What is the role of personalized learning and competency-based learning in education today? Given your students’ grade level and the subject matter you teach, consider how and whether you can incorporate competency-based learning and/or personalized learning into your practice.
There has been a huge shift in favor of charter schools in the Vallejo City Unified school district lately. With boasts of increased computer skills, foreign language acquisition, and a higher level of rigor than public schools it's hard to make a convincing case to send your student to a public school. With a shift towards personalized learning there may be hope for public schools yet. I can work towards: lessons personalized to individuals, creating collaborative groups working on similar learning goals, and giving the power of learning back to the students. Currently VCUSD has two online programs that I use in my classroom that have lessons "personalized" to individuals. We use Imagine Math and Imagine Learning (for ELA). The way they work is that a student is introduced to a topic either be a video or pre-quiz depending on the program. The student completes work within the lesson then is able to move on by passing a post-quiz. If the student does not pass then remediation is assigned. I monitor use and if I see a student hasn't passed a lesson within 2 tries then I pull for small group. The article from Knowledge Works gave mention to putting students into collaborative groups. I think something like this could really work for my students. I could introduce a writing topic whole group then pull smalls groups as students are working on an assignment individually. Some students will need less support than others. Those students will likely only need the whole group introduction while other students may need support writing the intro, body, or conclusion. It just requires more planning than just one whole group lesson. The EdWeek article pushes to put the power back into the hands of the student in terms of deciding how long they spend on a topic, maybe that they are already familiar with. I know that I have many higher level students complain that they're bored with content that they already know. The Personalized Learning video mentioned that there may be some difficulties associated with students deciding for themselves such as: time management (something most people struggle with), students choosing the easier task, and not knowing what works best for each type of student. I'd like to give my students a choice on their next ELA performance task. They may either write an essay or create a power point supporting their opinion.
15 Comments
Jona Sandau
1/22/2019 09:22:30 pm
Catie, it's great to hear about the great things you are doing in your classroom! I think you made a great point on how personalized learning can be a way to make public schools more attractive. Innovation!
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Catalina J Goldstein
1/23/2019 09:24:01 am
Hey Jona! We just started using imagine math and I LOVE it. It really helps differentiate instructions and meets students at their level. Same with imagine learning. I just wish there was more content because a lot of my higher students have finished the program.
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Rafael Garcia Avila
1/25/2019 06:32:24 pm
Hi Catie,
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Catalina Goldstein
1/26/2019 12:14:43 pm
Hey Rafa! Imagine Math is a program that starts with a prequiz, lesson, post quiz, and finally a game. It meets students at their individual level. Plus they LOVE the games at the end.
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Jennifer Perkins
1/26/2019 03:43:42 pm
Hi Catie! I like your idea of putting your students into collaborative groups to focus on writing skills. I also like your idea of student choice with the options of writing an essay, or creating a power point to support their opinion. These are great examples of personalized learning because you are offering student choice, collaboration opportunities, and teacher support in a small group setting.
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Brandon DeJesus
1/26/2019 09:27:05 pm
I like the description of the Math and ELA programs that you are using in your classroom. It mirrors in many ways the way that I teach math at the secondary level. Introduce a topic, lead students through some demonstration of procedure and then diversify problem sets based on student need. I like your ideas for creating small groups for a writing activity. I feel like elementary teachers are far superior when it comes to designing effective small group activities. The only examples of small group work that stand out in my mind were all witnessed when I was in my credential program, observing K-6. I really think that small group and individualized learning can be effective at the K-6 age because primary classrooms are automatically cross curricular, leaving so many avenues for extension activities into other content.
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Catalina Goldstein
1/30/2019 06:52:10 pm
I love doing small group because it's a great way for a more personal check-in. I just wish it wasn't so dang hard to make happen.
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Scott Marsden
1/27/2019 08:40:23 am
Catie,
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Catalina Goldstein
1/30/2019 06:55:49 pm
Hey Scott! Sounds like you have an insider look at my 3rd grade world right now. I really like the Imagine programs. They're best for my struggling students to help them work at their level. I really like it for my fast students. They get to learn new things on their own and we have conversations to make new concepts more clear. We also love love love kahoot in my room this year. 100% engagement every time.
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Tess Giner
1/27/2019 07:42:45 pm
Hi, Catie!
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Catalina Goldstein
1/30/2019 06:57:03 pm
I like imagine learning because I can use it to diagnose what I need to go into deeper with students. I don't get to pull for small group as often as I like but it really helps guide instruction.
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1/28/2019 01:22:30 pm
Hi Catie - I'm really interested in other apps that might be available for language learning and was intrigued by your mention of Imagine. It sounds like you are doing great things in your classroom. Have you noticed a difference in your students since you have been using it? I would love to find an app/program that would monitor what students can write about topics in a foreign language to see if they have grasped the grammar/sentence syntax, and then help them review if they need to, or move on if they're ready. I wonder if Imagine might have a program for foreign language learners? Thanks!
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Catalina Goldstein
1/30/2019 06:58:45 pm
Hey Natasha! I know there is a Spanish version of imagine learning, but it's made for k-6. I'm sure it'd be useful for your students too. The license might be expensive but definitely worth looking into!
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JP
1/28/2019 10:34:09 pm
As I read your post as well as others, my lack of years of experience hinders me from seeing how personalized learning fits into the industry I am preparing my students for. Since ultimately unless they become an art director some day, they will be bringing to life some one else's vision. With that being said, I am inspired by how you are approaching math with personalized learning. It would definitely be interesting to see how they demonstrate their learning math principles in a slide show or even essay!
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Monica
1/29/2019 08:57:28 pm
Hey Catie,
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