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Learning: IT’S Personal in Bedford County Public Schools Personalized learning is student centered. Careful consideration is given to students’ learning strengths, interests, needs, and preferences. Additionally, Instructional content, pace, place, and supports are tailored to meet students’ needs. Students take responsibility for their own learning by developing skills to take on the role of researching and selecting resources to assist in their learning. Teachers help facilitate student mastery of rigorous course-specific competencies/standards. Initial Exploration 2012-2013 School Year Dr. Schuch invited interested principals and school board office staff to explore interest in implementing personalized learning concepts into their schools. These monthly meetings grew and a majority of the members became interested in pursuing more structured action. There was interest for further exploration by elementary, middle, and high school principals and school board office staff.

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Current Actions to Build Our Personalized Learning Vision

Tanner Gage uses his digital notebook during Delete text and place photo here. a Spanish class at Forest Middle School on Friday. Photo by Jill Nance / News and Advance

Delete text (right), and place photo here. Savannah Shupe Sarah Jones and Arielle Falcon use their digital notebooks during a Spanish class at Forest Middle School on Friday. Photo by Jill Nance / News and Advance

Personalized learning MYTHS

 Replaces teaching: Actually personalized learning allows teachers to utilize data to group, reteach, inspire, and motivate students by empowering them to lead their learning. It requires teachers to shift from primary instructor, to education specialist/coach.  There is no remediation: Because students are empowered to understand their own learning, and are met where they are and equipped for success, education gaps are acknowledged and filled in

Steering committee formed of all interested stakeholders. As a result of continued interest, a Personalized Learning steering committee was established. At its first meeting on January 8, 2014, three subcommittees were established. Those in attendance as well as others in the weeks following this meeting joined the Infrastructure and Devices (computers, bandwidth, technology), Communication and Outreach (reporting to all stakeholders the progress and ideas and providing transparent communication), and/or Instructional Methodology (what teaching roles/admin roles must evolve) subcommittee. Since the January 8, 2014 meeting, subcommittees have been meeting to explore topics associated with their role of successfully creating a personalized learning environment for students. A second Steering Committee meeting was held on April 21, 2014. At this meeting, subcommittee progress was discussed and steering committee members suggested “next steps.” Subcommittees will continue to meet to address suggested next steps and the Steering Committee will meet again on August 25, 2014.

Infrastructure and Device Sub-committee Summary Essential Question: What technology/structure needs should be considered? How do we inform about the elearning backpack initiative?  What schools can be a part of this initiative?  Do we expand to include others?  What are our infrastructure needs? o More Bandwidth o Servers o Switches o Wireless Access Points  What device will best meet the learning goals? o What operating system? o Is the device manageable?  From the technology perspective  From the instructional perspective

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Sub-committee work continued…

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Communication and Outreach Subcommittee Summary Essential Question: How can we effectively communicate our mission and progress to all stakeholders?      

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Personalized Learning – Defining for different audiences Identification of Stakeholders – Who needs to know at about this? Getting the Word Out – How should we communicate with our audience? Developing a newsletter to summarize year. Establish Content for Initial division-wide Communication Discuss Design / Format for This Communication o Member Interest o Timeline for Distribution Initial Discussion Regarding Branding  Member Interest  Draft Proposals

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nd place photo here.

Send Newsletter ASAP

Instructional Methodology Sub-committee Summary Essential Question: What shifts in the instructional practices will help us achieve personalized learning?  Established Roles Shift Chart (next page) and evolutionary steps to shift those roles to a more personalized environment.

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Reviewed content management systems to determine best practice.

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Reviewed Google and participated in a Google Hangout with a teacher who taught in a personalized learning environment: Miss Kate Burks. Click here to see the interview: (must have your Google account access to see).

Jefferson Forest teacher Debra Woodson accepts the Bedford Teacher of the Year award from superintendent Doug Schuch during a ceremony and dinner at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va., May 13, 2014. (Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce / News & Advance)

“Cavaliers in Woodson’s class take a turn in the “hot seat” where their classmates look for holes in their arguments, giving them feedback they can use to edit their papers and bolster their claims. ‘“I love doing that,”’ Woodson said. “’Because students have latitude in choosing their topics, they get fired up and write passionately on their chosen subjects,”’ [Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Debra]Woodson said.” Bedford News and Advance Article Click Here

Role Shift Chart Created Instructional Methodology Sub-committee Work.

Middle School Pilot: What Device Should We Use? Newspaper Articles

Forest Middle School Article: CLICK Here Bedford Middle School: CLICK Here Training for Teachers: CLICK Here Three different laptop computers were given to students for use during this pilot. The initial focus of the pilot was to determine the best device for the district in preparation for a potential 1:1 initiative announced by the Virginia Department of Education. This initiative would have partially  Staunton River Middle School: funded devices for 9th grade students in schools of improvement in 2014-15. After consideration, the eLearning Backpack initiative was not pursued Science and Math Success due to the local cost associated with implementation and the need for additional professional development prior to expansion of personalized learning across the division. In order to provide digital content to replace textbooks, evaluate specific devices, and introduce a small-scale one-to-one initiative, BCPS started this pilot program in the fall of 2013. There were 2 days of summer training for teachers (except those on vacation who received a shorter, more focused training) and one follow-up training day after school started. In addition, there were periodic classroom visits by central office staff, and ITRT provided on-site support for teachers. Below are the results of a survey Dr. Ed Hoisington and Dr. Duis presented to the School Board. Key findings  Nearly 80% of students in the pilot could access internet at home.  75% of students classify themselves as intermediate or advanced laptop users.  Students report that, at home, they complete homework (86%), organize information (66%), and conduct internet research (55%).  28% agree or strongly agree that technology systems are adequate to support their laptop use at school.  41% agree or strongly agree that software meets their educational needs.  Students report daily or weekly use in English (72%), math (45%), science (54%), and history (70%) classes.  Students shared mixed results on questions about how the laptop use affected their school experience and learning.  The highest reported uses of laptops were internet research, submitting assignments, and assessment. The lowest reported uses were analyzing information/creating products and one and two way communication.  45% of students report an overall poor satisfaction with the laptop pilot.  88% of students would prefer a tablet device to a laptop, with 61% preferring a tablet with a keyboard. Did having a laptop available for you to use all the time change your learning? (representative verbatim student responses) No. The use of laptops in class slows the pace, such as waiting for items to load, and if they are not working properly  Yes. I think it helped me see some of the concepts better in all classes  Yes, it changed my learning in learning in good ways and bad ways. At times there was no internet access to do my work. But I enjoyed writing notes on my laptop(google account).  Yes, it made it more convenient to turn in work electronically and get note to teachers in cases of where I'm sick, for work.  No, I only care about passing the SOL.  Not really, it helped research some things, for example an essay in English class. However when doing work like this, school computers worked fine. What did you like best about the laptop pilot? (representative verbatim student responses)  That we can get the lesson on our computers and take them home to review the lesson  getting grades back faster  We are able to work at our own pace but only sometimes.  Being able to take tests on the computer  I don't have to have a bunch of paper notes  Being able to take it home and search things if I need help with homework  Being able to share things with classmates and teachers.  Faster typing and easy access to your teachers.  Easier to keep track of stuff What suggestion would you make for improving a student laptop/devices program? (representative verbatim student responses)  Give the teachers more time to learn how to use them in lessons  Batteries not falling out, using it for ALL class assignments instead of using both our binders, textbooks and laptops  Faster WIFI, have a class teaching us how to use them.  TEACHERS NEED TO USE THE COMPUTERS MORE!!!!!!!!!  Make internet connection at school easier. Is there anything else about your experience with the student laptop program you would like for us to know? (representative verbatim student responses)  We need tablets instead of computer  The batteries fall out to much and start up really slow  Service to internet is sometimes slow which annoys me  We needed all our books on the devices but we only had one. Take-always Based on the results, steps for the future include:  Provide adequate and ongoing teacher training and support in a variety of instructional strategies  Provide adequate student training in a variety of programs and applications  Identify, provide, and create rich and rigorous digital content  Increase bandwidth and school connectivity  Evaluate devices carefully for durability and ease of use Contact about survey results [email protected]

Classroom/Training Shifts…Personalizing in Action

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Flipped Classrooms

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Jalenda Settles and Kelley Steele’s Math and Science classroom at Huddleston Elementary School. o Email [email protected] and [email protected]

Rebecca Guzman’s Spanish classroom at Forest Middle School. Ashlie Hirschman’s Spanish classroom at Bedford Middle School. o Email

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Cathey Burks’ Poverty Training using Google Sites. o Email

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Justin Tucker and Michelle Morgan’s student engagement discussion/evaluation/peer observations using www.schoology.com . o Email

[email protected]

Cori Fairchild’s World History I classroom at Forest Middle School. o Email

[email protected]

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[email protected]

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JoAnna Eubanks’ Science classroom at Jefferson Forest High School. o Email

[email protected] *On May 19th around 30 staff members (teachers and Instructional Technology Resource Teachers/lead teachers, supervisors) attended a Flipped Classroom training in Richmond.

Personalizing with Blended Instruction/Training 

Tosha Weddle’s Math class at Stewartsville Elementary School. She uses Khan Academy o Email Cynthia Meyer’s worked with a student using Edgenuity at Montvale Elementary School. o Email

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Audrey Bowyer and Gwen Church’s Math and science classrooms with Google Sites/Drive/Forms Khan Academy, Learning Contracts, and SO MUCH MORE. o Email Susan Badger and Jamie Brown’s Math and English Classroom with Kunos, Khan Academy, tons of apps., Learning Contracts, and SO MUCH MORE. [email protected] [email protected]

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[email protected] [email protected]

Email

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o [email protected] Dr. Schuch/Dr. Whitehurst’s senior staff, principal administrators meeting online resource courses using www.schoology.com . o Email [email protected]

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[email protected]

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Personalized Professional Development Tracy Piestrak and MANY Instructional Resource Teachers developed a Personalized Teaching Academy using Google Sites. o Email [email protected]

[email protected] and [email protected]

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Future Step…in the field Playdate training Professional Development at SRMS for the last two days. Un-conference track planned for the professional development training date August 8. Flipped the Administrative summer Conference Flipped Faculty Meetings More Flipped classrooms (including multiple resources for choice) Reinventing Schools Coalition Integration Creating Outcomes and Rubrics for Measuring Mastery Summer Session 2014 Personalizes Part Two Parent Teacher Conferences Evolve Into StudentLed Conferences Infusing Career and Workplace Readiness Skills into Curriculum for Authentic Learning BCPS Personalized Learning Steering Committee Reconvenes in August Andy Greenough [email protected] is going paperless at TJES next year. Lori Manley doing paperless planbooks at FES next year. [email protected] Rhetta Watkins to continue paperless Thursdays at BMS. [email protected]

…stay tuned and get involved. The steering committee is open to all interested stakeholders. Contact Caroline Wray [email protected] WWW.BEDFORD.K12.VA.US