Our Search for Magic Bullets: Slaying Dragons, Fighting GERM Warfare, Busting Myths, and Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Personalized Learning Success.

Jim VangerudTwitter:@JVangerud112E-mail: vangerudj@district112.orgEastern Carver County SchoolsPersonalized Learning Summit Chanhassen High SchoolAugust 3, 2015

Our Search for Magic Bullets:

“a magical solution to any vexing problem.” Medicine.net dictionary

“Something that solves a difficult problem easily.”Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Slaying Dragons, Yong Zhao• China growth the last three decades from large,

compliant workforce to supply cheap labor• To make the next step they need to transition to

problem solving, creative, innovative thinking.• Addicted to centuries old test and rank system• Inventions-Movable type, compass, gunpowder, paper

unable to apply once invented.

Strength of American School System historically is that it produced graduates with the diverse set of skills needed for a free market economic system to survive and thrive, and for its citizens to be self-actualized.

GERM Warfare

GERM

lobalducationeformovement

2013 Total RevenuesNFL - $9 BillionMovie Industry - $11 BillionTesting and educational support Industry - $16.5 Billion (USA alone)

Pasi Sahlberg

GERM Warfare

In 2008 IBM released the results of a large survey they conducted. 1500 leaders from 80 different countries were surveyed.

What characteristics do organizational leaders need most in their staff?

1. Adaptability to change.

2. Creativity in generating new ideas.

Busting Myths

4. Personalized Learning is all about technology.

3. Direct instruction is bad and it is strictly prohibited in Personalized Learning.

2. Each child has a device and learns in their own cubicle without teacher instruction.

1. Students will embrace the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning.

5. Students are less accountable and less rigor is expected of them.

Overcoming Obstacles1. Creating a classroom culture where Personalized Learning is possible.2. Personalized Learning represents a 180 degree shift for teachers and students alike. Both groups must be trained to succeed.3. Some students do not embrace the opportunity to take ownership of their learning.

5. When obstacles occur, the urge to retreat to what is comfortable is powerful.

4. Serving two masters. The Standards Based High Stakes testing movement is not easily compatible with Personalized Learning.

Path to Personalized Learning SuccessStudent Centered Instruction

• Learning is Personalized• Learning is Competency

Based• Learning takes place

anytime anyplace• Students exert ownership

of their learning

Motivation problems facing American Students K-12

Characteristics of unmotivated students

1. Lack of initiative2. Lack of perseverance3. Lack of Retention4. Aversion to critical

thinking5. Eagerness for quick and

easy answersAdapted from Dan Meyer TED talk

Daniel Pink – The 21st century will belong to the creative innovators.

STEM? – Jobs outsourced or computerized

A

M

P

utonomyasteryurpose

HTH

PBL

Implications of Current Brain Research

Table from Students at the Center website, Mind,Brain, and Education Executive Research Summary, Hinton, Fischer, and Glennon.

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Collaborative EnvironmentLearners are encouraged to explore the positions

and locations where they learn best. Learning is highly social. Collaboration is frequent and visible. Students may work alone, in pairs, or in larger collaborative groups.

Engagement With Learning ToolsA wide variety of supportive resources are available.

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Purposeful Instruction & AssessmentRelevant Learning Targets are evident, aligned with standards and are clear to the students, teachers, parents and community. Formative assessments are primary indicators for differentiating instruction. This allows for flexible pacing for each student, provides a balanced approach (including summative assessments) to show a progression of learning, and supports just-in-time enrichment or intervention.

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Learner Voice and ChoiceLearners are given options regarding the ways in which they will engage in learning. The perspective, opinions, and preferences of students are invited, respected and considered. The focus remains on clear, rigorous standards, but the paths learners will take to meet these standards include learning as co-designers. Students begin to value their work and learning for themselves and not just for the compliance of others.

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Purposeful LearningLearners are encouraged to make connections, investigate, inquire and bring new ideas/insights into learning, along with the strategies and skills provided by the teacher. Students are seen as critical resources to build their own learning and to support the learning of others. They are able to describe relevance of learning and how it can be used beyond the classroom. The learner focused design is a key driver of student engagement and growth.

Elements of Personalized Learning Defined District 112

Collaborative Environment

Engagement With Learning Tools

Purposeful Instruction & Assessment

Learner Voice and Choice

Purposeful Learning

Prep the field for student successGrit

Angela Duckworth - Grit

Studies have shown that Grit is a better predictor of success than intelligence or ability.West Point Study

Grit Scale

Growth Mindset

Embrace failure as a teacherFail Forward Fast

GrowthMS

For Growth Mindset to work, teachers need to embrace it as well, both in their teaching and in how they view students.

The traditional factory model school has many embedded elements of fixed mindset.

Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development

The Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development is a natural partner with Growth Mindset.

Teachers use of questioning for helping students come up with the answer on their own and to reflect.

The Value of Constant Reflection and Questioning at Every Point in the

ProcessThree questions for reflection1.What are we doing that we should keep doing?

2.What are we doing that we should stop doing?

3.What are we not doing that we should be doing?

4.What are we no longer doing that we should be doing?

Questions

Personalized Learning Conclusions1. It is clearly established that the factory model schools of the last 100+ years must undergo a transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century.2. It is clear that NCLB and Race to the Top as well as the High Stakes Standardized testing that go with these programs are insufficient to meet the needs of the 21st century and are probably doing more harm than good.

3. Many variables are involving in implementing personalized learning and it may not look the same from teacher to teacher, subject area to subject area, classroom to classroom. This must be seen as a positive.

4. It is essential that a classroom environment be created that will allow Personalized Learning to thrive. The field must be prepped before implementing a Personalized Learning approach or it will not have the significant impact it is meant to have. If students do not embrace the opportunity to be co-designer’s of their educational experience, the value of student’s classroom experience will be diminished. An emphasis on Grit, Growth Mindset practices, and classroom applications that implement the latest in brain research will help create an environment of trust where risk taking and self-motivation may prosper, which ultimately leads to greater learning outcomes.

5. Appropriate tenets of Personalized Learning that should be present in some form include but are not limited to: • Collaborative environment• Engagement with Learning Tools• Purposeful Instruction and Assessment• Learner Voice and Choice • Purposeful Learning that is competency

based• Students exert ownership of their

learning