See it in Action Review: Trailblazer Elementary School
After viewing the videos in the "See It In Action" section of the chapter, I chose to focus this post on Trailblazer Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Trailblazer Elementary serves approximately 350 kids in grades K-5. Trailblazer Elementary shifted to a blended learning model in 2015, but "Trailblazer views their work on a continuum through which they are able to meet individual teacher’s needs. Some classes currently look more traditional and others are more personalized, based on where each teacher falls on that continuum," (Trailblazer, n.d.).
Most topics at Trailblazer are introduced with a pre-assessment to determine the student's knowledge level. Using the data gathered from the pre-assessment, the students are then able to make choices from the "Learner Pathway". These choices include things like what resources to explore, what pace to move through the content, and how they can show what they have learned. Learner Pathways "outline student learning targets and house resources and content that students can use to meet those targets," (Trailblazer, n.d.).
In addition to "Learner Pathways", Trailblazer offers students "Genius and Opportunity Hours." "Genius Hour, facilitated by core teachers, offers students a chance to create a passion project that focuses on a key area of interest. Opportunity Hour, facilitated by enrichment teachers, allows students to choose from a variety of non-core content topics, such as circus skills or learning to play chess," (Trailblazer, n.d.).
Genius hours provide students many benefits like "fostering soft skills, which are integral to career success...making sure that students are using technology tools actively...being an innovative way to meet standards," (Cortez, 2017). In addition to the benefits for students, Opportunity Hour also provides benefits for the teachers, "classes during Opportunity Hour are instructed by specialists, providing core content teachers the chance to meet in Professional Learning Communities," (Trailblazer, n.d.).
By utilizing strategies like creating flexible learning spaces, working in multi-grade-level teams, providing personalization through Learner Pathways, and offering Opportunity and Genius Hours, Trailblazer Elementary has been able to find success while also offering students ownership over their learning experiences.
References:
Cortez, M. (2017) 3 Benefits of Establishing a Genius Hour. EdTech. Retrieved from https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/09/3-benefits-establishing-genius-hour
Trailblazer Elementary School. The Learning Accelerator. Retrieved from https://practices.thelearningaccelerator.org/see/trailblazer-elementary-school
Comments
Post a Comment