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.)

Gummy Bears for Measuring

Nonstandard units for measurement are lots of fun (and they can be tasty, too.) Talk about student engagement. They were all busy measuring school supplies with the colorful candy. We translated it into paperclips, links, chips, and unifix cubes on day two. Math is fun.

How did you do that?

Isn't it nice to defy belief sometimes? It's almost magic. Okay, maybe not magic, just science, but science is just as fun. We poked the pencils through the zipper bag 1/2 full of water. It didn't leak. Amazing! Not enough amazement for my students though. "How many pencils can we poke through the bag?" the students asked. We poked half a dozen through without a problem. "What happens if you pull a pencil out?" the students asked. So we did. Then the water spilled out like a "waterfall" according to the children. Fun, fun, Friday fun.

Spring Break goals

It's nice to have TIME to do things that aren't always prioritized during the work week. Sunday, I enjoyed time writing 2 more Willy Worm fairy tales. Monday, I had time to work on a 500 piece puzzle. Tuesday, I enjoyed time with my husband shucking oysters...a new learning experience. You should try to learn something new everyday. We set goals daily even if we aren't thinking about it (it's natural). They may not all be physically or mentally challenging. Sometimes it just a matter of completing a task in a given time period. Monday, I challenged myself physically. The "Oyster Triathlon": carry 1 bushel 100 feet, lift bushel 3 feet in air, shuck 1/3 bushel. Completed challenge...priceless...sense of accomplishment. What challenge will today present?