Taking Personalized Learning Personal

When I think about personalized learning I see two faces- my own girls. One daughter is a junior in college and the other is a senior in high school. They will both be graduates at the school I have been an educator at for the last 13 years. All through their k-12 educational experience they struggled with math. On and off (more on than off) I hired tutors to help them to feel more confident in the math classes they took. With tutors in their life studying for exams became less tearful. I couldn’t help but ask myself “how is the current system of math instruction not working for my girls and other students like them?” “Why do my girls not understand concepts in class?” When I think of personalized learning, I see my girls and what it could have done for them to make them feel like more confident learners.

As an instructional technologist for my school system I am constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance learning and help teachers become more effective. An opportunity was placed before me that has caused me to become a champion for personalized learning like never before. Three schools across the United States were coming together to look for ways to lower the cost of education through a blended learning math prototype. I was asked to be a part of this pilot as technology support. Our school, in Chattanooga, Tennessee would be a trailblazer.

It started simply with a below average 5th grade math class. The teacher felt overwhelmed by their lack of progress. We turned it into a blended learning station rotation class with the use of technology to fill gaps. The increase in test scores were phenomenal but what stuck with me was the confidence building I saw. I wanted to baby step into blended learning- this is what transpired: https://youtu.be/q_bk38syWfE

In 2015 those three schools came together to prototype blended learning math using the model of a lead teacher and paraprofessionals in the classroom. Each school looked at it a bit differently due to individuality of the schools. For Chattanooga Christian School, our teachers started off in a blended learning station rotation model with modality stations such as teacher instructed, hands on, technology instruction, gaming, inquiry based.

Our teachers created icons to help students navigate the day for movement in the classroom. They also used a LMS for instructions. It didn’t take long for the educators in the classroom to see they had students that could move forward and some that needed additional time. They decided to allow for personalized learning to take place with some constraints as far as pacing. Those moving ahead were often given opportunities to go deeper and those lagging behind were given calendar dates to get things done by.  It wasn’t an easy year. At the end of the year the lead teacher looked at me and said, “I’ve been teaching for 17 years and I never saw the cracks that my students were falling through. Please don’t make me go back to teaching traditionally again.” It still gives me goosebumps. Especially considering I thought she might quit on me at any moment during the school year! Here are testimonials from 2 students: https://youtu.be/XQFBb6Nmmug

In the 2016-2017 school year we are in year two of the prototype with two school systems still involved and 40 students in the classrooms with one lead teacher and 2 para-professionals. The educators in the room have found a rhythm and other math teachers are questioning positively “what’s happening in that room and how can I be a part of it?” I believe in personalized learning and think that maybe some students might become confident math learners because of the trailblazing these amazing teachers are doing at our school. I believe the culture of being grade driven students is changing to competency driven in this pilot. I believe these students have been given a glimpse at being in charge of their path of learning and seeing it for the process it is. I'm interested to see where the future takes us.

Bringing Tidbits Home From #ISTE2015

As I look through all the things I learned about at ISTE 2015, here is my top list of "MUST USE ASAP" options. Some of these are "where have you been all my life" type things, others are "Wow, that answers issues I've had for a while," still others are "now that is filling a need I see on a regular basis!"

www.photosforclass.com

HERE IT IS! A filtered safe place for teachers and students to go search for photos for presentations and the citing information appears at the bottom of the photo at download! No more

excuses-seems safe, effective, and the database seems sufficient. We spend time teaching our students how to cite work proficiently, this helps!  

Math Shake iOs App

Math Shake - Problem Solving Through Word Problems- aimed at 9-11 year olds, but great for any student that struggles with learning how to discern the needed versus extraneous facts in a problem in order to solve. There are six levels to meet 6-14 year olds needs!

1 Second Every Day iOs phone app

This app appeals to me as a teacher that wants to record the awesomeness of my school year and to share with my parents. You take one photo/video a day of your choice and at the end of the year you have a chronicle of your school year to share with others. What parent wouldn't enjoy seeing their child's "second grade journey"? I am definitely going to use this to chronicle my tech coaching opportunities throughout the school year. It will allow me a unique way to show the positive technology integration being done at my school for the stakeholders to see.

TOUCHCAST

Touchcast is a video studio and editor. A Touchcast video is web browsable and alive. It has green screen and teleprompter capabilities. I plan on using it this year to create some instructional "how to" and "look at this!" videos regarding educational technology.

RWT TimeLine App

RWT TimeLine app is a timeline app that "allows you to create a graphical representation of events or processes sequentially along a time line." What I like about this app is that it has a "drag and drop" function if something is added out of order and you can add images as well. I've been in search for a great timeline app for a while- I think this one may be the answer. Free in iTunes store.

www.educanon.com

www.eduCanon.com allows teachers to flip classrooms or share video instruction interactively! At any point, a video can be stopped and assessed for understanding. "Use video to differentiate and engage, promote self-paced learning with pause & rewind."

www.newsela.com

Common core means building reading comprehension with non-fiction reads. Newsela meets that way for your classroom and allows the easiest way to differentiate I have ever seen. Pick the students reading level for a daily news article and go! Current events just got intentional.

The Beauty of Collaboration

After 3 FULL days of mapping, planning, and strategizing with 3 different groups of educators (administration, technology, and math teachers) from 3 different schools within 3 different areas of the United States, I can tell you that the Three-cubed prototype project was amazing. Every single day of my life I connect with my twitter PLN to become a better educator and I truly find great value in that. I also found great value in meeting with like-minded individuals to work towards a solution for the common good of Christian education.

As we walked into this meeting, the majority of us had met one other time, over a couple of days for a few hours, so to say there wasn't a huge "connection" between the different schools would be a fair assumption. After a day and a half of some really good "give and take" safe discussions we broke up into groups to create a "lesson plan" using some math standards. My group consisted of a principal from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, myself as an instructional technologist from Chattanooga, Tennessee and a math teacher from Chattanooga as well.

We went right into prep mode looking at our standards we had been assigned. Immediately the math teacher had ideas on what she would want to do. The administration looked at it from what are the different modalities we could use in order to reach the most learning styles and he started aligning the standards being reached based on the choices we started brainstorming. I, of course, started looking at what technology could enhance the learning objectives that could also be standard aligned. In a matter or 30 minutes of thinking and rethinking, asking each other questions and seeing the math teacher as the true authority of the group, we had a blended learning lesson that felt right with a prior night flipped video for a hook.

It felt good to talk it out amongst ourselves. To share ideas when we each got stuck on a certain point. To reiterate the value of certain objectives when it got lost in the discussion. To search for helpful alternatives for each modality. To share our concerns over things that had the potential to cause a bottleneck. To share our excitement on things that certainly would cause certain students to have a better chance at learning well. It was the beauty of collaboration. A collaborative opportunity that worked so well it felt like perfection. Maybe it was because we had spent so much time together pushing ourselves to think outside the box and to be open to new ideas. Maybe it was because we had been forced to think creatively for a while. Maybe it was because we were all invested in the concept and were ready to "see" it in action. Regardless of the why's, it was a lovely moment.

You know those kind of moments, I have had several as an educator: Like the time the third grader that had never spoken out loud in class that I had taught since kindergarten raised her hand and answered a question, or the time that a co-teacher told me "I don't fear technology, your encouragement has made me brave to try new things and with your help, I see the value of this tool in my classroom.", or when I walk into the classroom as a tech coach and a student looks up and sees me and starts clapping because he's so excited to get to use technology, or my all time favorite is when a parent comes to me concerned about technology use in the elementary school and leaves saying "you've opened my eyes, my student is fortunate to have you as an instructor." We have those moments that make us go "YES!" The last three days were like that for me. I love innovation, I love collaboration. I believe that iron sharpens iron. These days included all those things. If I could do that type of thing every single day and throw in some student interaction as well, I would be walking on clouds professionally speaking.

As a rule, the teaching profession has been silo-centered...teachers have plugged away in their classroom with 20-30 students with little accountability, being the sole authority, with no resources beyond the 20-30 minutes they MIGHT get for lunch and a brief planning period on some days that they choose to seek out if they want to. Administration tries to develop meaningful professional development as best they can within that as well. But times are changing- educators are seeing more support staff in their classrooms and they are being evaluated as they teach more often. I saw a quote today that made me smile-- it says "If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve." - Dylan Wiliam (University of London). I am a believer in this. I continue to seek out ways to collaborate for the greater good of the students that I teach. I have a strong desire to be a lifelong learner and never grow stagnant and "happy" with my teaching ability. I love thinking beyond "how does this affect my students" and looking at a broader picture. These last 3 days have just solidified that within me more and more. Thankful hearted today.

Guest Blogger: CCS Curriculum Coach-Allison Barham "Can Technology HelpStudents Gain Confidence in Math?"

This year we organized our fifth grade math classes by ability.  We felt that this would make a great difference for the struggling students.  However, this setting created frustration for students and the teacher.  Since the entire class struggled in math, students weren’t able to work independently with success because they didn’t understand what they were working on.  Also, the teacher felt that teaching a whole group lesson was not effective because there were so many students who couldn’t understand the material.  The teacher and I began thinking about how we could structure the classroom to create a successful environment. The teacher decided that all math instruction needed to be done in small groups.  The main concern with teaching in small groups was what were students going to do while the teacher was occupied.  We, along with the technology coach, researched flipped classrooms.  The station rotation flipped classroom model was selected to pilot because it was a better fit for an elementary classroom setting and would allow us to accomplish our goals.

Khan Academy was selected as one of the rotations because of its ability to help students with skills needing remediation and currently being taught, the technology feature that grabs student attention, and the videos available for students to watch repetitively to help them gain understanding.  Even though Khan was proving itself to be effective, there was a resource needed for another rotation.  We researched again to find resources that focused on math facts in a gaming platform because this is a main deficit in students that struggle in math.  We chose Aleks because it allows students to work on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  Once students mastered a certain number of facts, they were able to play a game which caused them to work harder on becoming accurate in their facts.

Both of these rotations have been implemented for about ten weeks.  Parapros were hired to assist students at these rotations to keep them on track and support them when they are having difficulty. Data has been gathered weekly to make recommendations on the skills students need and to check on the progress of student mastery and effectiveness of this model.  Students are continuing to grasp concepts in skills being taught currently.  The teacher has seen enormous success in teaching students in small groups.  

One piece of data that illustrates success in this model, is from Aleks.  Students have been practicing their math facts daily using the Aleks app on the ipad.  Students have gained an average of 10% in their multiplication  and 30% in division facts from the start of this model ten weeks ago!  

With this tremendous gain, student confidence has soared.  Students feel more confident in their ability to solve math problems.  They are asking more questions when they don’t understand.  This increase in confidence is attributed to the technology resource used in this station rotation model.  We are thinking about making these resources available to other grade levels next year to increase math understanding but more importantly build confidence in math.

I believe that if a student has confidence in something, they will more than likely succeed because they believe they can do it.  If schools would focus on building confidence first instead of stressing the importance of mastering all the math standards, students would perform better which leads to mastery in math skills and concepts.  A lot of money and effort isn’t needed to build a student’s confidence.  These simple apps enhanced a classroom setting and boosted student’s attitude towards math that can last a lifetime!

Allison Barham is the curriculum coach at Chattanooga Christian Lower School.  She is a child of God, wife, mom, and lover of education.  She taught in Hamilton County for 12 years.  A graduate of Emory & Henry College, she pursues effective education for students.