Mt. Carmel's Commonly Used Personalized Learning Terms

1. Blended Learning – Is any formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.  Blended Learning may occur in the following models:  1) station rotation; 2) individual rotation; 3) lab rotation; 4) flipped classroom; and 5) hybrid blended learning, which is a combination of any of the above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD8AUfGsCKg&feature=youtu.be

2. ClassDojo – Is a web-based tool to assist in classroom management.  ClassDojo’s mission is to reinvent classrooms by bringing teachers, students and parents closer together. Teachers use ClassDojo as a communication platform to encourage students, and get parents engaged too. Classrooms become positive places - which means there's no more ‘classroom management’.  Just happier classrooms.

3.  Depth of Knowledge - Depth of Knowledge also referred to as D.O.K. is the complexity or depth of understanding required to answer or explain an assessment related item. The concept of depth of knowledge was developed through research by Norman L. Webb in the late 1990's.  Depth of Knowledge (D.O.K.) can also be demonstrated through questioning, tasks, and student work products

4. Differentiated Learning – Differentiation is a type of learning where instruction is tailored to meet the learning needs, preferences and goals of individual students. The overarching academic goals for groups of students are the same, yet the teacher has the latitude to use whatever resources and approaches they see fit to connect with a student or use practices that have proved successful for similar students.

5.  Dynamic Learning Environments- Students have access to multiple learning environments and formats to meet their academic goals (online learning, small groups, projects, flipped assignments, personalized learning time, teacher-led instruction, teacher conferencing/tutoring, etc.)

6. Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) - Extended Learning Opportunity is the primary acquisition of knowledge and skills through instruction or study outside the traditional classroom methodology.  This can include but is not limited to:  internship, apprenticeship, community service, dual enrollment, independent study, online courses, performance groups, private instruction, and educational travel.

7.  Five Tenets- Henry County Schools has a strong commitment to create personalized learning opportunities for students.  District leadership seeks to support schools through a redesign process that is framed by the following five personalized learning tenets:

1. Learner Profiles & Personalized Learning Plans 

2. Henry Teaching & Learning Standards (HTLS)  

3. Authentic Learning (Project Based, Service Learning, Inuqiry) 

4. 21st Century Skills- (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking)

5. Technology Enabled Learner

8. Flipped Classroom - is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional educational arrangement by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojiebVw8O0g
Kindergarten Flipped Classroom Lessons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqJoeRGs4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEEvSpi7pc8

9. Growth Mindset - Is a philosophy based on the research of Dr. Carol Dweck. The big ideas include the following:  the brain is malleable and not fixed, talents and abilities can be developed, failure presents learning experiences and should be embraced, success is a result of effort and persistence, feedback is essential to growth, praise should be centered on hard work and effort rather than skill or talent.

10. Individualized Learning - Instruction adjusted to meet the unique pace of various students is known as individualized learning. If differentiation is the “how,” then individualization is the “when.” The academic goals, in this case, remain the same for a group of students, but individual students can progress through the curriculum at different speeds, based on their own particular learning needs. The above definitions were taken from Personalized vs. Differentiated vs. Individualized Learning by Dale Base for more details: https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=124

11. Instructional Focus (IF) - Time devoted to targeted mathematics and reading interventions for students in the Multi-Tiered Support System (MTSS) and acceleration of students who are working at or above grade level. Grade levels have the autonomy to place students in targeted classrooms based on F&P, IKAN/GLoSS, and GA Milestones assessment scores. Students in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) classrooms are heterogeneously working together through project-based learning.

12. Learner Profile & Personalized Learning Plans- Reflect students' prior school performance and interests. Personal Learning Plans are co-created by students, their families, and Henry County School staff to help create learning paths unique to each student.

13. Personalized Learning - refers to learning that is tailored to the preferences and interests of learners, as well as instruction that is paced to a student’s unique needs. Academic goals, curriculum and content, as well as method and pace, can all conceivably vary in a personalized learning environment.  Path, Place, Pace, and People are utilized to meet the needs of each learner.

14. P.L.A.C.E.S – Personalizing Learning through Authentic Collaborative and Empowering Student Learning Experiences

15. Project-Based/Authentic Learning -   Buck Institute for Education (BIE) defines it as a broad category, which as long as there is an extended “project” at the heart of it, could take several forms or be a combination of:

• Designing and/or creating a tangible product, performance or event
• Solving a real-world problem (may be simulated or fully authentic)
• Investigating a topic or issue to develop an answer to an open-ended question

16. Rubrics- A rubric is an assessment tool that provides clear expectations for an assignment or project by listing criteria and levels of quality/performance.  Rubrics may be used by teachers to grade assignments.  Students can utilize rubrics to understand the expectations for assignments and projects and for personal goal setting.

17. Station Rotation Classroom Model of Blended Learning - Within a given course or subject, students rotate at fixed points in time between different learning stations, at least one of which is an online learning station tied to the content, standard, or competency. Other stations might include activities such as small-group or full-class instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil-and-paper assignments. 

18. Student Agency - Student agency refers to the level of control, autonomy, and power that a student experiences in an educational situation. Student agency can be manifested in the choice of learning environment, subject matter, approach, and/or pace.

19. 21st Century Skills - Learning experiences will be designed to foster key overarching skills and dispositions needed for 21st Century college, career , and life success and include: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking, which are also referred to as the 4 C’s.