What are Individualized Paths?
Learning Pathways outline student learning targets and house resources and content that students can use to meet those targets (The Learning Accelerator, 2021). Learning Pathways are important to personalize learning in the classroom because they personalize the learning process for individual students or students. Knowing students well helps teachers create flexible pathways for students to demonstrate learning. They are at the heart of making learning personal (Farber, 2019).
According to The Learning Accelerator website, the students, teachers, and technology do the following:
According to The Learning Accelerator website, the students, teachers, and technology do the following:
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Teachers |
Technology |
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Co-Plan and Co-Design Learning Pathways:
W.I.N. Time
In my school, we have an intervention/enrichment block called WIN Time. WIN stands for What I Need. During this time, students work on standards or skills that they need academically. Students may be working towards meeting a standard or working on an enrichment activity if they have already met that standard. As a school, WIN is one day a week, but I have incorporated this time daily. I implemented the learning pathways during WIN Time and used a gameboard theme to keep students engaged in the process.
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Co-Planning: Team Up with Mrs. Jairrels! What do you need to WIN?
I met with students to go over their Team Up with Mrs. Jairrels forms. It provided structure for students to use so that we could co-plan on an objective that they needed.
Many students may not necessarily have the tools to set academic goals and lack strategies to enact change and work toward those goals. Teachers can provide structure to help students set academic goals that are realistic and appropriate as well as achievable (Toro, 2021) |
Pathways may be customized at the individual student level and/or group level (Personalized Learning Pathways, n.d.). For both of the learning pathways, the students and I co-planned the activities for their WIN Time boards. We utilized the digital resources that are available to them in the Clever portal along with classroom materials. I shared their digital pathways with them using a link but also gave them a printed hard copy to keep in their notebooks.
Both pathways begin with a review skill for students to work through independently. There are checkpoints with me along the way to make sure they are on track. Periodic milestones give learners the chance to check their progress along the way and ensure that they are on the proper path (Pappas, 2015). Once they came to the bridge on their pathway, then we co-planned for the next part of the standard. They filled out a progress checkpoint smiley face about their readiness to move forward in their pathways. They had a choice to keep going or go back and review.
Both pathways begin with a review skill for students to work through independently. There are checkpoints with me along the way to make sure they are on track. Periodic milestones give learners the chance to check their progress along the way and ensure that they are on the proper path (Pappas, 2015). Once they came to the bridge on their pathway, then we co-planned for the next part of the standard. They filled out a progress checkpoint smiley face about their readiness to move forward in their pathways. They had a choice to keep going or go back and review.
Learning Pathways: Phonics |
Learning Pathways: Math |
ELAGSE2RF3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
b. Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams. Student A is below grade level in reading. She has difficulties with remembering sounds that letters make together in teams. To help her with sounding out words with vowel teams, we co-planned a learning pathway for their recent phonics sound /oo/. For the initial meeting, she set a goal for herself and self-assessed how she feels about the goal (see picture below). She wanted to include activities in her pathway that reviewed both /oo/ spelled with oo and ew. She is an auditory learner, so she also wanted activities where she could see the word and hear them.
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MGSE2.NBT.7 Add and subtract within 1000, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method.
Student B is a progressing math student. She is a visual learner and performs better in math with manipulatives. To help her with adding and subtracting three-digit numbers, we co-planned a learning pathway based on that skill. For the initial meeting, she set a goal for herself, and self-assessed how she felt about the goal (see picture below). Students are required to use a strategy for solving problems. She decided that she needed more practice with place value. She had the option to use digital resources and place value manipulatives.
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Use of Assessment Data for Co-Planning Learning Paths:
Phonics Data |
Math Data |
At my school, we have a Phonics initiative called ELF. It stands for Early Literacy Framework. The purpose of ELF is to ensure that K-2 students become proficient, fluent, and confident readers. Each week we focus on a different spelling pattern and test students on their knowledge of the pattern. They have to read words with the targeted sound and spell words for the assessment. The data for this student shows that she did not perform well on the spelling pattern for this assessment cycle. According to the Performance bands, she scored in the Beginning range.
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In the mornings, I give my students Bell Ringers as a review of skills that we are currently learning. For this particular Bell Ringer, I used Nearpod. It was adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers. The data for this student shows that she did not perform well on this Bell Ringer. She also did not perform well on their first assessment for this standard. She struggled with using a strategy to add and subtract. After reviewing her Bell Ringers, classwork, and assessments, we decided that co-planning a learning pathway for this standard was needed.
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Coaching Learners towards Independence in Mastery:
I Need Help! What do I do?
To coach my students with independence, I created a Wild Card choice board. I wanted them to have access to other resources if they needed more help as they worked through their learning pathways independently. For the Phonics, she had a choice of videos, collaborating with a classmate, or using the Sound Padlet to review /oo/. For Math, she had a choice of videos, using digital or real base ten blocks, or using a calculator to work the problems backward from the answer.
To end their learning pathways for the targeted skill, I gave the students a choice on how they wanted to show their progress to mastery. The first student chose to make a video to teach others about the /oo/ sound spelled with oo and ew. The second student chose to make a chart to teach others about adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers.
References:
Farber, K. (2019, July 18). Collaboration in Personalized Learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/collaboration-personalized-learning/
The Learning Accelerator. (2021, June 8). Promoting Personalization through Learner Pathways. Resources & Guidance from the Learning Accelerator. https://practices.learningaccelerator.org/strategies/promoting-personalization-through-learner-pathways
Pappas, C. (2021, May 12). 7 Tips To Create Personal Learning Paths In eLearning. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-create-personal-learning-paths-elearning
Toro, S. (2021, October 12). Guiding Students to Set Academic Goals. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/guiding-students-set-academic-goals/
The Learning Accelerator. (2021, June 8). Promoting Personalization through Learner Pathways. Resources & Guidance from the Learning Accelerator. https://practices.learningaccelerator.org/strategies/promoting-personalization-through-learner-pathways
Pappas, C. (2021, May 12). 7 Tips To Create Personal Learning Paths In eLearning. eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-create-personal-learning-paths-elearning
Toro, S. (2021, October 12). Guiding Students to Set Academic Goals. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/guiding-students-set-academic-goals/