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.

3 Easy Student Reflection Practices

One goal of education is to develop students into lifelong learners. To be a lifelong learners, we must encourage our students to be reflective. 

Each school year, I set one specific goal for myself. For the year 2021-22, that goal was to implement more student reflection.

Here are 3 easy strategies to implement into your classroom to help students reflect on their own learning.

 

Entrance & Exit Ticket

This particular practice is best used on work days or in the workshop model. When students understand the objectives of the assignment, they must break it down into steps. 

To start the class period, provide students with the Entrance & Exit Ticket. For their Entrance, they should write a specific goal: What do they plan to accomplish during this class period?

Before their Exit, students should respond with a brief reflection of their goal: Did they accomplish it? Why or why not? What's next?

Leaving this open-ended allows them to honestly reflect without a graded expectation and also creates minimal prep work.

Glow-Grow-Goal

This is an excellent reflection at the end of a unit and asks students to do a 3-part reflection:

• Glow: What are you most proud of in this project? Why?
• Grow: In what way did this project challenge you? What skills did you improve?
• Goal: Looking to the future, what do you hope to continue to improve or to learn more about?

This particular reflection is beneficial to help students see that the learning isn't done, but acknowledges that there is more possible in the growth of our skills and/or knowledge.

Self-grading

Allowing students to complete their own grading can be intimidating; however, it helps them focus on their skill level. There are a few ways to allow students to self-grade, so choose the option that is most appropriate for your students and the assignment. Research and my own observations have shown me that this is an effective best practice.

One option is to provide students with a checklist. This has them reflect on the process and completion. Here is an excerpt from an essay checklist.

Another option is to provide a rubric with the objectives on a scale with descriptions for the highest and lowest expectations. Here is an example of a self-grade rubric from a blog assignment.

Another option is to give students your a checklist, have them write a self-reflection such as: What did you learn from this project? Consider the skills learned and practiced throughout this unit. After reviewing their checklist and reflection, ask them what score or grade they have earned on this particular assignment.

These 3 easy student reflection practices can encourage your students to monitor their own learning throughout the school year and hopefully carry the practice into their lifelong habits. 

Additional reading about student reflection:

Culturize by Jimmy Casas

The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros

"Treating Reflection as a Habit, Not an Event" by Andrew Miller

"Joy in School" by Steven Wolk

Writing with My Students

Writing with my students. That's why I've F-I-N-A-L-L-Y returned to my blog. I really do want to write consistently. I miss writing. But I would also miss sleep. And playing with my two girls. And eating healthy meals. All of these things I love, and a few things that I love have been let go. However, returning from maternity leave almost a month ago, I am seizing opportunities of joy with reading and writing with my students. 

Yes, I have papers to grade.

Yes, I have lessons to organize.

Yes, I have paperwork to do.

Many days, it is hard to pull away from those responsibilities to write with my students. Writing with my students feels like cheating because I enjoy it so much. I guess I forgot that it's great for me to love my job. If I don't invest in the parts that I love, I cannot demonstrate and show how literature and writing has enhanced my life or fully encourage my students to do the same.

What have we been writing? Let me share some of my work with you! (In the future, I will maybe see if any students would let me share their work. That would be fantastic.)

In my Young Adult Literature class, we read Sharon Creech's verse novel Hate that Cat so that we can analyze authors craft and emulate poems written by protagonist Jack. Currently my student aid is helping me print and prepare their favorite poems so we have created a class chapbook. Here is my inspired poem that I submitted:

        December Bedtime

            So much depends

                 Upon

                                An open children’s

                                Music book,

        Wrapped in purpley 

                Pink treats

                                Brightly singing the

                                Nutcracker.

            So much depends

                Upon

                                A dancing, grinning

                                           Toddler;

            Swaying, marching,

                Twirling toes

                                 Beside a gleeful

                                Kicking babe.

This blog post is coming from my Creative Writing class, which is my baby. I proposed it. Now I get to "teach" it. Really though, this is a class about self-discovery. My goal is to provide students with opportunities to create and have the freedom to pursue their interests without academic risks.

During our lengthy National Novel Writing Month, rather than pursue a novel, I wrote excerpts inspired by, "Tell me you have a toddler without telling me." These writings may serve only me and bring me joy. And possibly embarrass my daughter at graduation in 16 years.

To finish off this perseverance of writing, we wrote our own pep talks! Here is an excerpt of my unfinished introduction:

Congratulations! You have decided to embark on a grand adventure that may leave you bruised, pulling your hair out, practically in tears with sore finger tips, but...but… you can take pride in participating in a writer’s marathon. That’s what it’s all about: Working through the pain and frustration (physical, mental, and/or emotional) to achieve something that you didn’t believe you could. And just like a marathon, it’s about completing it that’s the accomplishment.

Finishing a marathon is often not pretty. You’ll finish with salt crystals dried to your forehead, sweat in places you didn’t know could sweat, your legs feeling like you must drag them one painful foot after another. But. You. Did. It.

That’s what NaNoWriMo is all about. It’s fighting through the writer’s block. It’s fighting through the unhelpful muse in your head saying you don’t know what you’re doing. Or reminding you that it was a good idea a couple of weeks ago even though now it doesn’t seem like it. It’s pushing through that terrible, terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE dialogue to finally get what your character really wanted to say. Then you take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’ll go revise that later.

We must take pride in doing hard things. Hard things allow us to: Build our own perseverance. Discover how to problem solve. Give permission to not be perfect. 

Right now, our class is working on writing projects that we consider "nontraditional." Take a look at the choice board my students helped me create!

I may be a teacher you know nothing about. This may be the first (but hopefully not the last) time you have come across my blog. But here's your reminder to keep demonstrating the joy and excitement that your content brings to you. Our students are watching.

As I like to tell my students:

Stay safe. Make smart choices. Read a book. 📚