Plan for Implementing Personalized Learning

Competency-Based Learning

Lauren Nesbitt

1. Your Classroom

- I teach second grade at Mountain Park Elementary in Roswell, Georgia in the Fulton County Schools System. I teach all
subjects besides science. Mountain Park Elementary has a schoolwide initiative for project based learning from SPED Pre-K
to 5th grade. I currently teach the following subjects: Mathematics, Writing, Enrichment Block (Project Based Learning)
centered around Georgia Social Studies Standards, Phonics, and Reading. During the 2021-2022 school year, I taught 22
students and in my Advanced Math Class I taught 20 students. My students range from ELL students to TAG (Talented and
Gifted) Program students. My classroom was a well blended classroom that focused on bringing out each student's light
through their talents in the classroom. I center my classroom learning environment around building connections with each
other. Mountain Park Elementary has a school wide initiative that’s motto is #WeBeforeMe for PBIS. Mountain Park
Elementary students in primary grades had 1-1 devices through Apple iPad’s and iPad Pro’s. Students have worked with
technology a lot throughout the school year throughout remote learning and with our amazing Media Specialist that teaches
MPE students about technology and how technology can enhance your learning.

2. Strategies

What is CBL?

Competency Based Learning is focused on student’s succeeding and focusing on personalized learning through allowing students to
make powerful choices about their learning decisions. Levine, E. & Patrick, S. (2019) states, “ The revised 2019 definition of
competency-based education is:
 1. Students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply
knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.
2. Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for students that yields timely, relevant, and
actionable evidence.
3. Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.
4. Students progress based on evidence of mastery, not seat time.
5. Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.
6. Strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education
systems.
7. Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and
transferable.”

Competency Based Learning focuses on students becoming independent learners that focus on mastery of a topic. Students are
working towards a goal and are reaching mastery by practicing the skill with their teacher 1-1, in a small group setting or
collaborating with their peers to help build a deeper understanding of the topic. Traditional Learning is centered around teachers
instruction and not centered around students mastering a skill compared to competency based learning.

Competencies & Standards to Focus on

Academic:

ELAGSE2RL1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key
details in a text.

ELAGSE2RL2: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or
moral.

ELAGSE2RL3: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Personalized Learning Standards:

 - Asset-Based Dispositions: The candidate uses asset-based language and classroom practices to serve all learners. The candidate will:
(i) encourage all learners to value his/her own individualities and the diversity of peers and other educators as assets;
(ii) practice responsive pedagogy and curriculum design in a way that promotes diverse learner characteristics as assets; and
(iii) value diverse learner characteristics and demonstrates a belief that all students can learn any competency given adequate
resources and time through asset based language.
- Authentic and Adaptive Assessment: The candidate co-plans with the learner to collect evidence of mastery using varied and data-rich
performances that are on-going, authentic, flexible, and relevant. The candidate will:
- (i) prepare learners to self-assess by identifying, documenting, and defending formal and informal learning experiences to build
an assessed portfolio as evidence of mastery;
- (ii) consider multiple means of demonstration when co-designing assessments aligned to competencies; and
- (iii) assess learner experiences (formal and informal) in diagnostic, formative and summative ways as they align to mastery using
authentic and adaptive assessments.
- Flexible Educational Resources: The candidate provides the learner access to flexible resources when co-planning unique ways to master
competencies. These include, but are not limited to the resources available in the digital content ecosystem. The candidate will:
- (i) provide opportunity for learners to seek or select content from a curated menu of educational resources that address the
competencies;
- (ii) employ engaging pedagogies and research-based best practices of instructional design to curate, mine, create, and organize
high impact educational resources and make them accessible to learners; and
- (iii) monitor and observe the effectiveness of educational resources in real-time and suggest or seek alternatives as needed.

CBL Strategies

Components Your Strategies Rationale

Strengths & Weaknesses

Multimodal - Students will play a Folktales Blooket to - Blooket will help students be able to identify
Content Delivery practice identifying Folktales easily. different types of Folktales. Students will be
able to use technology to deepen their
understanding of Folktales. A few students
might feel discouraged if they are not keeping
up with their peers while playing the game
based on accuracy.

Learning - Students will learn about Folktales by - This assignment will help guide students in
Activities participating in a QR Code Folktales working independently. Students will be able to
 Scavenger Hunt. Students will explore
around the classroom scanning QR Codes
to identify various folktales. The QR codes
will have videos about various Folktales.
Students will learn about different
Folktales at each station.
Formative - Students will create an Adobe Spark
Assessment Website about one type of Folktale and be
able to describe various parts of the
folktale. Students will include pictures and
facts about the folktale that they choose.
Alternative - Students will first identify a folktale with
Assessment their peers. Students will work in a group
setting and act out the lesson of the
folktale that they choose for their
presentation.
Remedy - If students are having difficulties
Procedures mastering the skill, students will work 1-1
with the teacher to deepen their
understanding of a folktale. The educator
and student will identify the lesson and
central message together.
use technology while doing this assignment by
having to use their QR Code Scanner and
watching educational YouTube clips about the
folktale that they choose. The assignment will
also have questions to follow along with the
videos to deepen students' understanding. The
assignment could be a little bit stronger. The
weakness of this assignment is students could
have difficulties accessing the websites from
the QR Code. If the QR Codes are unable to
be accessed, it will be difficult for students to
work on the assignment.
- This assessment promotes technology use that
will help students identify folktales and their
elements. Students will build a better
understanding of Adobe Spark. The weakness
of this assessment is if the Adobe Spark
platform is down or students have difficulties
accessing this platform on their device.
- The alternative assessment will provide
students with the opportunity to collaborate
with their peers, show their imagination and
develop a sense of ownership of their
education. Students might have a difficult time
working with their peers which could cause a
difficult time for an alternative assessment.
- Student conferences will help the educator
have a better understanding of the gaps in
between instruction. The student will be able to
determine where they will need help on the
reading skill. The weakness of the 1-1
conferences might be the difficulties of
students expressing what they are having
 difficulties solving.

Learning - Students will recount stories, fables,
Targets folktales from diverse cultures through the
iReady platform, small groups, and
independent work time.
- Students will identify the central message
of fables and folktales through iReady,
small groups, 1-1 instruction and
independent work time.
- Students will be able to retell the lessons
from fables and folktales through
assessments.
- Learning targets will provide students with the
opportunity to know what their goal is before
trying to accomplish it. Learning targets allow
students to set a goal in their learning. The
weakness of the learning targets is that they
might not meet students learning styles which
could overall effect how much they learned
back.

Student - I would create Learning Targets folders for
Records each student. Each learning target would
be listed on a worksheet with a tally chart
where students will tally how many weeks
it takes for them to master a topic. Once
students have mastered the skill students
will write the date they mastered the
learning target.
- Student records will provide students with the
opportunity to track their learning by reaching
their learning targets. Students will be able to
keep up with what learning targets that they
have met. The weakness of this approach is
students could lose their student records over
time.

Georgia PSC Standards of Personalized Learning

Growth and Mastery Mindset is addressed throughout this CBL plan by providing students with opportunity to set personal goals with
their learning targets. Students are able to track their goals with their learning targets and their learning targets folders. Personalized
Learning is addressed through the remedy procedures by providing students with the opportunity for 1-1 coaching with the teacher.
The 1-1 coaching will help students build a better understanding of the topics that they are having difficulty understanding. 1-1
coaching provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their learning targets and goals on the skill that they are trying to
progress on.
3. Technology Tools of Your Choice

After reviewing our Technologies Collection or other resources and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each tool, 1) select
what tool(s) you will use for the following functions and 2) describe its strengths and weaknesses and how you would use each tool
given your unique teaching situation. You do NOT have to use high-tech technology for all functions. Low-tech like paper and pencil
or classroom posters sometimes work better than digital tools.

Functions Name & URL Strengths & Weaknesses Your Plan

Multimodal Blooket Blooket allows for students to Students will play Blooket to review
Content Delivery collaborate with each other to build a various types of Folktales and Fables.
deeper understanding of the topic that
they have learned about. The
weaknesses of Blooket is students
might have difficulties with getting
problems wrong in front of their peers.

Adobe Express Adobe Express is “ Quickly and Students will create a Adobe Express
Performing Paper and Pencil easily make standout content from website or poster about the Folktale that
Activities/Projects thousands of beautiful templates they choose.
with the all-new Adobe Express.
Available on web and mobile.”
Adobe Express is an easy platform
for students to use and allows for
students to express themselves
with technology. The weaknesses
of Adobe Express is the lack of
access to pictures on the platform.
It might be more difficult for primary
students to find pictures.
Formative Adobe Express Adobe Express is “ Quickly and Students will create a Adobe Express
Assessment easily make standout content from website or poster about the Folktale that
thousands of beautiful templates they choose.
with the all-new Adobe Express.
Available on web and mobile.”
Adobe Express is an easy platform
for students to use and allows for
students to express themselves
with technology. The weaknesses
of Adobe Express is the lack of
access to pictures on the platform.
It might be more difficult for primary
students to find pictures.
Alternative Paper and Pencil Students will use paper and pencil to Students will collaborate with their peers
Assessment brainstorm with their peers about the to create a Folktale with each other.
folktale plays. This resource is simple Students will have to activate their
but effective for all age groups schemas to deepen their understanding
especially primary learners. of previously learned folktales.

Remedy Whiteboards Whiteboards are a great tool to allow The teacher and student will use
Procedures Dry Erase Markers for the student and educator to whiteboards for 1-1 on remediation over
YouTube connect through 1-1 remediation to the topic covered.
Paper and Pencil help better understand the topic again.
YouTube is a great digital tool for a
common remediation tool to learn
about the topic from a different
educational source than from the
direct educational source.

Learning Paper and Pencil The QR Codes are a great way for Students, educators and admin will be
Targets QR Codes students to get a glance of the able to read our learning targets by
learning targets on their device. The scanning the QR codes.
learning targets also allow for
administration to get a quick glance at
the learning targets as well.
 Student Folders Student Records in folders are an
Records Paper and Pencil easy way for students to keep up with
their progress over time. Students will
be able to easily track their progress
with their learning targets.
Students will have their student records
in folders where students will be able to
list on the template when they reached
their learning target.

4. References

Levine, E. & Patrick, S. (2019). What is competency-based education? An updated definition. Vienna, VA: Aurora Institute.

Reading literary (RL) reading informational (RI ... - georgia standards. Georgia Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2022, from
https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Frameworks/ELA-Grade-2-Standards.pdf

Adobe Express. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://express.adobe.com/

“Personalized Learning Endorsement.” Bagwell College of Education,

https://bagwell.kennesaw.edu/departments/itec/programs/personalized-learning-endorsement.php.