Personalized Learning: Is it for Real?
During my time in the classroom, I often felt torn when it came time to post grades. I struggled when the times came that I had a student failing with whether or not this was a true representation of their progress. I also couldn't help but wonder if I had truly done everything I could to set them up for success. Often times during this time of reflection, the answer was no. I hadn't done everything possible. I could have called home more, given more verbal reminders, scaffolded, and differentiated better. The problem was, as a secondary ELAR teacher in a co-teach class where 40% of my students had IEPS in a Title I district, this seemed impossible. I know that I was working hard. Doing absolutely everything I could possibly think of that was attainable given the cards I was dealt.
In my lesson planning and prep, I prioritized student engagement. I worked endlessly to find the best platforms and programs to engage my students and pique their interests. I sought training and PD for any and every technology tool I could use in my classroom, too. I pulled small groups often, scaffolded assignments, differentiated instruction and, still, it wasn't enough.
I have always been a teacher that has difficult conversations with students. We talked about life lessons often and I challenged them to reflect on their choices and think on future decisions, too. When I first started hearing about personalized learning, I thought "This sounds good in theory, but it cannot be realistic." It wasn't until I saw personalized/blended learning in action in a classroom in Dallas that my mindset shifted to wanting to learn everything I could about personalized and learning.
Over the last couple of years, most of my professional and personal energy has been spent learning and trying to truly understand the personalized learning approach. It is about giving students voice and choice in their learning, yes, but it is also about empowering and enabling them to make conscious decisions to help them learn the way that they learn best. Not only that, but it helps give them access to the data they need to make informed decisions based on personal goals, thus creating autonomous student agents. The skills learned through personalize learning and student agency are some that many very bright adults do not possess. These skills translate into any profession, field of study, or post-secondary endeavor.
THIS is it, y'all. This is the type of learning that every student deserves. They don't need a teacher that knows all the technology tricks and has a bag full of them. They need teachers that are willing to let go of the reins and teach them how to take responsibility for their own learning in a strategic way. I am committed to helping the teachers in my community see the value in true personalized and blended learning because it is about more than just using technology in the classroom. I have created systems (like the items in the BLGP Resource Folder linked here) and digital tools (ex. Sample Student-Facing Digital Tracker, Station Rotation Plan Template) to support our teachers, instructional coaches, and campus leaders in managing these new strategies. Data Driven Instruction is a huge part of blended and personalized learning, so much of the work I do centers around the use the data we gather from our online program and supporting teachers in their DDI conquests through strategically designed systems. Through data collected from instructional rounds, interim assessments, and online program data, I am confident that our teachers will begin to see the fruits of their labor. This work is hard, but everything we do is hard and this approach has the power to redefine the way students learn and the way teachers teach for the better.
This reminds me of the SAMR model referenced below. Teachers in my district are doing a great job at Substitution for the typical tasks and activities. We are moving toward Augmentation, but if we truly leverage the tools we have and work to enter Redefinition, I am confident that we will change the future of not only our individual students, but our entire community.
I use the SAMR model as a reference often to assess and self-reflect on the practices, strategies, and platforms I learn about or vet for my district. One of the biggest issues that I saw rear its ugly head during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 school closure, is teacher dependency on worksheets. I know that there are subjects, like math, for example, where practice/repetition is necessary. However, the way that we will truly get students to start taking more ownership of their learning is by moving away from worksheet type activities and moving towards giving students opportunities to show us what they know through the things they create. I believe that this ties to my beliefs and passion for personalized learning up above, too. Teachers have a hard time giving up some of the control in their classrooms and, sometimes, we don't even realize that it is us that is handicapping our students and holding them back from their potential. I also see often that teachers do assign projects as products of learning, but they keep the parameters so tight that virtually every project will be the same.
Another area of concern in digital learning comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. Many teachers have an understanding that technology is meant to replace teachers and that is far from true. Teachers have a grave responsibility to bring technology into their classrooms and get their students manipulating it for two reasons. 1) To give all students equitable access to technology in the 21st century, and 2) To leverage that technology to create more personalized learning experiences or their students. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes for digital learning. "Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important." - Bill Gates
And finally, something that I believe to be a concern in all learning, not just digital, is that we still in 2020 have teachers in the profession that do not prioritize relationships in their classrooms. Rita Pierson said it best when she said "Kids don't learn from teachers they don't like." None of what we do matters if students do not feel safe, loved, and supported in their classrooms. Creating systems that are fair and equitable like establishing online norms in the virtual settings are small things that make a big difference in this area. I challenged teachers during our school closure to use Slides Templates to communicate expectations to students in the remote learning setting for this reason, as well. You don't have to be friends with your students, but when teachers create fair and equitable systems and communicate consistently with students, it shows them that you care whether or not they have what they need to be successful.
My passion in education lies in transforming my community. I know that is a bold statement, but I have lived and worked in community my entire life and I love the people and children I get to work with every single day. They are my neighbors, my family, my friends. As an a district with a student population that is 80% economically disadvavantaged, the school district bears a big responsibility. What and how our students learn in our classrooms directly affects how they go out into the community and put back into it. I believe strongly that building student agency is the key to the success of our district and ultimately our little town and I will work endlessly to spread that message and support those that I can reach to make it happen.
References:
H. L. (2017, October 30). SAMR Model: A Practical Guide for EdTech Integration. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from Schoology.com website: https://www.schoology.com/blog/samr-model-practical-guide-edtech-integration
TED Talk. (2013). Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw&t=29s
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