Preview - Now and for the Future

My last two visits have given me previews. On Friday, it was a preview into what will be coming in the future as we move toward Personalized Learning Plans. Students that morning were working on preparing for their student-led conferences in addition to their PLPs. I have to say, watching this process was really valuable. Some students really soared through the process and could immediately decide on pieces of work from each class that they wanted to add to the presentation that they will show to their parents. It was kind of their first run through on finding evidence, much like they will with their personalized learning plans. As I said, this process went much more smoothly for some rather than others.

When they began work on their PLPs, one of the first steps was to create a couple of different goals. One goal would be academic, and couldn't be based upon grades. They could say that they want to boost their participation in class which may be proven by a boost in participation grades (if those are available in the classroom), but they were not allowed to say that their academic goal was to get a 95% in social studies. This goal wasn't terribly difficult for students to come up with. Some students focused on an area where they may be particularly weak and would write what they wanted to improve and how they would go about it.

The second part that they worked on was a personal goal. Many students really struggled with this one. Some had goals that may have been too short-term (one student had already seen his goal related to football not work out within a week of making it, leaving him in the position of having to create a new goal) and others were too large (like emphasizing their occupation goals post-high school or college). While none of these personal goals were bad, they just didn't fit the scope of the plan. These personal goals should be achievable within the next year or two, though they can work toward those larger goals like working toward entering their dream profession.

It was useful to watch this process take place because I was faced with having to give examples of personal goals that might inspire them to create their own. This worked with a couple of students, but it didn't work with other students that I did not know as well. This was a great lesson because it made me see how valuable it is to really know your students, particularly in the PLP world when student interests and goals become central to their education. Friday gave me a solid preview of what my life will be like as a teacher when I try to start the PLP process and get students to start thinking about their short and long term goals and plan out how they are going to achieve those goals.

Today, Wednesday, provided a preview for what I will be teaching tomorrow. Mr. Scott taught a different version of the same lesson I will be teaching to a different group of students tomorrow. It was really useful to watch him teach because it helped me to consider new questions that students may ask me. It also helped me to rethink how much time I may actually need to lecture and explain Enlightenment concepts to the seventh graders. By watching Mr. Scott, I was able to kind of come up with a back up plan in case aspects of my lesson don't really pan out the way I want them to. Watching somebody else teach the same content that you will teach in a different way is a valuable experience because I got to see what he decided to emphasize and compare it to what I thought was most important.

I am really looking forward to teaching my lesson tomorrow, although I am nervous because the content may not be the most interesting to students and it can be a little difficult to really grasp. Regardless, I think these students are up for the challenge and will rise to the occasion and we will all learn something new from it.