it down. Finally, Friday morning meetings were an opportunity to share their goals, plans, and successes with each other. This final part of the process was to lead to more comfortable students for student-led conferences. It was a progressive routine for the first quarter that worked well.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step3-Habits of Scholarship Rubric

Step 3: Day 1 Ownership and Student Buy-in to Habits of Scholarship On the first day of school, we brought all the 3rd graders together to create the rubric for the Habits of Scholarship (behavior traits). We modeled determining what each level of “listening and following directions” would look like. We discussed, debated, and settled on language everyone could understand. We went through the process again for “self-control” together, but getting more feedback from the students. Then we divided the students into groups and assigned the remaining habits of scholarship to individual groups. They were tasked with writing the rubric levels for their assigned trait. Even though they had seen these traits for three years, there was still some confusion on what some of them meant. When they finished, we shared each groups’ ideas for their traits. Together we did some revising and came to agreement. Because the students had participated in the process, they felt a sense of ownership and they understood the rubric better. Now, we were getting somewhere.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs--Step2: PLAN

Step 2: PLAN to keep treading water since we’re diving in the deep end. To find success, a plan was necessary to keep me on track. I needed to decide on a plan that was manageable for me, my co-teacher, and the students. I didn’t want to jump in over my head and be forced to back track. I wanted a plan that would allow me to build on it and sustain it throughout the year. I gave a lot of thought to the choices of personal pathways, learning environment, and student ownership & agency. For me, it all boiled down to student ownership & agency. I couldn’t see giving students personal pathways to their learning if I wasn’t comfortable with them setting goals, making plans, and reflecting on progress. I knew before I could give them learning environment choices, we would have to build trust in each other. I needed to know they could make appropriate choices based on our classroom rules and a respect for each other. My plan was to help them discover who they were as learners and to become productive, responsible learners. Now you should know that even when I was in 1st grade, I gave my students growth mindset surveys, introduced them to self-evaluation, lead them through goal-setting steps, and let them make some choices on what to do and where to sit. Now it is more the stock in the soup than the seasoning.

Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs: Step 1

Step 1. For me…, the first step was to accept that I was ready to take on something new. Personalized learning requires a different kind of thinking for students and teachers. I had to accept that I was going to step outside my comfort zone and release CONTROL. You may not think that’s a big deal, but for someone with many Type-A personality traits, it is a huge deal. I wanted the students to take more responsibility for their learning. I had tried giving my first graders more choices, teaching them to set goals, and reflect on them. They were successful to a degree and appreciated the opportunity. There was no reason why I couldn’t expect to make more progress with third graders. And the icing on the cake was: I had my principal’s backing and my co-teacher’s support. That was promising knowledge, but it was still going to be uncharted waters. Good thing I believe all things are possible. (For those of you without support, I can only say I am sorry, but keep at it. It is going to be worth it.)