It's been awhile since our last post, and we wanted everyone to know how truly wonderful this year has been! I've been awake many nights thinking how I could convey the amazingness of this past year, and it hit me...I'll share the top 5 things we've noticed this past few weeks:
We took learning outside the last week of school. Learners chose reading and math activities all on their own and worked toward their goals independently.
Learners are blowing their goals out of the water!
I can't express it enough...when kids have choice in their learning, when they are invested in their goals, you CANNOT hold them back. They are cheering each other on, learning from each other, and pushing themselves to "challenge their brains" as we call it in Team RISE.
You are never done creating, tweaking, and changing to make instruction better.
Wow! Did my co-teacher and I ever become reflective practitioners this year! It felt as if every minute of every day was spent discussing how well, or how poorly something went and what we could do in that moment to change it. A lot of work? Yup! Worth it? You betcha!
Teaching is that same at the end of the year as it was 3 months ago.
What we mean is this: We are still pushing our learners to do more than they thought possible. Do we have assessments to give? Of course we do! Do the teachers feel overwhelmed by all the deadlines? You know it! But the awesome thing that we have noticed, is that the students don't feel that stress. They are excited to show us what they have learned. If anything, they beg us to test them next! Cross my heart, that happens All. The. Time.
Learning still happens on the last day of school!
Right now, you're probably thinking that we are crazy. Kids don't learn on the last day of school!! Well, in a PL class, they sure do! Our routine has been the same all year. We do math in the morning and reading after recess. Even on the last day of school. No students even questioned it. In fact, we had an assembly in the morning, and we had so many kiddos asking us if they could please do an extra reading time after lunch! OK! If that's what you want to do on our last day, I'm down with that! :)
We can't wait to come back in the fall and do it all again! Of course there will be improvements, and of course we will share those ideas with you as they come up. So, stay tuned!
Lincoln recently hosted a Personalized Learning night for parents, and it turned out awesome! Parents were invited to school for an ice cream sundae bar, as well as a chance experience school through their child's eyes. In team RISE, we wanted the learners to take the driving seat and show their parents how they learn, but since they are still so young, we came up with a neat way to guide them by giving the parents a "must do/may do" very similar to the one our learners complete each day. As soon as a family walked in, we told the learners that their parents needed to complete the "must do/may do" and the kids' jumped right into teaching their parents all about their iPads, their PLP goals, how they use the resources in the room, etc. It was awesome! One of the "must do's" we included was a form to fill out which included questions about their feelings thus far regarding PL, how they feel their child is learning, what they like, what they need more information on...and the feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive! Here's a few comments to share: In regards to the question: "What do you like about PL?" ~"I like that Pl teaches him to set goals to obtain success. It also teaches him independence. I also like the use of his successes to help other students, this creates pride in the student." ~"(He) has the chance to learn at his pace." ~"My child has the opportunity to make choices and show her learning in a way that is at her pace and based on her own interests and creativity." ~"They set their own goals!" ~"More 1 on 1 time." ~"I like that he is so excited about passing goals." ~"(He) doesn't have to sit still to learn." ~"Learning is catered to each child." In regards to the question: "What do you like most about the multi-age classroom?" ~"She is helping other kids." ~"Opportunity to teach others." ~"Diversity" ~"How the kids learn from each other." ~"The way the kids all work together as a team." ~"I like that not a single child will be singled out due to excelled or slowed progression in the classroom." ~"My child has the ability to work with and learn from students of varying abilities regardless of their age and grade level." ~"Having 2 teachers." We also made a video starring our very own learners to give a little insight into how the students are learning. When we started the video process, we wanted to interview some learners who have had experience in a traditional classroom so they could compare the 2 differing experiences, but we only have 2 kiddos in our entire class of 46 who have experienced a traditional classroom! What a unique and fun "problem" to have! When I asked one of the kiddos to tell me about his old school, he said, "You mean WAY back in Kindergarten?" Haha! Yeah, WAY back then :) So, here's what we were able to capture...welcome to a day in the eyes of Team RISE :)
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!
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!!
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.
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 :)
