When I think about the way I
learned I remember there was only one way to do it. There wasn’t a choice and the lessons were not
customized to suit my learning style. For example, in math class, I
remember my teacher placing these big, red, x marks on my paper because I couldn’t arrive at the correct answer.
I struggled with mastering the algorithm to subtract in third grade.
Once I
finally mastered the steps I never really understood what was actually taking
place until I became a teacher of mathematics. Fast forward to today, children
are given multiple ways to solve subtraction in order to be successful.
Number lines, place value, base-ten blocks, and the infamous algorithm are
tools that students have the option to use. Today’s education learning is
personalized for students by giving them the tools they need but should it stop
there? Shouldn’t we continue to develop a
more personalized learning environment? “Our students want to be creative
and collaborate, utilize technology for learning, connect with their peers in
other countries, understand the messages that media convey, and solve
real-world problems” (Sheninger, 2016)
Think
about it for a moment…personalization exists everywhere. Facebook is customized to suit our interests and
needs. Have you ever seen sponsored ads pop up on your feed? Most
of the time these are items we have searched for on Amazon or something that
you have liked in the past. We can also create groups that feed our
passions and inspire us. It’s collaboration, education, and personalized
learning. Have you ever been on Pinterest? Pinterest also customizes interests based on the
boards you have pinned. When I go to my Pinterest feed I am surrounded by products and
lots of teacher ideas that I don’t have to search for. To be honest
my Pinterest boards are mostly made up
of teacher “stuff” because I’ve pinned thousands of teacher-related
items. This is how Pinterest has personalized my
learning experience.
Sir Ken
Robinson explains that education doesn’t need a reform because that requires us
fixing it. Education is not broken but education needs a revolution”
(Robinson, 2010). Imagine what it would be like if students were excited
about to school. I have really tried to make this a reality in my
classroom. I’ve changed the space,
adapted new ideas, changed my mindset about how instruction should be
delivered, and created personalized learning experiences for my kids. Quite
frankly I am obsessed with revolutionizing my classroom for my kids because
they deserve it! “You have the same choice every day. You can
choose what’s always been done-the safe and easy. Or, you can choose what’s
less simple, potentially more difficult, and absolutely more rewarding” (Neslonely and Welcome”).
Kieschnick, W. (2017). Bold School: Old School Wisdom + New
School Technologies.
NewYork: International Center for Leadership in
Education
Nesloney, T., & Welcome, A. (2016). Kids deserve it!: pushing
boundaries and challenging conventional thinking. San Diego, CA: Dave
Burgess Consulting, Inc
Robinson, K. (n.d.). Bring on the learning revolution! Retrieved November 22, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution
Sheninger, E. C. (2016). Uncommon learning: creating schools that work for kids. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
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