Personalized Learning With Matt & Courtney

Hint: lots of sticky notes. Also, two other great ideas from Courtney, and Matt shows his age when talking about Trapper Keepers.

Matt and Courtney talk about reflections on the last year and a half of crazy times, and where we can go from here. It's our season finale, but we'll be around with some intermittent episodes during the summer before coming back in mid-August for the new school year. Thanks to some inspiration and callbacks to our child-pod, @MaineEdMatters. Courtney also has a great story from a 6th-grader at the end.

Matt helps Courtney with her upcoming presentation about engagement strategies. Spoiler: this is how we did things when we worked together in-person. We both miss it, but thought it would be a good way for you listeners to get a glimpse of how we do things. Let us know what you think on our parking lot at plearnmc.com!

It's that time of year! Whether you are interviewing for a new position or interviewing others for positions in your school, the question is how would I get the point across that I am a learner-centered person/school, and I am looking for the right fit? Fortunately, Matt and Courtney have some ideas and advice.

Do we address this in an interdisciplinary way, or as stand-alone dedicated units? Are these insulting discussions? Spoiler alert: we don't really know, but we think the discussion is a good one, and we will be following up on this topic in future episodes.

Well, kind of. They discuss learning progressions without grades, and how you can show growth for learners while doing that - or can you? Let us know who won the fight on any social platform with #plearnmc

Matt and Courtney answer a listener question about defining competency. We offer ways to break down the existing framework into something more meaningful for both teachers and learners.

Matt and Courtney respond to some media about mastery of standards, and how some people reject mastery in favor of the older system. You know how we feel about this.

Matt and Courtney continue their "back to the beginning" talk with a good one - how do we use scoring scales appropriately in the classroom? And maybe even more importantly, how do we teach the teachers how to do this? We call back to the Yes/No game we did last year as a way to introduce this concept to teachers, and how we can build their skills while changing their mindset.

Matt and Courtney go back to the beginning and talk what/how/WHY standards? Why are the three parts of a standard crucial to writing good ones? And how do we show that to teachers?

Matt and Courtney talk about how we occasionally disconnect what we do upfront with culture building with learners and the follow-through, especially trying to break down the barriers of teachers being always "the boss". Courtney offers up some easy and quick techniques on how to help break down this dynamic.

Matt and Courtney come up with Gary Chapin's next band name while discussing better ways to think about large-scale assessment systems.

Matt and Courtney tackle the big question - how do we make professional learning stick? We have some answers, suggestions, and opinions. As always. Find us everywhere at PLearnMC!Some links we talked about: Committee of Ten; The Battle for Public Education (podcast series).

Matt and Courtney talk about personalized learning, but only using the most used ten hundred words. We think it might explain a lot about what it is and what it isn't.The inspiration came from the great xkcd, specifically this image: https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/up_goer_five.pngMaine Education Matters, you've been challenged.

Matt and Courtney talk about the mind-shift from work completion to learning. It's harder than you think, but there are some ways to help think this through to make it useful for you.

Matt and Courtney ask what we need to know about what learners know. In that, we talk about how assessment and learning are a giant Mobius strip.

Matt and Courtney talk about engagement, and how it is really about two things: motivation and participation. Matt pushes back a bit on this, but we get to talking about voice and choice, and how to start using it with your learners TODAY! Oh, and super buffets. You'll hear.

Matt and Courtney are back with another episode, this time about how to effectively incorporate the arts into our teaching and learning. Watch out for insurrections while you're at it!

Matt and Courtney are still processing the insurrection at the Capital last week, but they discuss how to frame those hard conversations we have to have with kids, and what it looks like at a school/district level. Let us know what you think on our parking lot at plearnmc.com or tweet at us @plearnmc.

After winter break, Matt & Courtney had a pod session planned today - then the riots broke out in DC. Insurrection and sedition didn't stop us from recording, however, and we talk about how we can talk to kids about the harder conversations, especially in the world we live in. Courtney has some great advice that is evergreen, of course, but it's worth saying again, especially now.Warning - we do swear for the first time in this one (at least, the first time on air...), so listen for that (It's right in the first minute, and it's only the s-word, and we don't mean "standardized").Stay safe, wear a mask, and we'll see you next week with another one.