apPLE for the teacher

Pioneer (n) - a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area.

You are a pioneer. You are the first to set out into largely uncharted territory to better the educational experience for our future generations. Whether you want to admit it or not, a part of you is excited to think of yourself as such. Good teaching has always been about doing what's best for students by keeping up with the latest practices and trends. Personalized learning is a trending topic. Don't believe me? Just pop over to Google, Twitter, and Facebook and check it out for yourself. See? However, before you dismiss this new wave of education as the "latest trend" consider the purpose. Edglossary.org defines PL as:

"...a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so-called 'one-size-fits-all' approaches to schooling in which teachers may, for example, provide all students in a given course with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with little variation or modification from student to student..."

Now, based on that definition, how many educational tools do you already posses to move toward a more personalized learning environment? Starting with knowing your students as individuals is the greatest investment you can make. The remainder of this newsletter is dedicated to doing just that.

Remember, you are a pioneer. Being an educational pioneer is a rarity, and it's rewarding. Keep this mind every time you want to throw your hands up at the frustrations you experience at the thought of personalizing learning and the use of tablet technology. It may seem overwhelming now, but it is worth it. Enjoy this ride, and rest easy in knowing that what you do is shaping our future.

I am sure you are thinking, why are we giving learning inventories? The results gathered from learning inventories can give insight into students' learning preferences, their personalities, cultural differences/similarities and overall strengths and weaknesses. It would be a shame to gather these golden nuggets of information and let them grow moss. So, let's roll. ;)

At both of your school-based summer trainings, you were introduced (or reintroduced) to the True Colors and VARK assessments. These surveys gather information about personality and learning-style preferences, respectively. Those surveys (both print and digital) are available in this Blendspace. Through this link, you will also find additional learning assessments (i.e. multiple intelligences) and resources to help you deliver student-centered instruction based on learning style preferences.

Now for the million dollar question, how do I gather all of this information so I am not so overwhelmed? *Puts on cape* SuperPLEF to the rescue!! But seriously, you have a couple of options: digitally or manually.

• Digital option: Consider creating an online survey for students to complete by putting in the results from their inventories. This relieves you of the burden of inputting and holds student accountable for reporting their results. The information is then "dumped" into a private spreadsheet that you can filter as you desire. Click here for an informal tutorial.
• Manual option: Have students complete a worksheet reporting the results of their various surveys in one space. Check out the completed "Me at a Glance" sheet. If you like it, feel free to download an editable copy or the pdf version. Ask students to keep a copy in their notebooks for reference and revisiting, or you can keep them all in a notebook for quick grouping and regrouping at a glance.

This is the first step toward truly knowing your learners. In addition to knowing their preferences, knowing their academic needs is just as important. In the same way you would pre-assess their academic knowledge, pre-assessing their learning preferences will give you a well-rounded picture of what these students are truly bringing to the table.

If you are looking to add more to your students' profile information, check out this self assessment on Edutopia. This student-friendly assessment is based on an existing questionnaire by Branton Shearer of Multiple Intelligence Research and Consulting. As described above, this assessments gives a visually appealing results page in the form of a bar graph outlining the score for each of the multiple intelligences. Each of the intelligences are also hyperlinked to learn more about that particular preferences.

This space is reserved for you.

I am a PLEF, Personalized Learning Environment Facilitator, serving Kernodle and Kiser Middle Schools in Guilford County, NC. I am 1/12 of a team of instructional coaches and technology integration specialists who are passionate about revolutionizing education. In my former life, I taught ELA and SS at the elementary and middle grades level. I also taught remedial reading to 6-8 grade students. I <3 middle school!

Email: brownj2@gcsnc.com
Website: http://ple.gcsnc.com
Location: Guilford County, NC, United States
Facebook: facebook.com/pace.plefs
Twitter: @performerplef