Personalised Learning #Edchatnz Conference - Part 2

When it came down to choosing what to do in session 2 I was really torn. I had missed the first tour of Hobsonville Point Primary because I was presenting the @Kidsedchatnz workshop with Reid. I would have loved to have gone over to see the school and kids in action, but in the end decided to opt for Amy and Erin's workshop on personalised learning. I loved how they had also brought some of the kids over to share their personal experiences too. 

Here is one of the first images that was shared. I couldn't agree more! I've played around with personalised learning and independent learning plans over the last 18 months, but dropped the independent learning plans when I moved to my new school. Mostly because being in a new school was a big learning curve over the first two terms, but also the school I'm in is what I would class as being a very traditional school. After the #Edchatnz Conference I've decided that it's actually okay to be the lone nut and so am going to give things in my single cell class a bit of a shake up. Yes, I'm a lone nut and try to hack the education system. Why? Because I strongly believe it will benefit my students and support them with becoming independent learners who are able to think both creatively and critically about their learning. Don't get me wrong; I always ensure that I meet school requirements, but am always looking for innovative ways to improve the teaching and learning within my class. 

We were reminded that we are teaching kids, not subjects. I still believe that there are still so many teachers out there that are stuck in the habit of teaching subjects, while failing to ask themselves whether the learning is really meeting the needs of the individual learners? Is the learning personalised? One boy shared how at his old school he always felt bored and wanted to go to sleep. Another child spoke about the olden days and the teacher planning the whole day and everyone doing the same thing. So many teachers are still doing this! 

 At Hobsonville Point Primary learning is personalised by the students. For learning to be personalised it has to be coming from the students, not the teacher. The children start the day by completing a timetable. The children are encouraged to start this before school if they wish, but are still given some time after the bell goes to complete it for the day. The timetables look different at different levels. Here are some examples:

 The children's day is made up of group workshops e.g. guided reading groups, writing and maths groups as well as whole class workshops such as PE. Students also have independent activities to complete, including follow up activities - just like in a normal class. The children first block in their workshops, followed by their independent activities and any negotiated projects. The negotiated projects came across very similar to our Adventure Learning projects in Room 8, that are based on Google's 20% Time. 

Students check off what they've completed during the day and the teacher stamps it to ensure that the students have a balanced day. From memory, younger students planned for one day each morning, while older students completed their timetable for the whole week. When I did independent learning plans I found that doing it day by day worked best for my year 4 class, so that will be my starting point again. 

Hobsonville Point Primary School's planning is all visible both on a wall in their learning environment and on their Google Site. The children can access the Google Site to see what's happening during the week. It also assists them with planning their timetables. 

Up the top you will see I've clicked the tab 'Term 3' and then selected Week 3. The timetable clearly shows which workshops are happening at what time, who is running them, who is attending them, resources needed and whether or not there is a follow up activity. Love the detail and how visible the planning is for both students, other teachers and the students' families. 

After attending the TTLA seminar in Whangarei in Term 2 and listening to a presentation on how Point England School uses Google sites I went away and started having a play with creating one. Here's where mine is at, at the moment. After seeing how Hobsonville Point School uses theirs I've come away with some fresh ideas to further develop our class one. Watch this space :) The reason I created my class Google site was to enable the students in my class to access their learning any time and anywhere. 

Here's a photo of the learning wall at Hobsonville Point Primary School. This is one idea that I'm taking away to implement in my classroom straight away. 

A big thank you to Amy and Erin for sparking my excitement around personalised learning again. Looking forward to blogging my students' progress throughout the rest of the year. 

Quote is one I came across online, but image is my own.