The Final Report on Competency-Based Education Pilot published in December of 2018 by the Ohio Department of Education cited Pane (2018) and stated the following:
"Perhaps the biggest argument for personalized learning and
competency-based education is that challenging problems persist and our current system has not fixed them.
The system needs competency-based education, even in the absence of student outcome data."
Despite having decades of data with so-called high stakes assessment data to support the findings that the current system is not working with the current system being traditional education, we get back on the dead horse every fall and we whip it, feed it more, and try everything to get better assessment results. As the late, great educational leader, Jim Grant would state, "Its time to get off the horse". Unfortunately though, there are hundreds, if not thousands of educators ready to get back on the dead horse and go another lap. There are another group of thousands of educators ready to stand by with the status quo protecting statement, "Yeah, but...
- That will never work!
- We don't have the funding.
- I don't have time to do that, I have 185 workbook pages to cover before Christmas.
- I have to cover all my standards for the state test or my scores will be lower.
You could add to list and go on and on.
OR, you can leave your comfort zone and start saying "What if...
- We increase engagement through student voice and choice?"
- We provided opportunities for students to select how they will demonstrate they have mastered the standards?"
- We examined real-world problems in our community and allowed students to develop solutions?"
- We had Math and ELA classes only on M, W, and Thursday and had science/SS on Tuesday and allowed students to work on problems on Fridays or go see their teachers if they needed help?"
- We posted assignments by semester and allowed students to work through the content at their own pace while I pulled students and provided small group instruction based on their needs?"
- We gave students the standards they needed to cover for Literacy and allowed them to self select texts they would to demonstrate mastery?"
- We eliminated the factory model of seat time determining when you are promoted and allowed students to advance at their own pace and promoted them to next level of standards when they have demonstrated mastery?"
- We asked our students what they would change about their classes?"
- We allowed students who mastered standards early work on additional badging that we incorporated into an honors/recognition program they would receive at graduation?"
I could make an even longer list of "What ifs". I have asked them many times when challenging the status quo: What are we waiting for?
Personalized Learning can be achieved by looking at 5 areas: Voice, Choice, Path, Pace, and Place (Sheninger, 2021). When you look at these components separately, you can begin to explore ways you can personalize your classroom and engage and empower your students; however, you also quickly realize that the 5 areas blend together. Below, you will find my reflections on how I see these areas blending together and how they can be used to transform your classroom, building, or district.
Voice and Choice
To me, this is the most critical. Our kids are growing up in a digital age and just like us as adults, their options are limitless everywhere except most classrooms. We sit them down and we go through the same material and content with 20-30 students. I look back on my experience in school. I was fortunate enough to get to read a handful of books in literature that I loved: Where the Red Fern Grows, Tom Sawyer, etc...What about the kids who could care less about Old Dan and Little Anne and Billy Coleman running through the woods? It was probably as enjoyable for them as when I had to read Romeo and Juliet. Which leads me to the current trend of how bad our kids are and how disrespectful they are. News Flash folks...we don't need training on courses for "effective discipline in the classroom". We need courses like "Instructional strategies that will engage learners". I guarantee you that if you give voice and choice as a start, the disruptive off-task behavior will go away. I can look back and I probably had my nose in those books everyday and caused no problems. But on other days, I was a teacher's worst nightmare. It is not a discipline issue, it is a teaching issue. Listen, before you think I am pointing fingers. I did the same things. I did what I was taught in undergraduate school that was suppose make me an effective teacher. We can change though and reduce the stress on ourselves and take some of the work off of our shoulders as educators by empowering our kids to be a part of their learning process. A shift from be content focused to learner focused will change your world and you will forget about the need for an effective discipline class.
For Voice and Choice, consider the following actions:
1. Ask your students! Start small and maybe have 2-3 options for them to select.
2. Interest surveys: what do your kids like? More importantly, what are their passions. I saw a second grade teacher design a lesson and she had 5 groups: one with dinosaurs, a group with a singer, a group with a TV show, etc... and the lesson was a text features lesson. Yet, by changing the material used to deliver the lesson, she had 24 kids running around fully engaged in the learning.
3. Choice Boards: Create choice boards. A great resource for these are Eric Sheninger's Pinterest Page and Greg Jung. Follow Greg on Twitter @edtech_workshop. Again, start small but vary the activities you want students to complete to demonstrate mastery. Greg has a system of a choice board where you can only move down or to the right and the "finish line" is in the bottom right hand corner. Students then have a choice, but they all get to the same goal.
4. Project/Problem Based Learning: Posing an open ended question with no defined solution can be a game changer for your classroom. The question provides the voice and choice. You can then structure the standards into the tasks students must complete. Need some help with with, a great resource is Teresa Dempsey who has been involved in PBL for many years. Connect with her on twitter @TDEM_ProfLrng. PBL also happens to be my passion and I would be happy to connect in any way to support you.
Path, Place, and Pace
The path and pace that students are able to choose can ignite your students. Your learners that are ready to go can move at their pace while the learners who need more time can feel successful going at their pace. Think of our current system: everyone has to finish the race at the same time. Over time, think of the learners that always finish last. How long are you going to stick with something if you are always finishing last? These are the learners that we then want discipline workshops for. Our classrooms are set up as factories and the learners are suppose to all look the same when they come off the conveyer belt at the end. We have created this school structure that we want everyone to fit in instead of focusing on the learner and what they need. Look at the number of students identified with ADHD. We don't need our kids on medication, we need a learner focused classroom that is varied. Start with the classroom environment. What if you thought of the concept of campfires, caves, and watering holes. The campfire is where everyone meets. The cave is where you go to work independently, and the watering hole is where you come for support. Then build in some seating options and the layout of your classroom. Why do you think so many college students go to a coffee shop to work? Look at how coffee shops have changed. They now have varied seating options. Why can't we do this as well?
For pace and path, this is where we often throw our hands up because it gets real uncomfortable to think I could have learners in 20 different spots and how do I teach it all? Consider the following:
1. Starting small. At the beginning of a unit of study, give the learners all of the assignments and tasks that you are wanting to use for them to master the content. (Over time, this would grow to possibly a month, then a quarter, to a semester.)
2. Have mini-check ins. Create formative assessment tasks for your learners. Maybe you have something every other day that is formal. A great tool is Edulastic. Provide the learners with 3-5 questions to gauge how they are progressing in their learning. Take the data from this, which edulastic gives you in immediately. Since you are using choice boards, learners are working on materials already independently so you can then use the data to pull students back for direct instruction based on the formative assessments. This also provides opportunities for you to use targeted tier 3 interventions with learners at this time. So now, you have your interventions plus you have your data points for if the interventions are working or not.
3. Over time, students are going to begin to stretch out and be in different spots. Build the units as you go to stay where your learners need to be.
As you dive into personalized learning and moving from a teacher structured classroom to a learner focused classroom, this will be some of the hardest work you ever do; however, it will be the most rewarding. Instead of teaching content, you will teach learners. You have to be prepared to be uncomfortable but make a commitment to stick with it because it is what is best for our learners.
Realize that you don't have to have all the answers and you will face challenges. In the end though, you will take back your classroom. You can get away from the status quo of worksheets and the same old thing everyday. It will be work in the beginning, but over time you will develop material that is adaptable and flexible and grow your resources. Think if you and a teammate shared a choice board and were responsible for creating 4 options for learners. Now you have 8. Build into these 8 choices various projects and presentations that are not done in an afternoon, but are highly engaging to the learners. This will bring back the voice and choice of personalized learning as well.
In closing, I know we can do this. There are success stories from school districts like Northern Cass outside of Fargo, ND where the focus is on the learners and not the content. I am listing some resources below for you as well as contacts. I simply challenge you to become a status quo disruptor and transform from a content focused teacher to a learner focused teacher who takes your kids along a varied pathway where your learners are empowered to be responsible for their learning while you become a learning facilitator and they know you got their back and will be there for them. We have decades and decades of data that our factory model schools are not working. This blows up that factory setting and will restore your passion for teaching. When people ask you what you teach, you will no longer answer, "math". You will proudly answer, "I teach kids".
I appreciate you taking the time to read through my blog. If you want to connect, you can find me on twitter @CMill_STEMguy. I am including some resources below that will help you but I would be more than happy to work with you to support your efforts. Hopefully, you feel inspired to challenge the status quo and join the legion of #statusquodisruptors.
Note: If I were to go deep with each of these areas, I would have to write a book...this blog is hopefully going to spark your interest and get you started. Future posts will break down the areas and go deeper. Also, a great place to start to go deeper is with Eric Sheninger's book, Disruptive Thinking in our Classroom.
References
Sheninger, E. (2021). Disruptive thinking in our classrooms: Preparing learners for their future.
ConnectEDD, Chicago, IL.
Ohio Department of Education. (2018). Final Report on Competency Based Education Pilot.
Pane, J. (2018). Strategies for Implementing Personalized Learning While Evidence and Resources Are
Underdeveloped. RAND Corporation (PE-314).
Resources:
Great follows on Twitter:
Eric Sheninger: @E_sheninger
Greg Jung: @edtech_workshop
Northern Cass @NCDS97
In Ohio, connect with one of the personalized learning specialist:
Teresa Dempsey, Ohio Department of Education @Tdemp_ProfLrng
Teresa Dempsey, Ohio Department of Education @Tdemp_ProfLrng
Amy Harker, ESC of Northeast Ohio @AmySHarker
Tracy Merica, Madison Champaign ESC @mericat
Chad Miller, Ohio Valley and Athen/Meigs ESC @CMill_STEMguy
