Professional Learning for Busy Educators

One of the core goals of personalized learning is to “tailor instruction, expression of learning and assessment to each student’s unique needs and preferences,” according to this blog post from ISTE, an education technology association. Tactics to realize this vision include building flexibility in terms of content and grouping, and allowing students to fluidly move from group to group depending on their instructional needs.

Key to making this model work is student motivation, and an internal drive for students to take more ownership of their work. Fostering autonomy and responsibility can lead to significant growth in students’ academic and metacognitive skills.

However, in a school that previously adhered to the traditional brick-and-mortar structure of schools, it can be hard to envision what a new model that encourages student autonomy might look like. And, for teachers who have been teaching in traditional environments for years, it is an intimidating task to completely transform their practice.

Below are three microshifts that I implemented in my classroom at Saint Cornelius that I found can help teachers who may be hesitant to dip their toes into personalized learning and blended innovations.

Modern educators have come to the conclusion that each student requires attention at the lesson.
Moreover, every pupil has his own learning pace, percepts information in different ways and has an inclination to one or several subjects. That means that it is impossible to teach a dozen of students in one classroom and using the same methods and approaches and receive the same level of comprehension among all of them. That is why learning is getting more personalized today, and in this article, we will try to explain what exactly this kind of learning is and why it is worth shifting to it.