Foster Glocester Regional Schools

School Library/i21 Curriculum Coordinator

I am currently designing my quarterly classes as Mastery Based. I teach a information literacy class for 6th graders.

Time restraints and daily school schedule. Grading Policies

So I actually am a student in the M.A.T. program at Brown University right now, so I don't have a full-time teaching job yet. However, I think this is a great model and wherever I do teach next year, I think this will absolutely be a conversation I will have with my school and district. Until this conversation happens, I would be willing to work this out in my own classroom and just communicate that to the appropriate people.

The largest challenge for me right now is that I do not yet have a full-time teaching job. I would love to work in a school that has the technology (like chromebooks) that would allow me to implement mastery learning. I would also love to work in a school that would be open to having a conversation with me about mastery learning.

Develop a Unit and Students work toward proficiency. Students work together and with the educator to reach mastery for the Unit Standards.

The self-pacing component might be a challenge for our mathematically challenged students.

Depends on type of course and teacher's willingness and understanding of how to design a flipped classroom.

For a course, challenges would be in scheduling as a student completes a course in a different time throughout the school year.

How does a student extend their learning. It is great if a student demonstrates mastery, but what opportunities do they have to go deeper?

It would be important to include students' building their collaborative and speaking and listening skills in the lessons and units.

I'm thinking about using this for a capstone research project where students can move through lessons at their own pace. While they would likely not be able to actually move on to another unit, they could complete enrichment projects if they completed all required pieces early. This will also be awesome for having the resources in one space.

I'm trying to get students to adhere to deadlines and I'm wondering how this fits in with this. There will need to be checkpoints for the various parts of the project and I'm interested in how it will affect their overall grade for the course if they miss these deadlines but still ultimately demonstrate proficiency on the final product.

Blackstone Valley Prep High School

We already have a 1-1 program and are striving towards personalized learning now. Our teachers now have the basics of using blended learning tools and we are in the process of ramping their skills up to personalize learning for scholars. We are also using standards based grading that also helps with the focus on Mastery Learning.

Tracking data and multiple scholars in different places.

dokrasinski@blackstonevalleyprep.org

Could start this individually next year in my classroom just need the resources to do so. Have already begun to look at blended learning for 15-16 school year

Behaviors, attendance, access to technology, on task with technology

Computer literacy - ISTE standards
Demonstration of proficiency. LeBron James, some of my students may not need my instruction.
Offering deeper and more profound challenges for student use of technology.
Getting everybody to proficiency and providing greater opportunities for students to go beyond proficiency.

Creating challenging and relevant material for most advanced students.
Student proficiency-how much is enough?

Self-directed Frederick Douglass unit. Reading memoir and supplementary materials. Research skills. Final project including research, writing, slideshow/video, and presentation components.

Students who are unable to keep up. It would be difficult to come back together as a class (discussion being an essential part of ELA) when students are in different places. Coming together in smaller groups is good, but they have to be quite self-motivated.
Middle school system where students aren't earning credits, can't retake a class as there is only one class all year, 8th grade English (small school, I am the only 8th grade English teacher).

connelly.cornelia@jamestownschools.org

As a library teacher I can use this model to help my students learn and teach themselves how to research, read for understanding, and write at their own pace. I see every student in the school through a rotating schedule so this will help me keep track of students as well as allow me to collaborate with core subject teachers to facilitate student learning.

As a technology teacher I use this model to give assignments and allow students to work at their own pace. Online classroom reading assessments to help improve their reading levels to reach grade level. Class assignments are mostly project based and handed into Google Classroom.

As a new teacher in a new setting (library as a graded class) I am struggling with time management and creating curriculum.

We are designing two new mastery-based learning for Providence Schools to open in the 2015-2016.

Communication between admins, parents, students and staff about how this approach works (and how to "re-learn" how schools works).
This will work best if our students have access to technology at home and while we're aiming to provide equal access, it's complicated.
Time - we're launching a totally new school and staff PD and family orientation will need to focus on things in addition to mastery. We need to start with currently available resources and build capacity to reinvent and improve over time.

Ponaganset Middle School

In my class I have started to build my library of resources. I have began to flip lessons and units. We use an LMS (canvas) in which I track the students learning mastery for each standard.

I think for me it is gonna be changing the minds of parents and some teachers about what flipped and mastery really is.

I need to change the mentality of the 1914 classroom.

The idea of self pacing is impressive to me. Working in a district that has relatively high achieving students, I have students who always seem to finish assignments before others. Then, they are left waiting for everyone to catch up. In this sense, mastery learning will be to their advantage, and they can pushed further than normally in a more immediate way.

Self-regulation and self-pacing seems like a major aspect of mastery learning. With that being said, the motivation to efficiently self-pace requires some form of self-discipline. I think that that discipline is more prevalent in high school students rather than middle school students, whom I teach. How responsible they'll be with keeping themselves on pace is something I'm unsure of. I'm just wondering how this motivation and responsibility can be taught to middle school students. With masterly learning, it is very much the students' responsibility to move forward without too much teacher facilitation. I'm not sure how far I can step back with middle school students.

savago.chelsea@jamestownschools.org

Jamestown School District

Asking students to create projects that would show mastery not only of the subject (library/tech, for me) but also mastery of a particular software. That is, I might want my 3rd graders to demonstrate that they know the characteristics of a Porquoi story for their Native American Unit, by writing an original story either with a partner or by themselves with images they create on a paint program to contribute to an online book, or use StoryBird, or to act out their story with manipulatives they created which can be filmed and archived. They might collaborate using Google Docs, as they are familiar with using that format, or just Word.

Time constraints, technical glitches in school when the server goes down. Problems working with software.

casey.lisa@jamestownschools.org

We could roll the concept into our school by adapting already existing units to the flipped model. This could encourage people to use their beloved material in a flipped format.

The main challenge is capturing the hearts of teachers...
For example...
why is any of this better than what I've been doing for several years?
I don't know how to make a video,
I'm not an actor
When could I possibly have the time to learn to do the things the trainer rattled on and on about?
Your form assumes that I have a website or have a twitter account...
My time is already filled with the things I'm doing now...how can a teacher be expected to change every thing they know to do in order to jump on this?
It seems to me that some of the material that teachers use in a flipped setting is not teacher produced but is actually stolen from a copyrighted source...we can't act as thieves and be effective teachers at the same time...can we?

Breakdown the curriculum, and create lessons that focus on the core of each part and determine what is essential.

Flexibility/ Teachers can be hard in the idea of changing their ways. More time is needed. Teachers must be left alone (by administration) so they can execute their plan without feeling pressured.

Interdisciplinary Coordinator, Unified Arts (my Cert is PK-12, Art Ed & I teach one Art course (varies)

3D Design is a course that I am working create more flipped learning. Could the entire course be flipped? Perhaps most

I am a big believer in flipped learning since it "buys" more hands-on, teacher facilitated learning in the classroom. It's the single biggest way to buy time for a concrete studio art experience for our art students. Also, I have to create everything. Most videos that are available, e.g., Khan Academy, are targeted to ELA and SS connection, not for use in the Studio Art classroom. However, it has led us to exploration of teaching an Art History course via the EEP program at RIC.

carolyn.dooley@cumberlandschools.org

Website: https://sites.google.com/a/cumberlandschools.org/cumberland-high-school-unified-arts/ and http://chsunifiedartsblog.blogspot.com/

I am working on a student leadership lesson unit with our diversity director. It would be great to make it mastery-based.

wendy.cotta@worcesteracademy.org

Skill competency, project based learning, portfolios,

Can this be done at the elementary level? Do you develop learning cohorts rather than grade levels? Constant flexible grouping? Differentiating learning and pacing based on 26 learners.

5th grade in a middle school

departmentalized - math and reading

Thinking about how to implement mastery learning in a whole group reading setting that focuses on skills being taught. Our curriculum resource primarily is Reading Street.

Time constraints, only a 60 min class, transiency of students and the fact that our curriculum does not expect mastery of skills (the skills repeat) until EOY.

www.misslundgren5.blogspot.com