Being the Parent

Here are two of the four pages of standards.

I have a 3.5 year old and an 8-month year old and we just got back from their fall  parent-teacher conferences.  I was impressed that my son’s teacher presented me with somewhat of a learner profile and an amazing portfolio of his work.  He learns best when the teacher uses games and when activities are done outside.  He doesn’t like a ton of praise and sometimes says he can’t do things that he can because he is afraid that he won’t do them correctly and doesn’t want to disappoint.  He has a crush on an older girl named Skylar and he gets really nervous around her (I witnessed this and it was adorable). His favorite subject is math.  When given a choice of stations, he usually goes to blocks.  While I know a lot about my son, this knowledge helps me tremendously as I do see some similarities at home and many differences.  For example, his teacher states he is a leader yet really listens to others and helps them plan.  He is empathetic and worries about others.  At home it is usually his way or a tantrum.    

Each week his teacher sets a personalized goal for him and works to show progress of his goal.  Even my 8-month-old daughter has a personalized goal each week.  This week she is working on “developing a 4-point stance” so that she can crawl.  I know that this is feasible for their teachers because they are given planning time to do their goals and they have 4-12 kids in a class. It makes me wonder if we changed the traditional classroom model how we could do this for mass amounts of students at the high school level. 

I was also impressed that the center has “learning targets” and uses a beginning, progressing, and successful system to report out where students are.  I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never seen an elementary report card but am thinking it probably looks a lot like this. 

So now that I’ve rambled about this, what does this mean?  To me it reinforces that we must communicate more to our parents.  A grade does not tell a story.   I want to know a lot about my child to help him/her develop.  All of this information helps me to know what I need to focus on at home.  It also makes me think about what type of school will be best for him, traditional learning or something like STEM.  I wish we were able to report out like this at the high school level but really wonder how possible this is what the amount of students we work with. 

STEM Visit

I had the opportunity to visit STEM two weeks ago.  I was really impressed by the amount of personalized learning I saw.   STEM INC was probably my favorite to experience as the students were developing a toy and were very passionate about what they were doing.  I also loved how the STEM teachers did their agendas having a “Must Do” section and then offering a “Can Do” for students who finished early or were ready to progress. 

I got to talk to a teacher who does proficiency based grading.  He stated that all kids must have a 3 or better on all assessments in order to advance.   I like this high standard that he has set for students. 

The learning spaces at STEM help to promote personalized learning.  Students have choices from what they sit on (balls, chairs, standing, and even rocking chairs) to where they learn (hallway spaces, classrooms, etc.). 

STEAM is another way of giving students some choice.  During this time students can get help in their subject areas and if they are all caught up they can have some choice in how they extend their learning.  To me, this is what I always envisioned AO looking like.  I wish AO was offered in the middle of the day so that students could use it to access their teachers and extend learning. 

It was a great visit full of amazing educators who are innovative and have inspired the South crew that visited to keep making small changes toward a more personalized path for students. 

The Start... 

During the past few weeks when I have been in classrooms I have been focused on looking at how personalized learning is happening in our building.  I’ve been seeing some good things, but know there is a ton of room for growth. 

I was very excited to see that one of our Spanish teacher is creating a true digital portfolio with his students.  Right now he’s focused on a portfolio system that will show how the student is able to use the language.  This portfolio can then be used for job interviews and possibly even college admissions or placement.  I talked to him a little about expanding this portfolio to include a focus on learner profiles and he thought this was a great addition.  I plan to keep working with him to hopefully develop something powerful.

Proficiency-based progress is starting to happen at a very basic level  in some of our classrooms.   I recently visited a classroom where kids are working at their own pace and moving through the class based on proficiencies.  It was interesting talking with the students because many of them were frustrated with the ownership that they had to take in the class.  They didn’t like that the teacher wasn’t telling them specifics and wasn’t doing much direct instruction.  I think this class will be a great learning opportunity for the students taking it. 

I spent some time in a classroom where students were truly engaged in a customized learning path for the unit.  Each was involved in some heavy research that he/she picked and was going to report out any way he/she wanted to.  I am also seeing this in our Land and Water class as students are customizing what they study and how they do so. 

Again, there is some personalized learning happening in our building and I will continue to work with teachers to see it grow. 

A Day in the Life of a Student

Last week I had the opportunity to live the day in the life of a 9th grader and a 12th grader; I learned a lot, including the fact that we have a ton of room for growth when it comes to using personalized learning.    My schedule was as follows:

9th Grader 12th Grader

Hour 1:  Health Hour 2: AP Spanish V

Hour 3:  Core English 9 Hour 3:  AP Bio

Lunch 1 Hour 4:  AP English 12

Hour 4:  Algebra Lunch 3

Hour 5:  Mid Biology Hour 6:  AVID

Hour 7:  Core Human Geography Hour 7: Pre-Calc

Hour 8: Drawing and Painting Hour 8: Government

Here are my key take-aways living the life of a student:

1.  There is really good instruction happening for all of our students.  

I saw a ton of best practices used.  I was part of two lessons that focused directly on finding the main idea and both teachers modeled and used gradual release.  In almost every class I was part of, WICOR was used and helped to create a balanced  lesson.  I did not sit through one hour where I was part of the same activity for the whole hour; I was surprised at how quickly the time went.  In every class that I was asked to do group work, I was given feedback from the teacher.

Most of the instruction at the ninth grade level was for the entire class.  I tend to think this is because we are doing a lot of leveling with our ABD model.  In the upper level classes, especially with the seniors, much of the instruction was more personalized and inquiry based.  I was part of an AP Biology lesson where my group had to use a variety of sources to figure out what ATP was all about.  I also noticed that at the 9th grade level there was more of a focus on skills and in 12th it was more focused on content.

2.  Homework.

When I asked my ninth grader how long her homework would take, she said about 20-30 minutes.  She stated that she typically spends no more than 45 minutes a night on school work; however, she does spend an hour a night reading for pleasure (this was surprising to me).

My 12th grader said she spends an average of two hours a night on homework.  She stated a lot of her homework is reading she must do for her classes and she does a lot of studying and uses her notes to study from.  

3.  Students sit a lot.

I was getting antsy and now feel for students who get a little wild during the afternoon.  The early lunch as a 9th grader also made the afternoon portion of the day long. The 2nd lunch was nice because I only had three classes left in the day and focusing during those hours was easier.

4.  Technology was balanced.

There was a great mix of using the iPad and using traditional methods.  When asked to use the iPad, most of what I was doing was substitution but in my 9th English class I was asked to create a PSA (public service announcement) using iMovie.  I was asked to access BB9 in 6/12 classes.  

5. Some students struggle to focus due to technology.

The 9th graders had a more difficult time being responsible for their learning when using technology than the 12th graders.  I saw a lot of games, Snapchatting, and Facebook usage in the 9th grade rooms- even when teachers asked students to put devices away- kids are very sneaky.  I also saw a ton of earbuds in with the 9th graders.  The 12th graders were much better at putting devices away when not using them and using them correctly. Most classes did not even have to tell the 12th graders to put devices away or stay on task with them.

When kids were “multi-tasking” on their devices I found myself wanting to check my email and do other things when I knew I was supposed to be focused on the lesson- even during engaging lessons.

6.  9th graders travel in packs.

A lot of these kids go from hour to hour together and as the day builds the behavior gets more challenging.  Maybe we should consider bringing the freshman summit back or have the ABD teachers meet to discuss students.

7. Some of our kids struggle to work in groups and really do need to be taught norms.  

We can also not assume that kids have a “turn and talk” partner when we ask them to do so.  Most of the classes I was in as a 12th grader knew how to operate in a group and worked to get things accomplished. As a  9th grader, I was part of two groups where my student did most of the work while the other group members relaxed.  

8. We, as teachers, do not tell kids why we are doing things and how it all fits together enough.  It makes sense in our head because it is our class and we are so focused on it where as our kids have eight classes to keep track of.

About half of the teacher stated the essential questions/I can statements at the start of the lesson. I do think that 95% of the kids in the class knew what was going on, but I do wonder about those who were absent during the previous lessons.  In the twelve classes I visited, kids were asked to summarize/discuss what they had learned or do a wrap-up activity at the end of class in three classes.  

9.  Teachers give a lot of directions.  It was hard for me to remember all of the directions and I now know why kids ask so many questions. In many of my classes the homework was given right at the end and I had to ask others around me what I needed to do. It was very helpful when teachers posted the homework on the board or on BB9.  

11. We do not prompt kids to take notes.  

In my 10/12 classes, I was not directed or reminded to write anything down.  My 9th grader did not take any notes- she did annotate some texts.  My 12th grader took a lot of notes and told me that she takes them because she has to (AVID student) but did admit that taking them keeps her focused and gives her a good study tool.

12.The kids in this building are lucky to have amazing teachers!  Every class I was in taught me something valuable and engaged me. I would, without a doubt, send my own children to this school. Thank you!