I was recently awarded a Rowland fellowship to implement a dynamic personal learning system in my school.  I am so proud to have been honored by the Rowland foundation.  As I stated in my application for the fellowship, I have literally been waiting for this opportunity (although I didn’t know it would look like this) since the 3rd grade when I moved from a Montessori school to a public system.  I expect that this will be one of many blog posts for the next year (or three) that will revolve around this work.   When Chuck Scranton interviewed me for this fellowship, the last question he asked me was about my vision for this project in five years.  If he came to visit what would I want him to see?

In five years, if you were to walk in the front doors of Enosburg Falls High School, I would want you to be greeted by smiling students.  More than one of them would be proud to show you around the school.  If you walked into a classroom, before the bell rang, you would see students talking and planning for class.  Students remember what they were doing last class and know where they are headed for the current day’s class.  During class, each student could articulate their personal goal for the time and they would be able to tell you what action steps they are engaging in to meet their goal.  There might be areas of a classroom that lend themselves to the various learning stages a student may be at; an area for exploring new ideas; an area for getting help; an area for collaborating with classmates; an area for presenting accomplishments.  Students would be making decisions about their learning.  There would rarely be whole group instruction with the teacher leading the class.  Any visitor would be able to see a clear transformation from their own public education experience.

In ten years, there are no bells.  There are no traditional classrooms, just learning spaces.  The lines between grades are blurred and instead teachers and students learn side by side; they rely on one another to meet their learning needs.  Parents and community members partner with teachers and students to facilitate learning experiences.  And who knows what else?

I would like to thank Chuck Scranton, Mike McRaith, Erik Remmers, Jason Robtoy and Jennifer Gaffney for supporting me in the application process.   I want to publicly thank Wendy and Barry Rowland for giving me the opportunity to implement this vision at Enosburg Falls High School.  Their generosity is causing major educational transformations to take place in Vermont and I am honored to be a part of those transformations.  Enosburg is doubly grateful for having been chosen twice!  Thank you Wendy and Barry for your incredible trust and generosity.