When I talk to other teachers about personalized learning, I always share how difficult it was for me at the beginning (and sometimes it still is). There are always challenges with anything, especially when it’s new, and personalized learning is no different. This philosophy allows for a lot of student freedom, self-regulation, and choice, which… Continue reading Letting Go of Control in Your Classroom
Tag: personalized learning
Risky Business
My experience in education hasn’t been long, being that I’ll enter my 6th year in August, but it has been full of change and growth. The evolution I’ve gone through has been extensive, including philosophical changes, shifts in my mindset, and entirely new instructional practices. When I reflect on my growth, it’s exciting to see… Continue reading Risky Business
Feedback FROM Students
“It is not enough to simply listen to student voice. Educators have an ethical imperative to do something with students, and that is why meaningful student involvement is vital to school improvement.” ― Adam Fletcher, Meaningful Student Involvement Guide to Students as Partners Feedback in the classroom is an important aspect of educational practice. It is… Continue reading Feedback FROM Students
Meaningful Vocabulary Instruction
The past few weeks I’ve been doing some reflection on vocabulary instruction. Our language arts curriculum is up for review this year, and it’s led us to have some fantastic conversations about best practice, resources, and instructional methods. I love these nerdy conversations because they’re right up my alley, and they give me an excuse… Continue reading Meaningful Vocabulary Instruction
The Passion Project
This school year, much of my focus has been on student empowerment. My district has undergone some massive shifts, all centralized around the concept of personalized learning. It has been a powerful overhaul, and one that has involved a lot of time and effort from devoted teachers. A majority of us have taken huge steps… Continue reading The Passion Project
On Compliance [Part 1: Wait for Directions]
I’ve heard many conversations lately surrounding the new generation of students that are just now entering college or the workforce. They are venturing out on their own for the first time and attempting to find their way. It’s exciting for them to enter into this newfound independence, and many of them are bright-eyed and enthusiastic… Continue reading On Compliance [Part 1: Wait for Directions]
Who are you as a writer?
I’ve been considering this question for some time, even more after hearing Pernille Ripp’s “Creating Passionate Writers” talk at nErDcampMI. It’s such a complex question with many facets, and one that took a lot of inner reflection and consideration to answer. Mainly because, until I really sat down and started allowing myself to write freely,… Continue reading Who are you as a writer?
Why I Encourage Cell Phones in the Classroom
You’re in your classroom teaching your heart out, really delivering the lesson on intensive vs. reflexive pronouns when all of a sudden, a phone starts going off. You stop talking, every kid is looking around, and you find the one student scrambling around trying to make the noise stop as quickly as possible. Their face… Continue reading Why I Encourage Cell Phones in the Classroom
What REALLY happens when you give students choice & voice in the classroom
Recently, my district has been making a shift toward a more personalized learning structure for our students. As part of this, we have implemented a variety of pieces of the personalized learning honeycomb. As professionals, we are each implementing new aspects into our classrooms, moving at our own paces. To be quite honest, I’ve been… Continue reading What REALLY happens when you give students choice & voice in the classroom