It's Probably Worth It

I've never been one to lie, so I won't start now...the multi-age class, personalized learning... it's all been tricky at times, tons of work, and exhausting to say the least.  There are times when you want to throw in the towel and revert back to "old ways" because it would seem simpler, and easier for you to manage.  You get tired of always needing to defend what you're doing in your classroom to friends, family members, substitute teachers, and even strangers.  Strangers who have absolutely no experience in education, but for some reason think it necessary to give you advice, but you forget that you have the expertise and suddenly start to question it yourself.  Are they right?  Should I try something else?  Is this really working?  If this happens to you, please, SLAM ON THE BRAKES!  Take a minute or two, run some data, do some self-reflection, and you will see amazing things.  This very thing happened to me very recently.  I love what I do...I love the people I get to do it with....but I felt unsure.  So I stopped, did some self-reflection, and ran some data.  O.M.G!  This data blew my mind!  Are you ready for it?  For the sake of keeping things super simple, I'm going to focus on Kindergarten.  The only real reason is because then I am comparing apples to apples since that's what I have taught the past few years.  First grade data will come later on :)  This is preliminary data, so I will be sure to share the final results as we get closer to the end of the trimester, but here's some positivity for you to draw on: 

By the end of the Kindergarten year, we aim to have all Kinders reading at least 20 sight words from the first 100 Fry Words.

2 years ago, I taught traditionally.  By the end of trimester 2 (beginning on March), 28% of my K class was reading 20 or more sight words.

Last year, I implemented Personalized Learning and by the end of trimester 2 (beginning of March), 47% of my learners were reading 20 or more sight words!  **Holy cow!  This alone is AMAZING!!

This year, I'm teaching in a co-taught, multi-age, personalized learning classroom.  As of RIGHT NOW....December 26.....62% of our Kinders are reading 20 or more sight words!  

So, that's amazing, right?  Like, holy buckets kind of amazing.  Jump up and down, screaming from the roof-tops kind of amazing!  It's small data, but it's more than enough to re-energize my co-teacher and I.  It hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it!  The learners are making huge gains, they are confident, independent, loving school, and stepping up.  What more could we hope for going into the new year?  Bring it on 2016!  Team R.I.S.E is ready! 

A Parent's View of Personalized Learning

I asked a parent of one of our first graders to share his perspective of PL.  His son was one of our students last year when we started PL and is now in the K/1 multi-age class.  Here is his father's side of the story :)

Just a little over a year ago, my wife and I met Carrie Mergen who seemed VERY enthusiastic; a good fit for a kindergarten teacher. She explained to us that they were going to try something "NEW" in kindergarten called PERSONALIZED LEARNING. She informed us that this is a whole "NEW" way of learning and that she had to forget the conventional way of teaching and fully embrace this process. She explained that Personalized Learning was a process of getting children involved in their own education, by teaching them to set "GOALS" and make a "PLP" (personal learning plan) to achieve these goals.  Once a child "MASTERS" a skill, they can then assist fellow students who may need additional help with these goals. Oh, did I mention that the kids can do all this at THEIR pace, HOWEVER & WHEREVER they see fit! I don't know about you, but the thought of a bunch of 5yr olds having that much freedom was SCARY!  It left me with a visual of unruly circus monkeys having a food fight! She did give us some assurance,though.  She told us that she'd told the principal if it's not better, I'm going back to the old way. Then asked us to trust her, and told us this COULD be really awesome.

I had no choice but to trust her and see where this would go. I had some real concerns with the unknown, mostly personal, more than with the process as a whole. Our son Landon from a young age has shown that he advanced in most areas.  Would this new Personalized Learning, with what seemed to be less structure than traditional teaching, really keep his interest in learning?  I didn't want to LOSE Landon, meaning, I didn't want him to get lost in what I perceived as a less structured learning environment.  If he did have questions or problems would he be able to get any additional help? If he was going to be helping other students learn, would he still be learning himself? How in the world do you keep 5yr olds from creating complete chaos?

Well it didn't take very long to see the answers to my questions.  Landon seemed to be well engaged in his learning process, coming home from school daily and telling us about where he was on his PLP's and what GOALS he had accomplished. When your 5yr old comes home and tells you, "I'm the count by 10's master and I helped a classmate learn how to count by 10's!" it gives you, as a parent, a great sense of pride.  Something else I noticed was that Landon was always striving to learn something NEW, which always kept him wanting more.  This also meant that Carrie also had to be on top of things to keep challenging Landon.  There never seemed to be a time when either of them were at a stalemate. Seeing that Landon was staying engaged was proof to me that personalized learning was a better process than the old "one shoe fits all" format of traditional teaching. Personalized learning also helps hold students accountable for their own actions, because the format gives them so much freedom to learn at their own pace.  There are rules in the classroom that must be followed and if the rules aren't followed there are consequences...as Landon has even found out for himself.  By allowing students to learn at their own pace, and making them accountable for their actions, it actually creates a less disruptive environment!  So much for my concerns about "less structure."  This also allows the teachers to have more 1on1 time with students, whether it's because someone needs more help, or because someone needs to be challenged.

We have even seen the process of personalized learning in Landon outside of school.  It has taught him that he needs to come up with a plan (PLP) to achieve his GOALS. Here's an example that took me a couple days to realize myself:  I come home from work and Landon was on the computer.  He was on the LEGO website and said to me, "Dad, I would really like to get this LEGO set.  I have $35, so I need another $15 to be able to get it.  What can I do to get the other $15 so that I can get this LEGO set?"  At first, I just chalked it up to Landon telling me that I needed to chip in $15 so that he could get the LEGOS.  It was only after hearing Carrie explain personalized learning to another parent, who's not familiar with the platform, did I realize that Landon wasn't asking me to just chip in the rest of the money, he was asking me to help set his plan (PLP) to obtain his GOAL!

Being from the "one size fits all" school, of course I had my concerns and doubts.  After experiencing personalized learning with Landon all through last year and into this year, I can truly say that this is an AWESOME experience. My advice to all those who have the chance to experience personalized learning is....SIT BACK AND WATCH THE SHOW BECAUSE IT IS TRULY AWESOME!!

PS...Trust me even you are going to learn something too!!

Why are we doing this??

In the words of Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin, "I had an epiphery."  For all those that aren't avid Office fans, I'll explain that I had a bit of an epiphany this past week.  I mean, I didn't see it until I really stepped back and thought about it, and I guess it wasn't so much of an eye opening experience for me as it was for my husband.  You see, I have this amazing husband who can fix anything, knows way too much about all topics found on the Discovery Channel, and who never sits.  While I love him more than life, he just doesn't get what I do, why I do it, or why I talk about it so much.  But we had a GREAT conversation the other night.  

I came home from school BUSTING with excitement over what I had just realized, so of course I had to share my thoughts with him!  It all started early this past week when a co-worker had this great idea to read the story "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll.  I was video-taped reading the story, being sure to not show the pictures from the book, and uploaded it to YouTube where we pushed out the link to our kiddos and had them listen to the story on their own.  At the end of the video, I gave one direction.  Only one.  It was to go draw a picture of what they thought Gabe, the monster in the story, looked like.  That was it.  Hannah and I both raved about how awesome we thought it was that all the kids were on task, they all enjoyed the story, and they all created these great pictures of what they thought the monster looked like based on the description from the book.  I know...right now you're thinking, "Great lesson, Carrie, but where is the cool part?"  

Well, I didn't realize it until 2 days later as I was driving in the car, reflecting on the week, and it dawned on me.  Something amazing happened during that activity!  The ONLY direction I gave was to draw a picture of Gabe.  We had kiddos drawing with paper and pencils, some chose crayons, some pulled up Doodle Buddy on their iPads and made Gabe there, some used Educreations, and some even used a dry erase board to create their image of Gabe!  WHAT?!  I never told them to use any of those things.  To me, that was a great moment.  Our students are thinking for themselves and using all the materials and devices at their disposal to accomplish their tasks!  So, going back to my conversation that night with my hubs...

I asked him how he would have drawn Gabe and he says, "With paper and colored pencils.  Why?"  I then tell him how excited I am that the kids all chose different things and he goes, "So?"  And I told him to fast-forward to 25 years from now and those same kiddos are working for someone who says, "We have a problem.  How are we going to solve it?"  And those adults (who were a part of this amazing thing called Personalized Learning) are going to think outside the box to solve the problem.  They aren't going to have to rely on one way to do things because it will be second nature to them to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers.  BAM!  And he looks at me, after all this time, and says, "OHHHH, that's why you're doing this!"  Yup.  That's why I'm doing this.  Finally, he gets it.  So, if someone is asking you why you're doing this, here ya go.  Use my example.  It may seem small, but make no mistake!  These kids are gonna change the world!

CLIMATE AND CULTURE

I have recently went back to school to pursue my school counseling degree.  One of my assignments was the write a paper about a therapy that we have been reading about in our textbook.  As I read, I couldn't help but notice the similarities in the Adlerian Therapy approach and the techniques we have used when developing our personalized learning environments and the climate and culture within them.  Developing a positive climate and culture has a strong foundation based on mutual respect.  The environment can not be compliance based.  The unfortunately sad part is, many teachers see compliance as the only way.  They use fear and intimidation as their classroom management strategy and feel the need to control the students within their classroom.  It's NOT working and it's definitely NOT what's best for kids.  The environment should make children feel comfortable and safe.  Children want to feel important and know that they have something valuable to offer.  I think we all have a lot to learn from Alfred Adler and his approach to therapy.  So here's my paper:

Teachers Take An Adlerian Approach

Tiffany Redieske

Concordia University

Abstract

Alfred Adler “believed that the individual begins to form an approach to life somewhere in the first 6 years living” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95).  He was an advocate for “training both teachers and parents in effective practices that foster the child’s social interests and result in a sense of competence and self-worth.  Adler had a keen interest in applying his ideas to education, especially in finding ways to remedy faulty lifestyles of schoolchildren” (Corey, 2013, pg. 112).  Like Adlerian counselors, effective teachers “seek to make a difference in the lives of their [students]” (Corey, 2013, pg. 111) and many of the Adlerian Therapy techniques and underpinnings have been incorporated into many schools and classrooms.

Teachers Take An Adlerian Approach

Alfred Adler abandoned Freudian theories and “focused on the person’s past as perceived in the present and how an individual’s interpretation of early events continued to influence that person’s present behavior” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95).  Adler believed that “humans are motivated primarily by social relatedness rather than by sexual urges;  behavior is purposeful and goal-directed; and consciousness, more than unconsciousness, is the focus of therapy” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95)  His theories and techniques align to many character building activities and programs that are being implemented in schools and classrooms.  “He stressed choice and responsibility, meaning in life, and the striving for success, completion, and perfection” (Corey, 2013, pg. 95)

Like “Adlerians [who] put the focus on re-educating individuals and reshaping society” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96), effective educators focus on re-educating the students and reshaping the “society”, that is the school and classroom environments.  While they do this, it is important that “the focus is on understanding [the child] within their socially embedded context of family, culture, [and] school...” (Corey, 2013, pg. 97).  Teachers have a lot to learn from Adler.  “Adler was the forerunner of a subjective approach to psychology that focuses on internal determinants of behavior such as values, beliefs, attitudes, goals, interests, and the individual perception of reality” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96).  Effective teachers have the ability to see life from their student’s perspective and realize that “[a student’s] objective reality is less important than how [a student] interpret[s] [their] reality and the meanings [they] attach to what [they] experience” (Corey, 2013, pg. 96).

Climate and Culture

“Very early in life, we begin to envision what we might be like if we were successful, complete, whole, or perfect.  Applied to human motivation, a guiding self-ideal might be expressed in this way: ‘Only when I am perfect can I be secure’ or ‘Only when I am important can I be accepted’” (Corey, 2013, pg. 97)  Educators play a vital role in developing a climate and culture in their school and classroom where students feel confident, safe, important, and accepted by everyone.  In this type of environment students “seek to change [their] weaknesses into a strength” (Corey, 2013, pg. 98).  There are many approaches that can be taken and a wide variety of strategies and programs that can be used.  Adlerian therapy techniques can be a great resource when trying to develop this type of climate and culture.

Community building activities and character education are important to developing a positive and productive climate and culture.  “First [students] think, then [they] feel, and then [they] act.  Because emotions and [thoughts] serve a purpose, a good deal of [character education and community building] time is spent in discovering and understanding this purpose and in reorienting the [students] toward effective ways of being” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104).  Also, doing these activities frequently at the beginning of the school year allows relationships to form and respect to be earned early on.  “Social interest requires that [students] have enough contact with the present to make a move toward a meaningful future, that [they] are willing to give and to take, and that [they] develop [their] capacity for contributing to the welfare of others and striving for the betterment of [their classmates]” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).  Along the way, there is a constant focus on expectations and how each person in the room will be treated and what behavior and vocabulary is acceptable.  “While Adler considered social interest to be innate, he also believed that it must be learned, developed, and used” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).  Taking this into consideration, these teachers “place special value on...modeling of communication and acting in good faith” Corey, 2013, pg. 104.  There is great emphasis placed on being respectful, responsible, and safe and what that looks like, sounds like, and feels like. The classroom and school is beginning to become a socially safe and empathetic environment.  “Adler equated social interest with a sense of identification and empathy with others:  ‘to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, to feel with the heart of another’” (Corey, 2013, pg. 99) 

Social interest is the central indicator of mental health.  Those with social interest tend to direct the striving toward the healthy and socially useful side of life...[Students] are primarily motivated by a desire to belong...Those who lack this community feeling become discouraged and end up on the useless side of life...Only when [they] feel united with others are [they] able to act with courage in facing and dealing with [their] problems (Corey, 2013, pg. 99).

In a classroom with an established and effective climate and culture, students begin to “act with courage” and trust their classmates enough to share their struggles, accept their failures, and to ask for help.  “Encouragement is the most powerful method available for changing a [student’s] beliefs, for it helps [them] build self-confidence and stimulates courage...Loss of courage, or discouragement, results in mistaken and dysfunctional behavior.  Discouraged people do not act in line with social interest” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101).   

Encouragement is the most distinctive Adlerian procedure, and it is central to all phases of counseling and therapy.  It is especially important as people consider change in their lives.  Encouragement literally means ‘to build courage’.  Courage develops when people become aware of their strengths, when they feel they belong and are not alone, and when they have a sense of hope and can see new possibilities for themselves and their daily living.  Encouragement entails showing faith in people, expecting them to assume responsibility for their lives, and valuing them for who they are...Adlerians believe discouragement is the basic condition that prevents people from functioning, and they see encouragement as the antidote.  As a part of the encouragement process, Adlerians use a variety of relational, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and experiential techniques to help clients identify and challenge self defeating cognitions, generate perceptual alternatives, and make use of assets, strengths, and resources (Corey, 2013, pg. 110).

With an encouraging environment, students begin to work collaboratively and cooperatively with their classmates.  They encourage and celebrate each other’s accomplishments and successes.  All students are invested in the meaning and purpose and are contributing to their learning and the learning of others.

           In this type of environment, the student/teacher relationship looks much different than that of a traditional, compliance based environment.  Like the counselor/client relationship within Adlerian practices, the student/teacher relationship “rests on a collaborative arrangement...  [which] includes forming a relationship based on mutual respect” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101).  Teachers who nurture and encourage this type of learning environment, “do not view [students] as being [bad] and in need of being [fixed]. They favor the growth model” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101)  Similarly, “the Adlerian is interested not in curing the sick individuals or a sick society but in re-educating individuals and in reshaping society” (Corey, 2013, pg. 101)  “From the beginning of [the school year], the relationship is a collaborative one, characterized by two persons working equally toward specific, agreed-upon goals” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104).  Because of the collaborative relationship that is formed and that it has been built on a foundation of respect, these teachers don’t see themselves in the way that the word “teacher” represents within a traditional framework.  They prefer to be called “coaches” or “lead learners”.  Similarly, they like to identify their students not as “students”, but as “learners”. 

When working with students to create an environment with this type of climate and culture, it doesn’t come without some challenges.  Some students will see their teacher as the “expert” and expect that the teacher “will provide them with solutions to their problems” (Corey, 2013, pg. 117).  For these students, the role of “coach” may pose problems because these teachers don’t allow themselves to take on the role of experts that solve students’ problems.  The philosophy is that teachers are “lead learners” and the students are “learners” and in no way can that imply that the teacher is the “keeper” of all of the knowledge.  Taking on that role, would be toxic to the environment and the time spent developing the climate and culture.  The students need to know that their knowledge is valuable and that they have something powerful to offer to the group.  The students that struggle with taking on this challenge struggle with growth mindset.  In those circumstances and situations, there are activities and strategies that can be used to develop a positive growth mindset.  A way to avoid having students who may struggle with this student/teacher relationship, it is important, with all students,  to  “begin to formulate a [Personalized Learning Plan]...detailing what they want [to achieve], how they plan to [achieve] it, what is preventing them from successfully attaining their goals, how they can change nonproductive behavior into constructive behavior, and how they can make full use of their assets in achieving their purposes” (Corey, 2013, pg. 104) In other words, how they are going to show their understanding of a concept and align it to their individual learning style and interests.

In summary, these “lead learners” or “coaches” incorporate many of the same philosophies as Adlerians and develop a positive climate and culture within their classroom/school.  Similar to the Adlerian approach, they “focus on making person-to-person contact with [students] rather than [focusing on] ‘the problem’”(Corey, 2013, 105).  Their successes are attributed to guiding students to “become aware of their assets and strengths rather than dealing continually with their deficits and liabilities...A positive relationship is created by listening; responding; demonstrating respect for [students] capacity to understand purpose and seek change; and exhibiting faith, hope, and caring” (Corey, 2013, pg. 105).  Most importantly, their students are “encouraged and challenged to develop the courage to take risks and make changes in their life” and in the lives of others (Corey, 2013, pg. 110).

In The Future

The strategies and techniques explained above align with all of the personalized learning research and implementation that a team of teachers, support staff, administrator, and myself did last school year at Lincoln Elementary School in Janesville, WI.  As I read chapter five on Adlerian Therapy, I couldn’t help but find connections to personalized learning and the phases of implementation.  In phase one of implementation, there is a focus on developing climate and culture, having a student centered environment, goal setting, gradual release of control, and developing a Personalized Learning Plan, just to name a few.  I am extremely passionate about this topic and the benefits of developing this type of environment with the learners.  As a school counselor, I plan to continue this journey and implement many, if not all, of the personalized learning strategies into how I serve students in that role.  I really enjoyed reading about the Adlerian theory and applying it to something I do everyday.  So far, I think I relate most to this type of therapy and think that it supports my beliefs and values.  As I read, I also thought that if I were to personally seek out a therapist for myself or my children, it would be someone that takes an Adlerian approach.  I also feel that this style of therapy could lend itself really well to faith based counseling which I am in strong support of.

References

Corey, Gerald (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Observation (2014-2015). Lincoln Elementary School. Janesville, WI: Personalized Learning.

Keepin' it Honest By Carrie

Well, we made it a month in Team R.I.S.E.!  I say that with a little bit of sarcasm, and keeping true to my honest nature, I’m going to tell you all about it, so get ready for some serious truths!    

It’s been a rough month.  To say it has been easy, simple, or even great, would be a straight up lie.  It’s been stressful.  Stressful because my wonderful, superb, excellent co-teacher and I were learning how to teach together.  It truly has been a “marriage” in which we had to learn how to function as a unified front.  When you go into teaching, you get excited about the possibility of collaborating with your colleagues, and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to “co-teach” for an hour or so each day, but for the most part, you go at it alone.  So when you have another teacher by your side, day in, day out, it’s different.  It’s incredible, don’t get me wrong!  But it’s an adjustment just the same.  

Another thing that has been causing stress, as anyone who has ever taught Kindergarten will tell you, is the behaviors.  Part of the problem may be a lack of prior experience with “school” environments.  Maybe they are an only child.  Or maybe there is a significant issue, but since they have never been in school before, there’s no “heads-up” before they start in your class.  Add behaviors to an already large class where 1st graders are begging for new goals, kinders who are adjusting to school life, and you have some pretty stressed out teachers!  

That leads me into the REAL truth.  The true reason why I feel compelled to write this blog today.  Are you ready?  I, Carrie Mergen, teacher who loves her job, who tried personalized learning last year and saw all the benefits firsthand, the advocate for PL wherever I go….wanted to quit.  I know.  I can hear you all gasping as you read this post.  And please note, that when I say “quit,” I mean take a step back and think about what I’m doing and if it’s all worth it.  Shocking, I know.  But I think that a few things have come out of that dark moment.  

First, now I get why people stop.  I understand why you would start this process, then think you can’t do it, and revert back to the old ways of teaching.  I also now have a NEED for my co-teacher.  Before, I thought it was a neat idea, but I didn’t NEED her (or so I thought), but now I know.  There is no way I could do this multi-age thing without her.  And finally, it made me think about why I started this journey in the first place.  It’s because I want to do what’s best for kids.  And what’s best for kids is not always the easy way out.  So, I sucked it up, took some deep breaths, and found the positives.  We re-evaluated where we were and what we needed to do in order to make the day-to-day better, made a plan, and did it.  We started giving our 1st graders their goals for reading.  That was the BEST thing we could have done!  We had kiddos begging us for new goals, kids working nonstop to pass their goals, and 2 kiddos already passed their goals 1 day after they made them!  If that’s not enough to make me re-evaluate why I’m ready to quit, I don’t know what would be.  

I also have some pretty wonderful people in my life who took notice of how I was feeling and took it upon themselves to cheer me up.  I got some emails, texts, and hugs from coworkers, aides, parents, and people like you who read these posts, telling me how amazing I am.  Well, thanks!  I appreciate it, but I, in no way, felt amazing.  I think I would use the word “terrible” to describe my performance as a teacher in that moment.  But it gave me some positivity to feed off of when I was lacking.  This is what we all need:  People to tell you that you are amazing.  If you are lucky enough to have these kinds of people in your life, keep them around you.  If you don’t have someone to tell you that you are amazing, I’m here to tell you, “YOU’RE AMAZING!!”  If you are going out of your comfort zone to attempt anything that is for the greater good of the people around you, you are doing incredible things.  Keep moving forward through the rough patches because that’s where great things happen.  When you’re up against the tough stuff is when you grow the most.  And I don’t know about you, but I’m not done growing!  So bring on the new week!  It’s going to be FANTASTIC!

PS-- This video is a pocket of awesomeness this week as all the kiddos were working on math goals.  Kinders teaching 1st graders, 1st graders teaching kinders, and teachers loving all the learning!  THIS is why we do what we do.

We Are Epic!

Check out our Team Epic introduction video!

Here is how we did it:
  In order to create this video we used a green screen, an iPad and then a computer to put everything together.  Each learner decided on a word that they felt described themselves.  We then took a video using the iPad camera, a green screen, a microphone, and an additional iPad as a 'chalkboard.'  We created these videos while all 45 of our kiddos were in the room so there was a lot of background noise.  We were able to use a microphone which helped and with future videos we will use the new iMovie update which has an option to reduce background noise.  The video was produced by using iMovie.  Using Google Drawing we created a black background with both our school logo and our team logo.  I love using the green screen effect in iMovie, if is very simple!  All we did was add our Google Drawing image and then when we added each child's video we just dropped it on top of the drawing background and iMovie gives an option to chose a green screen effect, easy peasy!

The First Week with Team EPIC!!!

Well the first week finally arrived and do I dare say it was the best first week ever?!  As Carrie mentioned, our kindergarten trio has split up, and although we no longer teach kindergarten as a team it is WONDERFUL to have these ladies on my side to celebrate our successes and to figure out our failures.  Fortunately for me this first week was full of successes.  I am teaching in a 4th and 5th grade multi-age, personalized learning classroom with the talented Hannah Barry.  Most of our 4th graders have experience with personalize learning as they had Hannah last year, while most of our 5th graders have little to no experience with personalized learning.

After a summer full of classroom renovations and planning the kiddos finally arrived with their families on Monday night for our open house.  We had great responses!  I couldn't even count the number of times I heard, "wow, I wish I had this when I was in school!"  Last year we tried to educate families throughout the year about personalized learning and what multi-age means at our school, so luckily for us most of our families knew what their child was going to be a part of.  For our 4th and 5th graders we only had a few families that were new to the school who were completely blown away by the classroom and multi-age.  Hannah and I had decided to create stations for the families to take part in and therefore we were able to meet with each family as they came into the room and were able to explain our room and personalized learning, we were also able to answer any questions they might have.  The first family that I talked to who did not know that their daughter was a part of a multi-age class had many questions.  My immediate thought was oh no, how are they going to respond.  By the end of our little mini question and answer session they were one of those many families that said, "wow, thats cool, I wish I would have had this."  Overall it was a great night and we were even more excited to start our year on Tuesday morning!

For the first week we decided our most important task was building our relationships as a team.  We did a lot of getting to know and understand you activities along with team building activities.  We decided as a group on a team name, EPIC, and then had our kiddos design a logo.

Our learners created learner profiles and then linked them to their individual Google site which they will use to better understand themselves and how they learn best.  This coming week we will have our first goal setting conferences where we will meet with each individual learner to discuss their goals for the year and then to set their first goals we will be working toward.

Our week was full of many other activities but what stands out most to me is the reactions and interactions we had.  As an educator my goal is always to make learning exciting and to create an environment where each child feels safe, important, and successful.  This week was so rewarding as I continuously saw and heard kids and parents excited for school.  I saw our 4th and 5th graders working together, encouraging others, and working out conflicts together.  I am not saying that we didn't have our fair share of challenges, but what I am saying is that each day at least 5 times a day we looked at each other and said, "this is amazing!"

Our first week in Team R.I.S.E.

As some of you are aware, our amazing kinder team has been split up :(  But before you get too weepy, let me tell you how amazing it is!!  Alli went to teach a 4/5 PL multi-age classroom (at Lincoln), Tiff went to teach 6th grade Comm Arts at Franklin Middle School (in Janesville), and I'm teaching K/1 at Lincoln (now named Team R.I.S.E.).  Why is it exciting?  Well, for one, we are attempting to share what we learned this past year and expand personalized learning into more grades, and more schools across our district!  Second, it's going to be awesome for you, the readers, because you will now get to know about what goes on in a K/1, 4/5, and a 6th grade PL classroom!  You're welcome!

Ok, so let me jump right in on what happened our first week of school in K/1:

1.  I learned a lot this week about what to do, and what NOT to do :)

2.  I have never been as tired in my life.

3.  HOT weather + no air conditioning = cranky kiddos and sweaty teachers

4.  I can't wait to get them all started on their goals

As I'm sure you could gather from my list, it's been a stressful start to the school year.  There were a lot of lessons to learn, but the great thing about PL is that we are constantly teaching out students that it's OK to fail, and that we should learn from those failures to improve.  What better way to teach that lesson than to model it?  I'm keeping notes on what to do better next time, and constantly looking for the positives.  I'm sure some of you want to know about the failures, so I'll share one with you for now.  You know me...Captain Honesty :)  In Janesville, we get to have our Kinders start on opposite days of the week (split your class into 2 groups, group A attends on the first day, and group B attends the second day, then all kids attend on the 3rd day).  This always helps with getting to know the children, gives their families a chance to ease into the transition of "big" school, and let's the students become familiarized with their class and school.  Sounds perfect, right?  Well, because of the staggered start, the first graders never got a chance to become familiar with the room themselves, nor did they have time to learn what it meant to be a leader in this scenario, nor did they get to know their other teacher (my awesome co-teacher, Mrs. Johnson) before all the new Kinders and their families came into the room.  Lesson learned?  Next year, only the first graders will come that first day, and all the Kinders the next.  It was a shame that the first graders weren't ready for the leader role right away because of all the different events involving the Kinders.  We were able to roll with it, but it took a lot of re-teaching that I think could have been avoided by front-loading the expectations before the Kinders came to school.  On the positive side, each day has been exponentially better than the last.  Next year will be AMAZING from day 1!

The best thing about our PL K/1 class so far?  The kids are having FUN.  They love school.  One kiddo sobbed onto my shoulder one day because he didn't want to leave school.  I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty amazing!  

I'll share more pretty soon...I just wanted to give you a quick glimpse into our multi-age life as of right now.  It's going to be wonderful, and I can't wait to share more with all of you!  Until then, here's some adorable pics from our open house the night before school started.  We set up a photo booth in the classroom and invited parents to take some fun pictures with their kiddos!  Enjoy!

My new co-teacher for Team R.I.S.E.!  ~Mrs. Johnson

Yup!  That's Tiff with her adorable daughter who joined our team!

One of our awesome aides and her son :)

That smile!

Another amazing aide we have at Lincoln and her son :)

A Sneak Peek of What's to Come...

We're getting excited.  I mean, super excited.  Beyond excited.  Next year is going to be the beginning of something AMAZING.  We always thought the future was going to be awesome, but summer school confirmed it.  What am I talking about?  Well, I suppose I should catch you all up on the awesomeness that is Lincoln Elementary.

Jace "testing" Ryan

As you know, we have piloted personalized learning in all 3 kindergarten classrooms, one second grade class, and one 3rd grade class.  Well, this coming school year, we are expanding it.  We will have a K/1 multi-age personalized learning classroom, a 2/3 multi-age PL classroom, and a 4/5 multi-age PL classroom!  EEK!  It's going to be amazing.  I can't stress that enough!  I get to be one of the teachers in these environments and I cannot wait.  We have had a lot of questions about the make-ups of these classes, but it's super simple.  It's the same as it always has been.  We balance kids into equal classes across the board, then we take one from each grade and put it with another one.  We don't group by ability...just all levels together in one classroom with 2 teachers.  It may seem like that's impossible, but with PL, you can truly meet each kid's needs because you're teaching to their individual level anyway!  AND kids get the chance to step up and be leaders in a way that would never be possible in a legacy classroom!!  How amazing is that?!  OK, so let me tell you some examples and show you some sneak peeks into what's to come:

Teja helping a kinder

For summer school this year, we thought it would be a good idea to try K/1 PL so we could start to wrap our brains around what was to come and hopefully prepare ourselves for the coming year.  What we found, blew us out of the water!  On day 1 of summer school, I pulled all the 1st graders (kids who were in my and Tiff's class last year) and I asked them to be leaders for the summer.  I told them that the kinders didn't know all about PLPs, or how to work independently, or how to use iPads and tools, and that we were looking to them to step up and be helpers.  Do you know what these kids did?  They STEPPED up!  It was AMAZING!  The 1st graders took it upon themselves to find a kinder and started asking them if they knew letters, sounds, taught them, even started assessing some of them, and were reporting to us how many they knew and how many they should focus on for their goals!  It freed Tiff and I up to start assessing and giving goals to the new kiddos in no time.

Mrs. Redieske teaching a lesson to
kinders and 1st graders

That same day, we asked the 1st graders to teach the kinders how to create an educreations, search for a picture, and write what the picture was.  Well, that blew my mind!  We witnessed our kids showing (not doing for them) the kinders how to use the iPads, how to type, and how to SOUND OUT WORDS!  They were chopping out sounds for them, asking them what letters made those sounds, and helped them find them on the keyboard!  I looked at Tiff, and I said, "Oh my goodness!  We have just been cloned 15 times!"  They were little teachers!  And the kids who were the leaders felt amazing, and the kinders felt amazing because they were getting one on one attention and felt like rock stars that were so proud of what they had created without an adult's help!

Jayden explaining a PLP to
a 1st grader, Henry who came
to Lincoln for summer school

On Friday of the second week, I asked all the kiddos to write me a sentence about a safari animal (we had been learning about them all week).  I told them there needed to be a picture and a sentence.  I didn't care if they used Educreations, a piece of paper, a whiteboard, or any other way they could think of, but they had until recess to accomplish it.  Then I let them go.  Guys, I had tears in my eyes!  The aide in the classroom had tears!  Every single kid....EVERY SINGLE CHILD was working.  The first graders who finished quickly took it upon themselves to help some kinders out too :)  Of course the kinders weren't writing sentences all on their own, but as I made my way around the room to help kiddos who were ready, they all had a picture started...independently.  If you have ever taught kindergarten, then you know there is no way that in June they are doing anything independently.  But they were.  It freed me and the aide up so that we could help each kiddo that needed it before recess.  The result, each kiddo got individual time with a teacher, learned what they needed at their ability level, and was super happy and proud of what they had accomplished.  It was at that moment that I KNEW next year was going to rock. 

Karli working independently
with shapes

I know I've said it time and time again, but PL has changed my life.  If you are an educator and you're flirting with the idea of making the switch, I encourage you to be bold.  Go beyond your borders, and try it!  You will NOT regret it.  If you need support, we are here, and we would love to help you out.  Spread the word!  PL ROCKS!!  I can't wait to post more this fall!  Have a great summer everyone!

Mrs. Bruegger working with kiddos
on number recognition

Kinder and 1st grader working
together on goals

Jace teaching a kinder while
Seth works independently

We Are All-In On Personalized Learning

http://www.gazettextra.com/20150627/lincoln_elementary_all_in_on_personalized_learning

No Time to Slow Down!

It's the time of year where everyone I meet is asking, "Are you ready for school to be done for the summer?"  Normally, I would have a count down going in my mind of how many more days until summer school starts and I say goodbye to these Kinders who will be big first graders.  But this year, it snuck up on me.  I'm not ready to say goodbye to this year yet.  No where near ready.  To be honest, I don't think the kiddos have even realized it's almost over either.  They are still working so hard to master goals.  We have celebrated accomplishments this past week left and right.  This sweetheart finally passed her goal of writing her numbers from 0-20....something she has been working on for several months now.  She was THRILLED beyond words to get to take this picture!

Another one of my kiddos showed mastery of "greater than, less than, and equal to" by creating an educreations about it found here.

We're super excited about next year, and we can't wait to spend our summer planning for all the awesomeness to come (if you're on twitter, check out #LincolnPLlaunchParty); but we aren't anywhere near done yet!  So look out!  There's gonna be more coming your way in the next month!

The Ability to Fail

It’s getting warmer, the sun is shining more, the kids are taking off with their learning, and the staff is getting JAZZED about the new things coming for next year (more on that in a later post :)).  

We have been dabbling with STEM activities all year.  One way we practice being engineers is by completing a challenge called “Tower Power.”  In this challenge, the kids are split into teams.  They have a stack of index cards, a pair of scissors, and some tape.  They are asked to build a tower out of the index cards that is 10 inches high and will hold a stuffed frog for 10 seconds without collapsing.  As I’m sure you can imagine, this task would be difficult for anyone, let alone kinders; but each trimester, we attempt it.  We learn how to improve our designs from the last time, how to work better with our teammates, and how to learn from our failures.  Since this is trimester 3, this was the last time I asked the kids to attempt the challenge.  Some were successful, some just played with tape, and some argued the whole time...but there was some pretty cool footage!  Check it out!

One thing I love so much about the personalized learning journey, is that my students are confident at whatever they try.  They aren't scared to "fail" because they understand that failing is a part of learning.  They are willing to fail until they find success.  How amazing is that?!  I can't wait until these kiddos are in 5th grade and running the world!  

BINGO!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/09/what-a-classroom-engaged-in-real-learning-looks-like/

Lincoln Elementary: Where Greatness Begins!

Wow!  Where to start...
So we just had conferences again and it was awesome.  It never ceases to amaze me just how much our parents support the change we have made from legacy classrooms to personalized learning.  Our principal wanted to compile a video of parents and their feedback about personalized learning because we wanted to know how they thought it was going...we thought some of them liked it, but we were blown away by all the love!  I had parents in tears talking about how amazing this year has been, how much their child has grown, and how much their child LOVES school.  And in the end, isn't that what it's all about?  Every educator I know only wants one thing; to create a love of learning.  Well educators, it's super easy...just give the child the control to customize their own learning, and they will AMAZE you.
So, onto other great things, we recently unpacked our vision statement for Lincoln Elementary as a staff.  The vision is as follows (get ready to be inspired...)
Here at Lincoln Elementary, we will not follow the status quo nor will we fall victim to the unrelenting pull of the downstream current.  We find ourselves truly and deeply invested in crafting the future of our profession and taking the challenge to swim upstream.  We are willing to be pushed beyond the edge of our comfort levels and take risks, because we know that is precisely where innovation occurs and growth happens. With strength, vision, and determination we will change the educational paradigm.  We are committed to being the place ‘Where Greatness Begins’!

It was a great activity for the staff to be able to look at the vision, pick it apart, and think about how they see themselves on this "journey to greatness." It was one of many steps towards creating a climate and culture that has everyone on the same page.

We wanted to begin with the vision because we want teachers to do the same "unpacking" with the mission statement in their own classrooms to build a similar culture. The mission statement is short, sweet, and awesome.

Lincoln Elementary: Where Greatness Begins!

So, I asked my kiddos what greatness means to them and how they are great.  There was no prompting, no previous discussion, terrible videography, and obviously, no editing :)  Next week, we will make new goals for our PLPs and fully unpack our mission.  But this is cute in the meantime ;)

Personalized Learning For Parents

3 Ways Parents Can Spot Student-Centered Learning

My Dream For Public Education!

Also my dream for public education! Children not being grouped in school by their age or grade level.  Instead, transitioning freely from room to room, based on their interests, passions, and natural talents!  I think we're on our way!  I've got my seat belt on and I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for the ride!!!

From Industrial to Agricultural

I haven't posted in a while, but today, I felt strongly to.  Our principal sent a link to a TED talk and asked the staff members to take 15 minutes to watch it.  Well, I did, and I'm fired up!  So now, I'm encouraging you to take 15 minutes to do the same.  Ken Robinson speaks about educational reform and how education thinks it is changing, but reforming is just a fancy way of trying to improve a model that is already broken.  Instead, he urges for a revolution- a transformation into something else.  I bet you can guess what that "something else" is....YUP!  Personalized learning!  Innovation is hard, it's a lot of work, but so, so, so worth it.  Check it out here.

Why Personalized Learning?....Why not?

It just makes sense!

Watch our journey so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcfeUcuaDq4