Workshop Model for Personalized Learning and Social Justice

Getting Better Together Project: Personalizing Learning

The speaker spent a year reflecting on education and their own teaching practices.
The goal is to enhance the classroom experience upon returning.
The project focuses on creating learning experiences that are more personal and based on students' interests and curiosities.
Feedback and learning should be customized to individual student needs.
A key focus is to continue exploring how to pursue justice.

The speaker wanted a structure that allows students to work in different content areas simultaneously.
The workshop model enables students to make choices about content while working on unified skills.
Students were surveyed about current event issues and their interests to help build the class content.
Topics like prison reform were chosen based on student voice.
Resources were developed to support student research.

The lesson includes a mini-lesson to build skills in reading informational text.
The mini-lesson focuses on identifying key ideas and details in articles.
Techniques include identifying counter-examples and understanding how they are refuted with supporting details.
Students can apply this way of thinking to their research articles.

Students rotate through different stations within the workshop.
Activities include:
- Interviewing someone related to their chosen social justice topic.
- Continuing research on their chosen topic.
- Working in small groups with the teacher on targeted skills.
- Engaging in creative writing.
Groups are mixed based on chosen topics.
Assignment sheets guide students at each station, allowing for independent work.

The work culminates in:
- An awareness campaign to shed light on social justice issues.
- A service project that requires coordinated effort.
Emphasis on real-world application of skills and seeing work that has an impact.
Combining skill development with topic choice allows students to apply their talents and interests.

Including definitive success criteria is key to facilitating self-directed learning.
Creative writing assignments include examples with voiceovers explaining how they meet the success criteria.
This provides concrete examples for students to follow.
Intentional choice of words and phrases is important in creating effective sentences.
The goal is to set students up for success in both the process and the final product.

Students researching criminal justice reform prepared to interview a social service director.
They read press about the organization and formulated questions.
Students negotiate prioritizing questions based on relevance and quality.
The first interview provided valuable insights and will inform future interviews.
Success criteria include being prepared for the interview and asking follow-up questions to demonstrate active listening.

Students interviewed someone from a construction company that hires people with criminal backgrounds.
The interview included a live view of a house being worked on, providing a tangible connection to criminal reform.
This was a priceless moment, showing reform in action.

Students are working toward speaking/listening and writing skills.
Mini-lessons focus on reading informational text.
Skills drive all the work.
Interview preparation involves connecting learning about the issue with specific questions.

The aim is for students to be authentically engaged and making progress in their learning.
This allows the teacher to focus on small groups and help them close gaps.

An example of defining domain-specific terminology for the reader is brought up with a student researching refugees.
A student receives support with structuring their writing and avoiding overwhelming themselves with too many ideas.
Providing flexible structure allows students to voice their needs when the writing is fresh.
Addressing mistakes in the moment is crucial for closing gaps.
Revising writing and transferring skills to new pieces is evident.

Giving students choice, trust, and ownership in their learning is more likely to produce meaningful engagement than strict task management.
More detailed workshop logs are encouraged, focusing on how the work went and progress made.
Students are pushed to set goals for the next day and consider time management.
Backward mapping from due dates is considered to help students manage their time effectively.

The speaker believes the structures in place around student-chosen topics are valuable.
The hope is that students are fully engaged and benefitting from this teaching approach.