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Thank You for 20 Years.

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After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content.  The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them.  I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
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Questions when Mapping a Personalized Path #IMMOOC

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Personalizing learning is something I’m very passionate about in my classroom. As I was driving using the new version of Apple Maps, it led me to some essential questions when framing paths to outcome mastery to give learners more autonomy.
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There needs to be different ways to demonstrate the same skills.

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If the constraints put on learners isn’t a part of the skills or content being mastered, it doesn’t need to be essential to the process.

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Most due dates are created by the teacher. If mastery is the key, does it matter if it happened on Monday or Tuesday?

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There are so many great tools to assist all learners in letting them get to where they are going.  You are one of them.



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You need to know where you learners are at before you can determine their first step towards mastery. Pre Assessment is key.

Rapid cycle feedback from teachers is more powerful than any grade.



Reflection and self-assessment are even better than teacher feedback.

Not every learner needs the same feedback and level of remediation when they stumble.


Some learners may demonstrate mastery on a pre assessment, how can you push them even further?

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