Learning Models- A Personal Assessment Tool

Earlier this month, Angela and I, along with two 2nd grade teachers from Swanson, presented at The Institute for Personalized Learning's 6th Annual Convening Conference. We have attended this conference the past several years, and have had the good fortune of presenting the last two years. Convening is a wonderful opportunity for teachers and administrations to come together to discuss the many aspects of personalized learning in the classroom. There were people from all over the country at this year's event, and many teachers from Southeastern Wisconsin shared the amazing work they are doing in their classrooms.

T.E.A.M Togetherness & Inspiration Station

Our presentation this year introduced teachers to Learning Models. Learning Models are a personal assessment tool we use in our classroom. This summative assessment is a fun, student driven approach. Students think deeply about the standards presented, and they are given choice in how they demonstrate proficiency towards the standards. The provided rubric outlines their opportunity to aim for exceeds and supports them as they take ownership over their learning. 

Angela and I were thrilled to see the number of people in attendance. We had close to 100 attendees, eager and excited to learn more about this tool. After a brief introduction to our personalized learning environments, we walked our participants through how we use Learning Models to provide more student voice and choice in assessment at the primary and upper elementary level. We shared several examples, across subject areas, along with student exemplars. After our introduction to this assessment tool, attendees were invited to choose a topic, plan, and develop a Learning Model of their own that they could immediately implement in their classroom. Teachers brought their own device, along with curriculum materials, and we were on hand to support them in this process. We LOVED this workshop model!

As we floated throughout the room, the energy and enthusiasm was contagious. I absolutely loved listening to the ideas of others, and supporting fellow teachers as they created their own Learning Models and rubrics. I was quick to grab my own piece of paper so I could jot down new ideas learned, and even used the opportunity to network with fellow educators. It was such an amazing 75 minutes!

Thank you to The Institute for Personalized Learning, for giving us the opportunity to share our knowledge! We always walk away from this conference feeling energized and excited for all the amazing work being done!

~ Kate

It's Learning Model Time!

Oh, how my Saturday nights have changed...I can remember a time, not that long ago, when I used to be getting all dolled up to hit the town. Now I find myself curled up on the chair, NCAA basketball on TV, a glass of wine nearby, working on our upcoming "Learning Model" for math.

We just finished a unit focusing on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions. Prior to the final assessment later next week, the students will be spending time on Monday and Tuesday creating their end of unit Learning Model. We use Learning Models in reading and math workshop, as a form of assessment. Our students have a choice in how they demonstrate their learning and proficiency of the standards that we have taught. 

From Powtoon to Educreations...Screencastify to Emaze, our students always put forth incredible effort and they create some amazing work using a variety of platforms! They choose the questions they want to use, create their learning models in their chosen form, and share with others via their digital portfolios! 

To check out our latest Fractions Learning Model, or any of our other unit Learning Model, check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store! 

~ Kate 

Fantasy Learning Models

Whew! That was fun! We just wrapped up our absolutely amazing Fantasy Unit of Study in Reader's Workshop! The kids learned and grew so much as readers. Kate and I are SO proud of their efforts, discussions, and excitement!

Now that we are done, it is time to assess their understanding. While we have our pre and post assessments and Fantasy Packet Rubric, we still want to give our students ownership over their learning. As we have mentioned in other blogposts, we LOVE using "Learning Models" to assess our student learning. We find them to be more authentic, our students love them because they are in charge, and they really raise the depth of knowledge levels!

Here is our Fantasy Learning Model:

Click image to be taken to our TpT store!

This time around, we really wanted to explore some new tools! Our students are kind of "done" with Google Presentations. They have done SO many in their 2 years with us. We are always looking to "mix it up". They love to help with this, too! One of our very "with it" students, introduced us to:

Click to go to the emaze site!

Now, prepared to be "emazed" :) This tool is so cool! It is a great new way for students to present their information. They love the options and the 3-D effects that they offer! There is a paid component to this for educators that we will be exploring next year. Being so late into the year, we are testing it out using the "free version" for now! We had so much fun learning how to use it. We decided to complete our "mentor learning model" using it, too!

Click to go to our "Emazing" example!

As is typical in our environment, lots of kids chose to use this new tool once it was introduced. But we still had a few that chose to go with other options (one even chose to CODE his learning model using Khan Academy! #mindblown!!!)

Here are a couple of fun examples for you to check out!

STUDENT #1 (Prezi link)

STUDENT #2 (Emaze link)

STUDENT #3 (Emaze link)

Like I said, we couldn't be prouder of their work! We even had a few groups that chose to continue on with their series outside of our Reader's Workshop block (wowsers!). Up next?-Historical Fiction! We have a fun spin on how to run these book clubs, so please check back soon to read all about it!

What fun tech tools have you used for student work? Do you know of other fun presentation tools? Feel free to sound off below! We would love to grow and learn with you!

Happy Teaching,

~Angela :)

Reading Learning Model

Needless to say, we've been inspired and humbled by how our idea of "Learning Models" has spread far and wide! We recently posted about math learning models in our classroom, as well as math learning models done by our kindergarten friends. Last month, some of our fourth grade friends even tried out a reading learning model for their character unit. This got our wheels turning, as well! How could we take these ideas and apply them to our own reading? The result:

Click to be taken to our TpT store

 Just like our math learning models, we gave the students choice in how they demonstrated it.

We also introduced them to a new tool: ZOOBURST. Zooburst is a cool tool that allows kids to make their own 3-D pop up book. It is reasonably priced, as well. It cost $50 for 250 student accounts. It is a great thing to share across a grade level or two! Not many of our students chose this option this time--it might have been too much "new" at once--but they were very excited to explore it on their own!

We encouraged our students to choose two texts on the same topic. We allowed them to use books, reputable online resources, reputable videos, and magazines. They, then, needed to show proficiency in 4 main standards: 5.RI.1, 5.RI.2, 5.RI.4, and 5.RI.6. We also provided some "bonus, optional" opportunities with standards 5.RI.5 and 5.RI.8. (a 4-point rubric is included in the document for all 6 standards).

At first, it was hard for them. They struggled trying to envision how they could put it all together. We think their brains were just so "wired" to do math learning models (which are much more black and white!). So, we created an example together. Click the pic to see the full model:

Once we went over the example, they had a better idea of how to start. Off they went to put their own spin on things! They came up with some amazing projects! Here are a few examples:

Manal's Google Presentation

Cynthia's Prezi

Anna's Prezi

Wow! They truly blew us away with their creativity, the topics they chose, and their deep understanding of the standards!

Have you used learning models yet? How do you envision connecting them to your content? Sound off below!

Happy Teaching!

~Angela :)

Learning Models All Around

We have the tremendous fortune of working with fantastic teachers at our school. We have so many teachers that are working on establishing best practices to support personalized learning. Two of the many teachers that are making an impact are Michele Baumann and Amy Digman. Michele and Amy have been doing some amazing work with team teaching math workshop. They flexibly group their students, and provide personalized learning for their combined math classes. They were also integral in the development of our school's re-purposing of our library into a Learning Lab. 

A while back, Kate posted about the Learning Models that we use in math to provide voice, choice, and differentiation for our kiddos. We have found the work that our students do on these learning models to be more insightful than our end of unit assessments dictated by the textbook. We feel the work they complete is more authentic and a better representation of what they can do with regards to the standards. Michele and Amy recently let us know that they brought our idea for learning models down to the kindergarten levels. The result...MAGIC! 

Michele & Amy's Learning Model Rubric (click to see the entire thing!)

Our wonderful kindergarten friends wanted to share their great learning models with our 5th graders. Our students LOVED seeing the hard work the little ones did. Our students then got to share their learning models with them. For us, watching our youngest and oldest share and discuss mathematics was heartwarming. 

Seeing the progression of their mathematics understanding from where they start to where they can end up really helped solidify the value in the hard work we do.

Here are some examples of the "young" and the "old":

Kindergarten Measurement Learning Models

K example #1

K example #2

5th Grade 

Alexander's Powtoon

Jahnavi's Prezi

~Angela :)

Learning Models in Math

At the end of each math unit our students complete a Learning Model to show us they have mastered the unit standards. Yes, yes, yes...we still give the end of unit math assessment, but they're Learning Models are uploaded to their digital portfolios to showcase their work for that unit.

We provide our students with a list of skills we'd like them to tackle, along with a rubric, and they are left to show us what they know. Some students choose to do this with paper and pencil, but most utilize technology to share their knowledge.

I can not tell you how impressed I am with what some of our kiddos come up with! I am so proud of our crew!

Check out a few exemplars from the Unit 1 Learning Model!

Grace's Learning Model using Powtoon

Maika's Learning Model using Prezi

Manal's Learning Model using Google Presentation

Way to go, Ladies!!

~ Kate