During a recent reading of Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros, I came across a quote that really got me thinking. He wrote, “Students need to be empowered, not engaged”. All year I have been focusing on the many ways that we could “engage” students so that learning could be more personal. This quote really made […]
This year we lost an English teacher because our student numbers are down. Part of the reason that this is happening is that students have the opportunity to take English classes during the summer and online. They are taking advantage of early college and dual enrollment in order to get college credits during high school. […]
Many people are discussing the changes that are happening in education toward a more relevant, personal learning system. Some believe that this push to make learning more interesting and engaging for students will stunt their ability to persist when they have to do more rote boring tasks that are inevitable in the realities of the […]
When I wrote my Rowland fellowship proposal a little over a year ago, my main concern was to make sure that mandated personal learning plans didn’t become another superficial piece of paper that had little meaning for students. Over the past year, I have made a lot of discoveries and confirmations. I think the number […]
For the past several months, I have been part of a team attending a Vermont seminar series on proficiency based graduation and personalized learning. At times, I have found myself so overwhelmed that I wondered how a transformation so enormous could be possible? I have felt the sinking feeling of doubt that such amazing transformations […]
As we move towards the use of personal learning plans in Vermont, I have really been wondering what it might look like in our current system. I set out on an individual professional learning path this summer in order to reflect on what it might look like for students. To be honest, I like […]
