January 4, 2018 by Dr. Alva Lefevre
I feel that there is much to be learned from the way we approach performance-based subjects such as art, music, and sports. Not so much from the perspective of winning or losing, but from the perspective that skills are achieved in a progression and that we become better as we practice.
In his personal reflection, Troy Strand draws on his experience conducting middle school orchestras to share some lessons about personalizing learning. Here is my take using his ideas.
1) Learning Becomes Personal When Students Can Articulate Their Goals. This fits really well with my last writing about portfolios because the driving force is to do goal-setting WITH the students instead of FOR the students. Along with the setting of goals, the student must be able to articulate them – the WHAT, WHY, and HOW – in order to own their goals. This practice of jointly developing goals and individually being able to communicate those goals and sharing how they are going to be attained is at the core of making learning personal.
2) Use Performance to Create a Classroom Culture That Values Practice and Growth. This puts a new spin on the idea of success vs failure and of each goal being a stand-alone. When we look at what goes on in our academic classroom from the perspective of an orchestra conductor moving towards a cohesive performance, then each step can become an intermediary “practice” towards mastery rather than a final and unconnected assessment in a string of unrelated objectives. I really like the shift towards helping students understand that, as they acquire new skills, they can “build upon existing knowledge or highlight the need for additional practice, rather than as a mark of success or shame”.
3) Pacing Must Be Personalized. This is where we must internalize the concept that “differentiation” is not just a bunch of strategies to be trotted out whenever we feel that particular students need additional help, but the belief that we need to create “an infrastructure that supports learners at various paces”. In other words, differentiation is part of the skeleton, not just some external and random padding. In addition, it must be something that the students (and parents) buy into because being aware of one’s own progress and the ability to verbalize next steps is a critical life-skill. Furthermore, building pacing into the infrastructure makes the whole classroom “simultaneously collaborative and individualized” without having it turn into additional layers that eat away at the little time we have with our students.
4) Passion and Pride Go a Long Way. Choice builds confidence and instills a sense of control in our students. “Encouraging students to explore creative alternatives for how they demonstrate mastery … can yield astonishing results” while allowing teachers to document progress and mastery. Strand says that “when students are passionate, engaged and feel supported by their community of learners, they’ll pursue their work with enthusiasm and a sense of ownership – and they’ll thrive”. It has been my experience that sharing my passions and encouraging my students to share theirs builds momentum in the classroom. Having a list of many topics and allowing time for reflection and sharing in pairs or in groups gives students a voice.
Having a voice that is built upon achievement is empowering and isn’t this what we want for our children (students)?
To see the entire reflection by Strand see:
The 4 Keys to Conducting Personalized Learning Like a Maestro
By Troy Strand Nov 30, 2017 in EdSurge