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Let Flexibility Lead To Alignment

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  In my previous school district, I was the only teacher teaching a physics course with set, district-wide learning outcomes. These same outcomes were also taught in physics classrooms at the other high school in our district. But at our school, I was one of the 2 physics teachers. The other teacher taught the AP-level physics courses. So, in many ways, I had opportunities to incorporate strategies I believed were best for learners and that I found worked best for them without being seen as out of alignment with anyone in our building. My amazing friend and one of my teaching philosophy goddesses, Katie Novak, stated the following misconception about alignment: All teachers must deliver instruction in the exact same way. True alignment, she says, is about shared goals, rigor, and outcomes. Thank you, Katie! Katie has taught me to truly believe that learner variability is the rule, not the exception. I encourage you to take 10 minutes to listen to Katie Novak explain it in the ...
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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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