Personalized Learning: Ideas to Get Started

 This summer, I attended Northern Cass Personalized Learning Institute and there I was both validated and inspired to continue providing students with voice and choice in their learning to give them the skills to be lifelong learners. Here I want to share with you some ways that you can get started with personalized learning in your own ELA classroom.

Create a Unit Menu

The concept of a menu is one that I have been using in my classroom for the past two years. A menu is a collection of texts on a specific topic and/or theme that I teach in a course. These are organized on a format that I can make available to students, such as Padlet. These are fluid; I am constantly adding sources and reorganizing them as I learn of my sources and try to challenge myself.

Here are a few examples that I currently have:

American Soldiers

Immigration Stories 

Having a menu allows me to do several things in a class: I can respond to their needs or interests and choose a type of text that presents content in either an accessible or challenging manner. Depending on class assignments, students may choose their own sources made available through the menu.

If you already use a similar practice in your classroom, you could consider creating a self-paced unit.

Self-Paced Units

This particular suggestion was inspired by a breakout session by Beth Head of Northern Cass School.

Once you have your resources organized, you could prepare a self-paced unit. It is important to communicate with students the importance of soft and hard deadlines along with suggested pace to maintain progress. 

There are a few ways that you can do this with students. One suggestion would be to create a packet for your students that provides them with all of the materials regarding the unit of study. Another is to prepare a specific menu in which students can choose how they learn a particular concept, whether by reading a chapter of their textbook or an article, listening to a lecture on YouTube, conducting an experiment, or working with the teacher in a small group. In this way, students can monitor their preferred learning or use a variety of sources to learn about a particular topic.

You can help monitor this with your students by having them set daily or weekly goals and submit a reflection on how they have been able to accomplish those goals. I prefer the format of Exit Tickets that are formatted to read quickly.

Design Rubrics and Assignments with Students

This particular suggestion was inspired by a breakout session led by Heidi Eckart.

Part of personalized learning requires communication between the teacher and students about the relevance of the content. If students find the work relevant, they will engage with it and recognize the importance of learning and practicing the skills. By asking students to be part of designing rubrics or assignments, they are being asked to reflect on the content skills they have learned and how to apply them affectively for their learning goals. It is also possible to get feedback from students that suggests a variety of formats that they can display their progress of the skills from the unit too.

Northern Cass Personalized Learning Institute is held annually so check their website in the future if you're interested in learning more about using personalized learning in your classroom or district.