Every education generation has its own jargon, whether it’s “new math” or “whole language” or any of a number of other terms. This generation’s language includes terms like “personalized learning,” “customized classrooms,” and references to mapping and goal-setting. If you’re a parent of a young student, you’ve undoubtedly heard these buzz-words from teachers, administrators, or maybe even from your own child. Have you wondered how the staff use the approaches these words to change the classroom environment? If so, come to the next evening session of the strategic plan series focusing on personalized learning.

“We’re half-way through the second year of the strategic plan,” said Superintendent of Schools Jan Perruccio. “This year we need to do more to message our strategic plan.”

Spreading the message is the goal of the school district’s five evening teaching and learning sessions scheduled this spring. In these sessions, parents will step into the role of student in an interactive learning exercise that will illuminate the modern classroom experience.

Understanding the meaning of “personalized learning,” also called student-directed learning, is key to appreciating how students are now asked to learn and demonstrate what they have learned. Mastery of objective standards for learning is still required of each student. What’s new is that the student has more ownership of their path to achieving mastery and has choices of ways to demonstrate their mastery. Final demonstration assessments, for example, could include customized videos, oral presentations, or written research among other options.

Personalized learning will be the topic of the Old Saybrook Schools Wednesday, Feb. 21 evening session at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Saybrook Middle School multi-purpose room. This is the second interactive experience in the district’s spring 2018 Strategic Plan Series.

“Teachers will facilitate a lesson, with parents as students. It will be a round-robin, with parents moving from station to station,” said Perruccio. “There will be a discussion afterwards about how [students] learn best. Most people say that rote learning disappears quickly—it’s a short-term memory trick unless you attach it to other learning. You need to apply [what you learn] to retain it.

“Employers tell us to stop sending them kids who can’t apply their knowledge to new situations,” said Perruccio.

What employers need, she said, is workers who think critically, can analyze information, and then apply their knowledge to solve problems.

After this session will be an evening session on Customized Classrooms set for Wednesday, March 7.

“In that session, we will define what are standards, explain what are our standards, and how students performance or knowledge meets the standards—the standards are what learning is tethered to,” said Perruccio.

Following that session is a Wednesday, March 21 evening entitled Maps to Success: Goal Setting followed by the final one entitled Profile of a Graduate (check www.oldsaybrook.k12.ct.us for details). All sessions are open to parents and residents of Old Saybrook and other shoreline towns, but the locations for the sessions may vary.

“Through the series, we want to communicate with our families to show them what it looks like in the classroom and for them to learn the research that drives it,” said Perruccio.

New Grad Standards

As part of the October 2017 state budget deal, the State Legislature also adopted new high school graduation requirements that for the first time give districts more flexibility to award credit for authentic internship and community service experiences as well as for academic classes. The new standards go into effect officially with the class of 2023. In Old Saybrook, the standards will become effective in the next school year.

While the number of credits required to graduate will increase to 25 credits, students will now have more flexibility as to how they earn those credits.

“Students now will be able to take online courses for credit, take courses at colleges for credit, earn credit for a course at a middle school, if it is a high-school course curriculum,” said Perruccio. “Credits can earned for community service work, too.”

In Old Saybrook, the district’s goal is to have every graduating senior have an internship opportunity. Many do already.

“Students report that the internship program has given them a real understanding of their match with a career and what skills they need to work in that environment. Students either have their interests in a career area confirmed by an internship experience or learn that it’s not for them. Both of those are incredibly important things to learn and especially in high school rather than in college,” said Perruccio. “It’s also impressive to colleges where they apply for them to be able to talk about the internship.”

Perruccio shared one recent example. A high school student decided he wanted to be a nurse and so got an internship at an urgent care site. He found himself dealing with families in crisis due to a medical emergency. A number of them only spoke Spanish, so this student found himself practicing his Spanish skills, and reading to the children in the waiting room in Spanish.

Two new courses at the high school—Global Citizenship and English in Action—incorporate 10 hours of seat time plus community service research or action that could provide the groundwork for an internship or a senior capstone protect.

“We really want to promote and support students’ involvement and their pursuit of a passion,” said Perruccio.