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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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So What'cha Want?

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On Tuesday of this week, I was lucky enough to attend The Elmbrook Educational Foundation Circle of Friends Luncheon . The EEF does great work for our district awarding scholarships to high school graduates as well as innovation grants for learning within our district. At this event, several innovative educational practices were highlighted. One that tapped into something I've been considering was the incorporation of a Genius Hour at one our our elementary school. The poster below explains it better than I ever could have. It was exciting to see the work that these elementary students were able to accomplish from choosing a topic all the way to presenting their learning. The students were able to communicate eloquently about the process of learning. The idea that it is not always linear and that it can lead to bigger questions and new understandings. Sometimes I feel like when I teach a topic, the students are learning it because they have to and may not...
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Turning "What If's" into "Right Now's"

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My PLC at Brookfield Central has chosen to take on James Rickabaugh’s new book Tapping the Power of Personalized Learning: A Roadmap for School Leaders as a book study project.   Our first meeting was centered around the “why” of our participation in the book study and the basic definition of Personalized learning put forth by the book.  We had our second meeting today and we focused on Chapter 1. The focus of chapter 1 is the assumptions that lead to legacy practices and the facts that challenge those assumptions and therefore challenge legacy practices. In addition, the chapter focuses on the different levers we can use to produce change in our learning environments.  Those levers are Structures Samples Standards Strategies Self In our discussion, we focused on our reactions to these assumptions and how they have informed practice.  We also discussed ideas for taking steps towards moving our practice to one which attempts to mov...
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Facing Challenges not Avoiding Them

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The concept of a growth mindset has received great traction in the educational community.  If you are not familiar with the work of Carol Dweck, please watch either of the videos below to get some more information. TedTalk (~10 min.) EdWeek Keynote with Q & A (~ 60 min.) A key takeaway for me here is how we address student "weaknesses".  In an environment where choice is allowed in terms of accessing, engaging, and expressing, it can be easy to fall into a pattern where we allow students to only operate in modes that they are strong in.  If students aren’t encouraged to work in multiple modes, this can reinforce the idea of the fixed mindset. This is something I have seen in my classroom.  Students will continue to choose one form of assessment because it presents the least amount of challenge to demonstrate what they know and are able to do.  I am hoping to change this for term 4 in my classroom. I am not going to be removing ...
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Learning Is More Than a Number

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Exam time seems to be all about quantitative data.  Teachers are determining how many points students have, percentages are being translated into letter grades, quarter grades and final exams are being weighted and combined to determine that all important final percentage which will determine that final letter grade.  That letter will give us some idea of how well the learner mastered the course outcomes.  In addition, students are using online grade calculators to determine the minimum level they need to perform at in order  to earn the grade they desire.  Yes, final exam time is about arguing for the grade you deserve, but I feel that there is room for more. I always feel that final exam time should be just as much about reflection on learning as it is about expression of learning. It is in that spirit that I am hoping to shift the focus of what goes in student portfolios in my courses. I currently ask students to do some reflection, but it seems mi...
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Spring Reading

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Book reports, do teachers still use them?  When I remember doing book reports in school, they were focused mostly on a simple plot summary.  I imagine teachers who do them today have students be more reflective in their reporting. I read three different books over this spring break.  Two were fiction All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders and The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.  The other book I read was T apping the Power of Personalized Learning by Dr. James Rickabaugh . For this report out I’m focusing on Dr. Rickabaugh’s book. The subtitle of the book is A Roadmap for School Leaders.  A teacher looking at that subtitle may not see herself as a school leader, but this is not a narrow definition of the word “leader” educators may have become accustomed to.   In this case, leaders are those looking to institute change.  Educators are leaders.  Everyday we guide students through activities/lessons we played some role in des...
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Portfoli-o-No's

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It’s nearing the end of term 3 here and I have a little time for reflection.  As a part of their final exam, students are working on their digital portfolio for my class. As I reevaluate everything that I am doing,  I am struggling with the “why” and “so what of ” of the portfolios.  So it’s time to revisit the why of the portfolio in my class and let that inform what the function of it in my course. Currently in my class, the portfolio has become a vehicle for students to catalog and present summative assessments.  Each page is categorized by objective. On a given page, students state the unit objectives and embed their summative assessment.  In addition, they provide reflective feedback on the unit in terms of what helped their learning and didn't help their learning.   The portfolio has become a place for these student artifacts to be curated and organized based on learning objective. The fact that it’s organized by learning objective p...
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Navigating the AP Crush

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We are a few days away from spring break.  When we come back from break, I will have 4 weeks with my AP Physics students before they take AP Exams in Physics 1 and 2.  After the exam, we will have roughly 5 weeks together before the end of the school year.  Now, I will have no problems covering the content before the AP Exam in either class.  I will definitely be able to teach them all the content.  The issue I have is that there will not be enough time for them to actively learn the content before the exam date. If all of my students were taking the AP Exam, it would be easier to focus the students on a common goal of this exam.  But, only about 50% of my students are taking the exam.  It would be my dream to be able to create multiple paths in the AP classroom, but I’m not there yet. So really the frustration is coming down to two areas.  The first is the amount of content students need to master in a short amount of time to be read...
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