Standards - Based + Self Paced = Surprisingly Awesome

I attended #edcampNJ in the fall of 2013 and while I walked away with so many ideas there was one session that really stretched my thinking.  It was a session run by Rebecca McLelland-Crawely (@WWPscience) who is the Supervisor of Science at West Windsor North High school and Kristina Nicosia (@kmsusca) who teaches a Freshman Biology class at the same high school.  Kristina teaches Biology with Robert Corriveau, and together they have developed an amazing classroom to engage students in their own learning.  Rebecca and Kristina gave a presentation about a classroom that seemed amazing.  They talked about a class where there was problem based, learning and standards based grading while the students were self-paced through this process.  After hearing about this classroom I knew I had to go and visit to see it for myself, and I was going to bring teachers with me to see how we could bring elements of their classroom into our own.

The Awesome:

• Time is maximized, the students walk in and get right to work.  Some open Chromebooks to find where they left off (the entire YEAR of learning is in a Google Drive folder).  Some have signed up to present their projects to the teacher.  Other students are giving presentations to the class using tools like Prezi on the SMART Board.  
• All students have the opportunity to redo an assignment or retake an assessment they didn't do well on, because the goal in this class is to have students learn material, not for the teacher to cover material.  
• Students have the ability to self-pace their homework.  I spoke to a student named Lauren who told me:   "There is free scheduling and flexibility when it comes to homework. You can choose to do as much homework as you want. That means a lot to me because I'm involved in so many after school activities."  
• It is 100% clear which students are actively learning and which students are not. In a traditional classroom, where the teacher is in front of the room lecturing, how many students are actively involved?
• Students own the workspace. Several students had an activity where they had to determine the rate a disease would spread so they had to roll dice. They chose to go out out in the hall where their rolls wouldn't be interfered with.
• Only the grade at the end of the year is the one that counts. In a traditional classroom if a students bombs the first marking period with a 'D' there is no way he/she can earn an 'A' at the end of the year. In this class if a student falls behind the first marking period, they can work hard and still earn an 'A' by the end of the year. If a student masters all concepts they have done 'A' work.
• Students could not only name their own objective for the day, but the majority of students understood why they were learning it. They understood how it connected to what they had learned previously and how it could connect what they will learn in the future.

The Surprising:

• Many students did not like the set-up of this class. Some students would rather sit down and listen to the teacher lecture, if there is confusion you could ask another student because everyone is at the same place.
• One student shared with me, "If you are having a bad day in a regular class, it is no big deal, you don't really have to work that hard. But if I have a bad day in this class, I have to work twice as hard the next day to catch up."
• I asked a student if this type of learning environment could be replicated in a math class. His response: "It kind of already is, I mean I don't really always understand they way my math teacher explains things. So now I know how to look for resources and learn math skills by watching videos online."
• ZERO behavior problems. I thought by giving students this much independence there could be issues with behavior, but I was wrong. The only mis-behavior I witnessed was that the occasional student was off task. His/her has a natural consequence of falling behind in the class.
• Teachers still teach and give lectures, and students can sign up for them. I have NEVER seen a group of students more attentive to a teacher lecture than the one I saw. Every student had a felt need to understand what they teacher was explaining. They needed to understand what he was saying in order to move on, and the students hung on every word.
• Students were asked if they thought this type of class could be replicated in a middle school. Most students said they didn't think middle school students would be 'mature' enough. However one student did say he wished he did have this type of class when he was younger because it would have taught him how to learn and he would be better prepared for high school.

The Take-Aways:

• Several of our teachers use stations and the students rotate around the room. One of those stations could become a self-paced station. The work on a project for the unit of study they are currently learning.
• Why do we grade the way we do? We began a discussion on what a grade really says about student learning, and we agreed that earning a 'B' for a marking period can mean many different things for many different students. This will be an ongoing discussion for us.
• Our hosts brought up the fact that they run Student-Led Conferences and our teachers seemed to really like the idea of it. We will definitely begin the process of rolling out SLC in the fall.
• If another school can do it so can we. By stepping out of our school we were able to hear from teachers who are trying something new, and constantly adapting their practice. These Biology teachers try everyday to improve their instruction for the students.

I want to thank our hosts again for allowing us to come into their classroom. It was an amazing experience to see this classroom function at such a high level. I would like to thank the students for welcoming us and answering our questions. I know how valuable their time is and I am grateful they were willing to give us a few minutes to better understand their how the magic happens. My biggest take away was how these teachers are implementing best practices in education with no road map. They are blazing their own trail because they believe the path they are creating is one that is best for students. They know that their classroom is not perfect yet, they are always looking for ways to improve it, but they refuse to allow perfect to become the enemy of great. This is a classroom that allows GREAT learning to occur.