How I Embraced Personalized Learning

 

I remember being six years old, and when it was time for reading, I moved up a few classes to read with second grade.   Back then, I did not realize that I was reading above my grade level. I just knew that I felt pride that I read well.  Hooked on Phonics really did work for me. 

Fast forward to my very first grad school assignment, and I am remembering that moment of time like it was yesterday.  

While I doubt back in 1982 my teacher knew about Bob Marzano and Personalized Learning, she knew that I was not reading at the same level as my class and allowed me to be challenged in another grade level.  That was personalized learning before Mr. Marzano wrote about it.  She met the needs of the learner, instead of giving the entire class the same exact text.  Emerging readers were able to work on their level, and developed leaders were able to grow in their ability.  

Personalized learning is something that our School District has embraced in the last three years. Instead of teaching to the "average" student and creating one assignment for every student in the class, educators are being encouraged to use the students' data to drive instruction.

Those of you in the non-educational world may be asking yourselves, "What on earth is personalized learning?"

I would have to answer that it is simply taking ownership of your learning.  It is less about the teacher's assignments and more about using your strengths and abilities to help you grow as a learner. It is knowing yourself, the way you learn, your habits, your strengths, and your areas for growth.

Now I hear you saying to yourself, " This sounds great for adults, but how do you get a Kindergartener or first grader to own their learning?  

I have seen it with my own eyes.  While working on a math lesson, the Kindergarten teacher asked the students where they were after the lesson.  Students were either needing a little more support 1 (riding a bike with a person helping), could explain the lesson and do a little on their own 2 (riding a bike with training wheels) or they were able to do it without assistance and explain it to others  3 (riding a bike with no help and no training wheels).  Students held up their fingers after the lesson to self-assess where they thought they were in their learning.  They were proud to show me where they were, and it was okay that not everyone was a 3.

Another Kindergartner teacher explained it as a 1 was where they were when the year started, 2 was where they were mid-year, and 3 was when they were ready to move on to First grade.  She even had examples of what handwriting and drawing/coloring would look like at each level.  

Students are never too young to own their learning.

While my district has fully embraced Personalized Competency-Based Learning through Marzano's teachings, I have seen the benefits of it firsthand with my own students at Woodland Elementary School.  Not only is it a District Initiative, but my staff is seeing the benefits of learning about it as well, and our students are soaring.  

However, this has not been without a lot of change for our team.  District curriculum writers have completely revamped our curriculum to make common artifacts, prioritize standards for every grade level, and write proficiency scales.  Did I mention it was a lot of change?

In my experience, most teachers want to differentiate and personalize learning as much as possible.  I know when I was a classroom teacher, I wanted to differentiate the wide variety of abilities that I had within one classroom. However, we all lack one thing: time.  Time to look at data, time to plan for multiple lessons occurring at one time, time for student and partner grouping, time to set goals with students, time to teach what a proficiency scale is when they had never heard of the word before, much less seen one. Even though it has taken time, our schools have seen the rewards this year. 

One could say this year was turning a giant ship like the Titanic with PCBL. It's a very slow process.  While most have embraced it, I am certain that some feel that it might turn out to be just another district initiative that will go away in a few years. I would argue that with the resources and technology that we have available now, it is not going away any time soon.  Why would we teach the same reading lesson to students when we can have them take a placement test and see exactly what skills they are missing and assign lessons to them on exactly what they need?  Not only that, but must technogly can give the students choices on what to read and still help them with missing skills.  It's not a thing of the past but the new normal.