This month's blog post is from a guest author! Lesley Snyder, an 8th grade ELA teacher at Dutch Fork Middle School as well as a Teacher in Residence with Evolving SC, is one of our Competency Fellows. Lesley recently participated in a visit to one of our Inquiry Lab schools and wrote about her experience.
You can contact Lesley through Twitter!
After walking through the doors of Riverside Elementary in Little River, South Carolina, you can tell that something is different about this school. Immediately, there is a warmth. Everyone is bustling with energy, from the front office staff to the custodians — happy to be at school. Their classrooms are full of movement and excitement. And the best part? Kids are taking learning into their own hands. I had the opportunity to join the Office of Personalized Learning's Inquiry Lab hosted at Riverside Elementary School in Horry County. During the Inquiry Lab, teachers and administrators from around the state had the opportunity to hear from Riverside's teachers and students about their personalized journey and to visit classrooms. You should sign up to see for yourself if you get the chance.
Riverside is on a journey. It seems like a simple sentence, but there's so much under the surface. Teachers reiterated that the word 'journey' was chosen carefully. They hoped to communicate that this process of evolving teaching and learning in their school would be a constant state of revision. They hoped that the word journey suggested that there is no end in sight for them. Like any incredible journey, there have been roadblocks, unexpected turns, and obstacles, but the staff and students are not looking for perfection — they are looking for growth. One teacher noted:
We don't have to be perfect here. We just have to get better every day.
Getting better every moment of every day is what Riverside is all about. Riverside Elementary has created a culture that supports vulnerability and growth. Teachers are given professional time to collaborate each month. These collaborative sessions come in the form of a complete professional day covered by substitutes. During their monthly planning date, a team of lead teachers presents their ideas for the next month for whole group feedback. Then, the whole grade-level team collaborates to develop the learning targets and materials for the upcoming month. Autonomy and collaboration have been game changers for staff.
Riverside believes in empowering educators to take their professional learning into their hands. Teachers at Riverside were excited to talk about how professional development is personalized for teachers. In the past, Riverside has encouraged its teachers to collaborate and share their learning in a variety of ways. Teachers earned badges for innovation, collaboration, student ownership, and creativity for one year. While other years, teachers were encouraged to post on a digital calendar any lessons or teaching they wanted their peers to come and observe. If a colleague was interested in seeing that lesson, they popped in during planning periods or were provided coverage to observe. No matter the format, Riverside has placed trust in its teachers and is ready to support them. Many explained that the administration does not push staff along on the journey. Instead, they take a personalized approach — meeting each teacher where they are on their journey and in their zone of comfort.
Teachers are sharing their goals this year by having a specific "Classroom Experience Procedure" posted. Outside each classroom, you will find a sign indicating what professional goal the teacher is working on. Then, a color-coding system indicates where the teacher is on that journey and how comfortable they feel about sharing their journey for feedback and support. Teachers and staff at Riverside Elementary are vulnerable and transparent. As one teacher said, their willingness to "wipe out" in the classroom helps them grow, make changes, and lean on each other for support. This vulnerability, empowerment, and collaborative culture transfers directly to students in the classroom.
Professional learning is often teacher-led and built on spending time in each other's classrooms around the school. Teachers also work closely with school-based coaches and learning coaches from the Office of Personalized Learning with the State Department of Education. Teachers on the panel indicated that they felt more developed as a professional by participating in this type of development as opposed to traditional sit-and-get development. During a teacher panel, the team reiterated that they feel valued as professionals. One teacher said, "We don't have to do this. We get to do this." She further explained that she feels "valued for [her] expertise rather than compliance in implementing a curriculum." Amidst a growing teacher workforce shortage, Riverside Elementary proves that feeling respected, supported, and valued as a professional is one of the true keys to teacher satisfaction.
Students are empowered to lead their learning. Teachers analyze pre-assessments of key standards deeply to understand their students as learners best. Then, teachers collaboratively develop positively worded "learning targets" to lead students toward mastery of specific skills. During their monthly planning meetings, the teachers collaboratively develop learning pathways for students. These learning pathways allow students to focus on growth and see their learning as a journey or progression.
In the classroom, students understand precisely where they are in the learning process and exactly what they need to do to improve. Each student receives a learning pathway that offers plenty of voice and choice for students to progress toward mastery. In any given classroom, students move fluidly throughout a progression. Some students are in small groups with the teacher, others work with partners, and others work individually on targeted practice, watching instructional videos, or working on a performance task. This practice has helped fill perceived learning gaps by allowing teachers and students to understand their learning and curate targeted growth opportunities deeply. This practice has also helped to accelerate the learning of students who are ahead of grade-level norms by allowing them to work ahead, complete extension activities, or help their peers along the learning journey. By facilitating learning in this way, kids are learning to be thinkers focused on the impact of growth over grades.
In each classroom, the celebration of growth is evident. Teachers and students have worked together to co-develop classroom routines and procedures, which means personalized learning and celebrating that learning looks different in each classroom. Students worked with their teachers to develop "standard operating procedures" and other systems that work best for them. In one classroom, students rang a literal bell to signify that they had mastered a target. Everyone stopped what they were doing to celebrate that student's progress by cheering and clapping. The magic co-created in each classroom will undoubtedly impact these students forever.
Riverside Elementary is one shining example of what evolving teaching and learning in South Carolina could look like across the state. They haven't let roadblocks keep them from doing what is best for their students. They have viewed constraints and obstacles as opportunities to grow and, at times, have capitalized on 'creative compliance' to ensure that their teaching practices are aligned with what is truly best for kids. In one teacher's words
This job is hard no matter what, so if it's going to be hard either way...We may as well do what's truly best for kids, and we may as well do it together.
Riverside Elementary's drive to work towards mastering the development of educator and student efficacy and agency is truly an inspiration, and I can't wait to see their continued progress and growth on their journey.
