This has certainly been a long time in the making…
As a reflective practitioner, it can be quite easy to get caught up in educational philosophy and trying to mine each and every one of your decisions for the philosophical stances it either explicitly or implicitly takes. While there is certainly many great things that can come from this process, like all philosophy, there is the potential to be completely paralyzed with the multitude of outcomes and deciding which path is best. It can get to the point where you are so worried about the words you say being misconstrued that it can become challenging to actually say anything definitive. Eventually, it is time to stop philosophizing and take action.
This has certainly been true of my journey with Cohort 21. A true meeting of the minds, at the end of each session I feel like anything is possible, but when I get back to the very busy and imperfect world in which I actually teach (this isn’t a suggestion about my school, but true of everywhere) I feel it incredibly challenging to see how the big ideas I love to talk about look in the particular setting of my classroom. It’s easy to get tied up trying out new technologies or aiming for a certain look to the classroom, and forget that what I really want is the simplest and most complicated goal: to help my students be happy and learn.
A purely philosophical conversation can aim toward ideals and truths that aren’t always present in their purest sense. If my goal is ultimately to honestly help my students, then it must start with an honest recognition of who my students are and the obstacles to learning that might arise for them as a specific group. This alone is a nearly insurmountable task; however, I can certainly aim at what I see as a, if not the, significant challenge to my particular leaners.
The learners in my classroom have an astounding range of language proficiencies between them. Some of them are completely comfortable with university-level texts, while some are reading 5-6 years below their grade level. This, as you can imagine, leads to many problems. Not least of which is the ethical challenge of how I spend my time in class. Is my time best spent working intensively with a handful of students who are just on the cusp of passing? Or is it best spent moving those students with Bs and Cs to the next level? Or is it best spent enriching my program for my high-achievers and pushing them out of their inertia so they don’t lose their solid work habits before they get to university? Unfortunately, each of those goals require a different percentage of my classroom time and the bottom line is that I can’t do each one of those things the way a class traditionally operates. Maybe I’ll have some teachers shaking their head at that statement (“I can’t”), but it is a very real challenge that can either be swept under the rug or faced down.
For me, what it ultimately comes down to is creating a level of productive academic rigour for each student. And to accomplish that with such a diverse range of language abilities is finding the best way to be in more than one place at once, and that is ultimately what brings me to the idea personalized learning.
That brings me to the “what”, but now I have to figure out the “how”. I need to figure out how to push, pull, nudge, and lift students all at once. How to create different paths – some of which may never meet – and yet maintain a sense of community within my classroom.
I have yet to uncover what that looks like in an English class. Right now the best action I can offer is the hammering out of these ideas into words. Right now, it’s trying to leverage Google Sites, Google Drive, Google Forms, Flubaroo, Coggle.It, and Diigo (among other sites), to try and create collaborative spaces for students. Right now, it’s trying to offer course work, wherever possible, in multi-day chunks that students can work through freely. Right now, it’s a lot of one-on-one/two/three conversations and running around like an oddly-relaxed chicken with its head cut off. Right now, it’s a strategic bolstering of the ESL program to ensure students are set up for success in our academic and university-level program. Right now, it’s trying to add up the success and failures to come to a conclusion of what works and what doesn’t. Right now, it’s lots of frustration and fun.
As always, I’m more than open to suggestions.
Aaron,
Your post echoes the paralysis of philosophers and educators everywhere, but escaping this stagnation is vital, and your post offers the best place to start: keeping the focus on the students. To create a personalized approach, start with assessments as they are learning – this will give you benchmarks from which to group students and provide them with their own paths.
One thing I find daunting is the thought of having to personalize for each and every student; you don’t have to. Students have always been able to personalize their own learning, and your efforts are a way to magnify their ability.
You should check out Brent Hurley’s last post (www.cohort21.com/brenthurley) as he demonstrates one of the best places to personalize: student feedback.
Then check out Celeste Kirsch’s latest post on how she is charting new waters in her personalized options for how students enter into their learning (www.cohort21.com/celestekirsch). It’d be great to have you explore this conversation more directly with them!
I appreciate your post. It’s really thoughtful and your students are lucky to have you thinking about them in the most careful and considerate way! I look forward to more from you on this journey!
garth.
Hey Aaron,
Can I just say that I really admire and respect your professional vulnerability and how willing you are to to be openly grappling with your journey and process? I feel like your students are so lucky to have that kind of modelling for their own learning and development.
I want to echo everything Garth has said, especially in regards to how students will personalize for themselves. This makes me wonder if exploring some personalized projects for your students might be the next step. Designing some open, interesting, and authentic projects might be a great tool for you to allow your students to design their own learning paths, allowing you to be their guide on the side. I’ve recently become interested in the world of High Tech High…check out their approach to this kind of learning:
http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-resources and https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9vDCLDArV-sVFdQc3NYUXpYNUU/edit?usp=sharing
It might be just that I’ve been contemplating all things project-based-learning and so I’m suggesting it as a through-way for your journey (when you have a hammer in your hand, every challenge looks like a nail)…or it might just be a cool new thing to consider. Regardless, I hope it sparks something.
Keep writing about the process too. I want to know what an average day / class looks like for you and your students.
Hi Aaron,
this is a really beautiful post – you really do a great job of summarizing the dilemmas we face as teachers. I love your passage, excerpted below:
“This has certainly been true of my journey with Cohort 21. A true meeting of the minds, at the end of each session I feel like anything is possible, but when I get back to the very busy and imperfect world in which I actually teach (this isn’t a suggestion about my school, but true of everywhere) I feel it incredibly challenging to see how the big ideas I love to talk about look in the particular setting of my classroom. It’s easy to get tied up trying out new technologies or aiming for a certain look to the classroom, and forget that what I really want is the simplest and most complicated goal: to help my students be happy and learn.”
Such a great reminder for us all.
Thanks for this.
Mike
Aaron – I am at the GAFE summit today and thinking about your post.
Many teachers here are exactly in the same place you are. It is certainly a “process” and a long road of iteration, reflection and experimentation. Building a community of support around you (as you have started with Cohort21) is an important step.
Check out some of these recent workshops . http://on.gafesummit.com/2014/program/detailed-sessions
Some inspiring ideas in here.
I can only copy what Justin has to say:
“It is certainly a “process” and a long road of iteration, reflection and experimentation. Building a community of support around you (as you have started with Cohort21) is an important step.”
I’ve struggled with the exact same issues you describe all year. I go to and come away from Cohort sessions completely energized then I run into that feeling of being overwhelmed and don’t know where to start with all the info I have. Then I get back to my classes and have to deal with the ordinary everyday details of, well, teaching, and the lack of time I have to research and plan in more detail using what I’ve learned.
It’s about the journey, not the destination, right?