Reflections & Goals

4 Brain Based Learning Design Principles:

• targeted practice
• mental models
• social & emotional engagement
• rapid feedback

Word bank:  (how do these connect or relate?)

Blended learning

Differentiation

Personalization

PLPs

Schoology 

Tech Tools 1:1

Formative Assessment

Negotiated Learning

Task for teachers:  Create 2 to 3 Essential Learning Outcomes for next year.

Examples:
Arnie - summative assessments proficiency-based then create good targets & scales for students

Shaun - coherent system for providing writing feedback

Allison - foster social & emotional engagement with reflection on PLPs

We will build learning targets & scales for each of the ELOs before end of year.

Will develop two goals for the whole team - essential learning outcomes we want all of us to be proficient at by the end of the year.

PLP Mondays

1. What metaphor did you pick and why?
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far?
3. Next steps going forward?

I opted for diary (after giving up on trying to put a chest of gold in).  PLPs can qualify as both.  They are a running log of students learning, but the reflection process is gold for many students, in teaching them skills, relationships, goal setting and transferrable skills.  

I am trying to employ PLP Mondays as often as possible.  I also have had students create blogs to supplement their formal PLP, a place to capture thoughts and practice writing.  The prompts given are a combination of reflecting on real-life issues and enjoyable writing for students to do during a half-hour flex time.

My students are teaching Dylans about the blogs on Monday.  The following Monday, Dylan's students will be teaching my students about the Story Corps app and program.  

As I get toward the end of the year, we will do some overall reflecting on the either the year (7th grade) or Milddle School (8th grade).  PLPs will also serve as a way for students to introduce themselves to their next-year teacher

DIARY!!!!

1. What metaphor did you pick and why?
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far?
3. Next steps going forward?

I chose the diary twice and the road map once.  At this point in students' education (i.e. middle school) kids are mostly just getting used to using a PLP as a method of uploading evidence about their learning.  While some students might know where their path may lead (as in a road map), most of them are using their PLP as a diary.

My approach to PLP's for math has been using the evidence tab as a diary.  Students upload evidence and reflect on it.  I have hit a lot of roadblocks with the logistics in uploading evidence, such as uploading multiple pictures on one page, but I am starting to troubleshoot with google docs.

The next steps moving forward for myself is to become more organized and deliberate with how students upload evidence.  Also, come up with some routine reflective piece to go along with each piece of evidence so that students take more ownership with their PLP's instead of just uploading a screenshot that I told them to upload.

exit ticket

1. What metaphor did you pick and why?
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far?
3. Next steps going forward?

PLP Work

1. What metaphor did you pick and why? I picked the road map. I feel like PLPs in their complete form should be just that, a place for kids to get to know themselves, what they are interested in, where they are at and where their interests will bring them. It becomes chance for them to get to know themselves, where they've come from and where they are headed. 
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far? Students have posted evidence from the last two units to show where they are at in their proficiency work in science. They also are adding their learning from this energy audit to the PLP.
3. Next steps going forward? We need to set more goals, reflect on the goals we've set, revisit where they saw themselves in the beginning of the year. Especially the 8th graders who will be headed out soon to another level and other systems of support.

I chose the metaphor of the Red Sox team as it speaks to the idea of success in the face of adversity, a sense of optimism and a joy of engagement in the game.

I have done very little in PLP work other than those activities created by Allison.  However, there are many artifacts in student PLPs related to ELA.

I need to become more actively involved in designing activities for kids around use and monitoring of their PLP.

PLP

I choose the road metaphor because I love reading maps and watching as I travel where I have been, recall the memories, the people I met and the pictures. I have witnessed the students sharing what they wrote in Sept. as a long ago memory and such a good way to see growth.

PLP is such a great way to stay connected with students around what is important to them in all areas. I love reading them and using them as a starting point for conversations.

Next steps- keep using it as a reflection and a place to record their work. I'd love a bigger picture of them then that. Is there a school who has used them for years that we could see the growth over years?

1. What metaphor did you pick and why?
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far?
3. Next steps going forward?

I picked the road map because I look at the PLP as a map to the students future.

I have helped the students make entries and navigate the site.  I have had them add evidence for science.  I have had them reflect on their goals.

We need to get the PLP work in all their classes so it is an embedded part of every class and school.  We need to get the technology to allow us to do this.

I picked the diary, because I have enjoyed allowing the students discover who they are and record these discoveries.

Not too bad, Monday I am really jumping in on blogging...the struggle is going to be really really real.

Right and then left....ummm more collaborating time with Alison, this is when we are really able to use you folks as resources and crank out some good stuff.

I chose the sunrise, we are at the beginning-ish.
We are still organizing how PLPs will play out in elementry ed.
We are organizing portfolios right now (not PLP's but a step toward).

Thanks Gang,
Jon

2/5/16 PLP Update

Take a moment to respond to the three prompt questions:

1. What metaphor did you pick and why?
2. Where are you in terms of PLP work? What have you done so far?
3. Next steps going forward?

Changing rubrics to concentrate more on the Math skills vs. completing a task.

A few things that I thought about when reading the Learning Targets book was how my rubrics will change. Here are two parts of the rubric that I designed for the Community project (for the Math piece) and then an example of some of the new rubrics I am working on during this vacation. I also went to a Proficiency Based Learning Conference in November where I am now using some ideas gained from that experience which would be applicable to this topic.

This part of the rubric is all about the following, “We do not recommend writing task specific rubrics, however...Task specific rubrics reduce thinking to meeting a checklist of “right” answers…” With this is mind, a newer rubric that I think I would try, might look more like this,

I think the 2nd rubric focuses more on the Math learning and target than the first one. The first rubric was focusing on the product, but what learning actually occurred based on the project. Nowhere in that first rubric do we know what the student learned about how the students understand their data.

I also noticed this year a big difference in the 7th and 8th graders. Since I had taught the 8th graders last year, they were very comfortable using rubrics to guide their learning. 8th graders often referred to the rubric and asked questions to verify their learning. I would hear things like, “I need to work on this.” or “oh, I know how to do that.” Students helping each other in areas of weakness to make sure they would get a 3 on the rubric. Students would often ask, how can I make sure I get a 4 in this area? The 7th graders were not as used to this. I would offer the rubric and they may glance at it from time to time, but not really dig deep in the understanding. Then, when I met with them individually to go over the rubric and where they were, they were all about, “Can I re-do this part? How can I make this into a 3?” It was a lot more back-tracking with them than the 8th graders- they just did it the first time. For the 7th graders, they were at a different point in their learning of how rubrics work and how I can self assess my learning. Already, I have seen an improvement in the 7th graders.