How to teach students how to learn

In my recent post on personalized learning, I highlighted Summit Public Schools as an example of how schools are using technology to create unique student learning profiles that inform teaching and learning.  For Summit, the student profile, or learning plan, is a way to set goals with students, track progress together and customize learning experiences.

What I find particularly interesting about Summit’s approach is that students aren’t the subjects of the learning plans—they’re the owners.

At Summit Denali Public School, for example, student learning plans are embedded in one-on-one mentoring. Using the school’s web portal, each student and a teacher mentor discuss the student’s progress and skill development from projects and independent lessons.  The mentoring also includes guidance on building the soft, but critical skills of time management, relationship management and self-management.

This comprehensive approach reverberates with the school’s determination to help students develop skills to be independent learners.

We can prepare students academically for college, but they need something more so that they are successful when they get there.

As Summit Denali teacher Brian Johnson explained to our team, “We crafted personalized learning so that it’s more than kids learning something when they’re ready for it.  It is also about students learning to manage the learning process themselves.  We can prepare students academically for college, but they need something more so that they are successful when they get there.  Kids need to know which learning strategies work for them and which ones don’t.  They need to know when and how to access resources and navigate systems. They need to be self-directed.”

In his 9th year in education, Brian has taught science at all secondary levels in Summit schools and at schools abroad.  In 2013, he became part of the founding team for the Summit Denali School, which draws a diverse group of students from across Santa Clara County, CA.

Brian and his colleagues designed Summit Denali around personalization in a way that “students have choice and control,” in Brian’s words.  The school year is broken into six-week periods during which the school day typically begins and ends with student team projects—one for math/science and one for humanities. The day includes 30 minutes each of math and reading groups formed around students’ skills and progress, as well time for mentoring.

In addition, students work at their own pace each day on learning playlists on an open platform.  For 6th grade science, for example, there are 13 playlists, aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, from which students can access texts, videos and worksheets to learn the content. Once a student passes the quiz on a section, she moves to the next topic. Through the platform, teachers are able to identify and track which students are struggling with which content and provide additional instruction as necessary.

And, finally, here is one of my favorite parts of the Summit Denali schedule.  It simultaneously engages students while carving out professional development time for teachers.  After each six-week period, there are concentrated two-week periods—called Expedition Time— during which students explore different electives such as art, yoga, filmmaking, music and engineering to determine areas of interest they would like to pursue in the future. This intensive stretch frees up time for core teachers to plan and collaborate on upcoming student projects.

By designing these new approaches to learning, Summit Denali teachers have also created new roles for themselves.

“My job is a lot less about delivering information and more like coaching,” says Brian “I spend much more time upfront preparing and structuring student experiences.  I also give students a ton of ongoing feedback on their work and cognitive skills. The most important thing we do is develop students’ skills and prepare them to own their learning.”

The student team projects at Summit Denali are also notable.  There is an array of intensive projects throughout the year that incorporate the development of cognitive skills, content knowledge and learning skills such as relationship and time management.  Here are a few of my favorites that Brian described:

• Redesigning a house using geometry concepts.
• Analyzing myths from ancient civilizations, looking at how the myths impacted people of that culture and their interpretation of the world.
• Designing a new product that cools or heats by using chemical engineering concepts.
• Investigating climate change in which students do research, conduct an experiment and write a lab report, prepare a speech based on their research and findings, and give a presentation to Sunnyvale city council members.

The projects balance the work of individuals and teams—and leverage the importance of small tasks as formative assessments for student feedback (similar what we are seeing from other emerging projects such as the Math and Literacy Design Collaboratives.)

The most important thing we do is develop students’ skills and prepare them to own their learning.

For example, as a team, Brian’s students develop a project calendar and establish deadlines for each task. These smaller tasks are check-in points for teacher feedback and a step toward completing the larger assignment.  Although these are group projects, students are not necessarily doing the same thing at the same time, and they are supported and assessed on their own work and skills.

Using a workshop approach, Brian and his colleagues customize their feedback and instruction throughout the project based on individual student needs and strengths.  For example, one group of students might need guidance in developing a strong hypothesis while another group might need support in writing a speech.   Or, perhaps, there is a group of students who have strong presentation skills. They might be involved in a workshop that helps them bring their presentations to the next level.

“We give a lot of feedback to kids at multiple times throughout the project.  For the project to go well, that is really important,” states Brian. “And, it is really amazing to see how kids respond to this approach. Kids love it. They love that they can manage own time and their own work. They are so much more accountable to each other; they don’t want to let each other down.”

Brian admits that it was tough starting up a new school with a new academic model and new logistics that aren’t always clear.  But he also emphasizes that Summit Denali “addresses so many issues we find within the traditional schooling approach. One of the things I love is working as team with the faculty—co-teaching the projects, collaborating during expedition time, planning and figuring out how to do our jobs better. Nothing I do is all on my own; there are always lots of conversations with other people. Everyone deserves credit here.  This is totally a team effort.”

Published in collaboration with Impatient Optimists

Author: As director of College-Ready Education, Vicki Phillips oversees work to ensure that U.S. high school students graduate ready to succeed, and to improve access to college.

Image: Students at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School work on their laptops during a class in Dorchester, Massachusetts June 20, 2008. REUTERS.