reminder to teams that if you are truly going to do something for question 4 students, it must be considered at the start of the ongoing cyclical process of a collaborative team.
Next Steps
As you continue reading this book, consider how you and your collaborative team will make a shift toward moving within your load-bearing walls, being this mentor in the middle, while reframing how you think about the curriculum and the teacher’s role, as well as how you discuss and develop ways to respond to question 4 students as a collaborative team. Before you move on to the next chapter, use the reproducible “Individual Reflection: Teaching Approaches” (page 26) to reflect on your individual approach to the teacher’s role. Then, as a collaborative team, use the reproducible “Collaborative Team Discussion: Reframing” (page 27) to reflect on your team’s current reality and support collaborative conversations and learning in your collaborative team.
Individual Reflection: Teaching Approaches
Rank the following three phrases from first to third in terms of how comfortable you are when instructing your learners.
——— Guide on the side
——— Sage on the stage
——— Mentor in the middle
Did your ranking surprise you? Why or why not?
When They Already Know It © 2018 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/PLCbooks to download this free reproducible.
Collaborative Team Discussion: Reframing
As a team, use your individual work to develop a master list of load-bearing and non-load-bearing walls for your collaborative team.
| Load-Bearing Walls in Our District or School | Non-Load-Bearing Walls in Our District or School | |
| Collaborative Team Reflection |
Collectively, when looking at the following three phrases, how did your individual rankings compare to your team’s? How did your rankings reflect your teacher education programs, schools you have worked in, and personal backgrounds?
Guide on the side:
Sage on the stage:
Mentor in the middle:
When They Already Know It © 2018 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/PLCbooks to download this free reproducible.
CHAPTER 2
Personalized Learning
Educators are beginning to use the term personalized learning more and more frequently. In fact, our colleagues note it is not uncommon to see a reference to personalized learning in district strategic plans, journal articles, and books. As we have worked with and for school districts that have implemented approaches that deliberately put students at the center of learning and intentionally plan for how they will respond to proficient students, we have seen engagement and achievement flourish. Teachers and administrators who have embraced concepts such as personalized learning, Genius Hour, and schoolwide enrichment have an advantage in addressing PLC critical question 4 because they have had practice in using these methods that are beneficial to question 4 students’ extension. Therefore, we believe the five elements of personalized learning serve as a wonderful foundation for framing how your collaborative team addresses question 4. In this chapter, we will clarify the concept of personalized learning by defining the term, address misconceptions, outline the five elements we identify as comprising this approach to teaching and learning, and discuss the research and realities that support using this approach in your classrooms and schools.
Definition of Personalized Learning
Personalized learning can mean many different things to many different people. Is it a free-for-all where students come in and do whatever they want? Is it using a series of packets that students complete one after another? Is it a personal learning plan? Is it offering classes online with 24-7 access? A grandparent at a community forum we attended may have summed up the confusion best when she asked, “If my grandson wants to learn about clowns all day, can he just do that and forget about math?” To her, personalized learning sounded loose and unstructured, with little direction, and not tied to the standards and indicators of the content being taught. We can assure you that this is not the type of personalized learning we espouse.
Take a moment before you read any further in this chapter to reflect on what your definition is for personalized learning (and, please, leave out any references to clowns). When you reconvene with your collaborative team, share your definitions. In what ways are your definitions similar or different?
Without reading any further in this chapter, how do you define personalized learning?
If you struggle with a definition, you are in good company. In fact, EdSurge columnist Alex Hernandez (2016) writes that personalized learning is so difficult to pin down, perhaps we should stop trying to develop a definition. We, however, would argue that developing a common vocabulary and set of elements has truly been the key to our growth in this area.
Also, if yours is like other teams, your conversations may reflect a difficulty in determining the difference between traditional differentiation, individualized learning, and personalized learning. Personalize Learning, LLC, founders Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey (2015) offer a wonderful chart and exercise in their book Make Learning Personal: The What, Who, WOW, Where, and Why (see table 2.1). They (Bray & McClaskey, 2015) break down the differences between differentiation, individualized learning, and personalized learning into ten categories.
Individualized instruction is what takes place when the teacher provides accommodations and customization to the individual learner. Even when individualization takes place with technology in an anytime, anyplace format, it is still the teacher who assigns the tasks (Kallick & Zmuda, 2017). Differentiated instruction is what takes place when the teacher provides accommodations and customization to groups of learners. Again, the teacher still assigns the tasks. Personalized learning is what happens when the teacher provides groups and individuals with accommodations and customization but the learners help drive their own learning.
Table 2.1: Differentiation Versus Individualization Versus Personalization Chart
| Differentiation | Individualization |
|
