Principal Margaret Guiren and instructional coach Laura Falls from Bethany Elementary School discuss how they are supporting teachers' personalized, competency-based learning (PCBL) journeys with resources like the Office of Personalized Learning's Framework Foundations Series. Read on as they share strategies and key components for helping teachers grow their practice for the benefit of the students they serve.
Describe your journey as you began implementing this idea of personalizing learning for students.
About 5 years ago there was a group from Cover that was going to participate in a Launch cohort with the Office of Personalized Learning. A few teachers and I went and participated to find out more about what personalized learning is. Those teachers came back and shared and modeled what they learned could look like in their classrooms. Then COVID hit and while we didn’t forget about our journey with personalized learning, it did get put on the back burner for a little while. Once things settled down, we decided to jump back in, and I met with our personalized learning coach. We talked about what next steps would be best. We decided completing the Framework Foundations course in Canvas through the Office of Personalized Learning would be our best bet. So, our entire certified staff completed that last year. We also participated in visits to some Inquiry Labs and some book studies as they relate to personalized learning. That journey has brought us to where we are today.
We try to help educators realize that PL isn’t just one more thing on an educator’s plate but it really is what good teaching and learning looks like. How did you get that message across to teachers in your school?
We participated in personalized professional development where we had teachers observe other teachers in our building. We also sent them to Inquiry Labs and other cohorts. It allowed those who are eager to learn more about it to jump on board and come back and share with their colleagues. Also, it helped to support the understanding that they were already doing a lot of personalized learning in their classrooms. They just didn’t realize it. In the district, there was a buzz around personalized learning, and we wanted to beat the forefront of what was going on in our district while making things personal and relevant to our students and teachers.
Once teachers understood a lot of what we were seeing in the professional development, they had the beginnings of in their classrooms, they realized it wasn’t just one more thing. We just had a new framework to help the learning be intentional and relevant. We created a support system within our school to show our teachers we were available to help support them in this journey.
How did you structure your teachers visiting other teachers? Tell us more about the support system.
Three years ago, in the fall, we utilized personalized PD for our teachers. That was an option for them, so several teachers chose to go see other teachers in our building and watch them teaching. However, it wasn’t just going to see the great things. They were also asking questions, reflecting on what they saw, and bringing ideas back to their own classrooms. That’s how we structured, supported, and followed up with them about what they saw, what they brought back with them, and what questions they may have had for that teacher. If we needed to facilitate any time for them to talk with that teacher, we provided that as well.
Relationships and the trust factor at this school is another way pf supporting our teachers. If they come to us with an idea or thought they want to try, our ultimate goal is what is best for students. So, if you want to do what’s best for students, we want to support you along the way. Whether the idea they have works or not, we have a support system to help them be risk takers. We also had several planning days and we invited our District Office instructional staff to come and help bounce ideas off each other. Having that system also helped because teachers knew someone from the district level was here and supporting them too.
You spoke about how you had a strategic meeting with your Office of Personalized Learning coach, and you set out to use the Framework Foundations series schoolwide. Why did you decide on this resource, and how did you go about using that schoolwide?
Because we took a pause on our personalized learning journey, we felt everyone needed to be on the same playing field. For those that had a little more exposure, it had been two plus years since they had that exposure. So, bringing everyone back together was important. For those with some background knowledge, it would be a review. For others it would be new information. We set it up for the week before students came back to kick it off and complete the first module together. We showed teachers how to work through the module in Canvas and how they could begin using what they learned in their classrooms. The teachers enjoyed working together in a large group, to reflect and hear each other in other grade levels and groups. So, last fall we made time each month to come together and work through the modules together. We worked through all the modules by Christmas time. Then we came back from Christmas and celebrated our completion of the modules. Each grade level had the chance in January to share their pathways for students with everyone else. Grade levels would choose two different ones to reflect upon and ask questions about before the pathways were implemented with students.
What were the outcomes of completing the modules for Framework Foundations?
First and foremost, our number one focus is relationship building with our students. I think completing Framework Foundations together took that beginning of the year relationship building to a new level. Our teachers were not just learning about students’ likes and dislikes, but about them as learners and how they would approach the school year knowing the students as leaners. We also had a house system implemented and that tied in beautifully with the relationship building and community building piece. A lot of our teachers are using voice and choice with students and using a lot of resources in the classrooms. They are free to take risks, and they feel supported by us along that journey.
Just walking around the building this school year, you can see a difference in the classrooms because of the work we have done with personalizing learning. There may be classrooms with physical setups that are different, giving options for flexibility in seating. Teachers are giving students the choice in how hey learn and gain the content with the flexibility and freedom to try new things. COVID changed a lot of things for a lot of people, so it opened our minds to new ways of what we had been doing. We also noticed teachers thinking about students and how they learn best with their learner profiles and looking at the data we have on students, Teachers are digging into that data to develop pathways and choice boards for students because they know each learner’s needs and successes and where they need to grow.
