It has been liberating and exciting to free students to work on individualized playlist. Now that we are in to the second semester of using itsLearning I have had a few aha moments.
The Aha: I really, really, REALLY have to be cognizant of maintaining relationships with students. Students need feedback, big and small. A warm up grade or stamp on a page in their journal goes a long way. They need frequent verbal/nonverbal contact. As awesome as the playlist is- it is nothing without its counterpart of contact with students in small groups and having conversations with them about their progress and learning.
Action plan/ideas: I need to get better at incorporating conferencing with students about their learning. Students currently are data tracking throughout our units and after major tests but it needs to be taken up a level. Maybe students will get more out of quick one-on-one conversations that requires students to reflect ion past performance and also discuss their upcoming learning goals and interests. This would be a good time and place to incorporate the proficiency scales as conversation pieces with students..
- The Awesome: Two of the best perks of itsLearning is that students can work at their own pace AND through an individualized playlist that meets their cognitive needs.
- The But: The novelty of working through a playlist wears off. Another novelty that wears off is free seating while working through a list. "Free seating" once considered an incentive to students slowly became an expectation and invitation to off task talking and less work being done.
- The Solution: First to combat the talking and off task behavior I assigned the students good old fashioned assigned seats. Second, my partner and I reframed a playlist to be a "game" that we named Level Up Biology. The game consisted of three levels- each level had an activity and quiz to check for understanding. Once students passed the quiz they were granted access to the next level. Each level increasingly got harder and incorporated more skills required by the TEK. At the end of the lesson cycle students got to place a sticker on the "level" that they made it to. Its amazing what students will do when they see Super Mario dabbing!
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The Aha: I really, really, REALLY have to be cognizant of maintaining relationships with students. Students need feedback, big and small. A warm up grade or stamp on a page in their journal goes a long way. They need frequent verbal/nonverbal contact. As awesome as the playlist is- it is nothing without its counterpart of contact with students in small groups and having conversations with them about their progress and learning.
Action plan/ideas: I need to get better at incorporating conferencing with students about their learning. Students currently are data tracking throughout our units and after major tests but it needs to be taken up a level. Maybe students will get more out of quick one-on-one conversations that requires students to reflect ion past performance and also discuss their upcoming learning goals and interests. This would be a good time and place to incorporate the proficiency scales as conversation pieces with students..
Why haven't we been using the proficiency scales to assist in building and planning of playlists?!?! It makes so much sense! The district has already explicitly determined levels of proficiency that also aligns to a sequence of learning targets for each standard. DUH. DUH. Duh!
Brb. My mind just spontaneously combusted.
Haaaa! That’s the awesomeness that comes with reflecting... your own aha moments! I’m interested in your Mario stickers how do those work?
ReplyDeleteAre the levels then spiraling with the rigor increased at each level? That is an awesome way to build the playlists. If you hadn't had your "aha/face palm* moment out loud, I would have thought that you were already using the proficiency scales. Since I am a bit behind - have you made any changes based on this reflection?
ReplyDeleteI like the graphic you made to represent the proficiency scales. I can definitely see 6th graders liking those. :D I think I could do some to appeal to some of my students due to their obsession with Fortnite. haha!
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