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By Madi Fisher Personalized Learning is a program that is supposed to focus on the needs of a student, while finding a way to implement a teaching style that can accommodate the majority of the class. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District hired Education Elements, a personalized learning assistance firm, to examine the ways that the schools in the district function, and guide teachers as they tailor each class to fit the general and individual needs of students at the same time. The school district paid Ed Elements $1.6 million for their assistance in implementing PL, as opposed to taking any kind of input from those that are directly affected by any changes made by this firm, namely students. In my experience the program and ideas of the Personalized Learning (PL)program have had no effect in my classes. One of my teachers has tried to apply PL to their class, and seems to have been met with very little change in the performance of their students. Many students who had grades lower than a B to begin with, still report having a C average, or lower, performance in that class. PL has yet to bring anything productive and advantageous to my classes. All of the teachers that I have genuinely enjoyed, were made to be teachers. They enjoyed teaching and guiding students to be the best that they could be. These teachers were also willing to change their teaching routine if it didn’t benefit their current class. These teachers were enthusiastic, happy to be in the classroom, and happy to be with their students. Most importantly, these teachers have chosen communication to be one of the most important factors in their classroom. Personalized Learning, presented differently by each teacher, is always present in the classroom. Every example of PL that I have found in my research divides the class into small groups that the teacher would visit throughout the week. The same can be achieved with more teachers and smaller class sizes. A student should be able to ask for help or ask a question whenever they need. It is a privilege that students shouldn’t be deprived of because of a routine, and the fact that they are sectioned off from their teacher. There are teachers that are too stubborn and set in their teaching styles to change for the better of their students. They lack not only the necessary communication skills, but also lack the ability to adapt to students’ needs over their own. The district doesn't need outside advice. The district needs to take advice from the students that are attending classes, and enact change from there. Smaller class sizes have been proven to be more effective and improve student's performance. The district knows what needs to be fixed. By taking advice from people on the inside who are involved in class every day, the district can take action for the better and invest in future of their students, instead of undermining them. By R.J. Sullivan I decided to pursue this topic because I was interested in the science on how the high school ecosystem is ordered wanted to spark a conversation on this topic in hopes of allowing better understanding of human social behaviors. To begin we must first understand what exactly this article is attempting to dissect, and that is the complex social interactions high school students have as they move through high school. From dating to sports teams, to gangs and bullying, the high school ecosystem can be both diversely rich, and dangerous when not properly understood. During the transition into young adulthood, social interactions between peers become “increasingly important for the social and emotional development of adolescents” says the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health (NCBI). This means a power struggle ensues giving those with a higher social standing more power and control over the cliques they belong to, The study conducted by NCBI also found that “Social status differences between cliques are accompanied by distinct characteristics and behaviors of members of those cliques, most prominently aggressive and prosocial behaviors”. To simplify, think of the stereotypical bully group in media these days, the ones that get all the attention and frequently bully those under them. But what controls both the founding and growth of cliques? According to a study done by Stanford researcher Edmund L. Andrews it is a mix of a few things with notables being school size, and more importantly the rigidity of the school system, “pecking orders, cliques and self-segregation are less prevalent in schools and classrooms that limit social choices and prescribe formats of interaction.” this also means that “a more rigid school setting can sometimes promote more open-mindedness in making friends — a potentially valuable quality in adulthood.” To bring this article “closer to home”, I interviewed the Freshmen counselor Bryan Mitchell. When asked which student demographic (freshmen, sophomores, etc.) had the biggest social troubles, Mr. Mitchell replied saying that while he wasn’t an expert on the other demographics, to him the freshmen seemed to be ones who had the most trouble fitting into social groups. According to him it was because of the “anxiety” and “baggage” that comes with the transition between middle and high school that can cause a “lot of drama”, but that didn’t stop freshmen from quickly forming up socially. Mr. Mitchell’s estimate for when freshmen start fitting in to social groups and cliques is around two weeks. When asked what students could do to help get into the social groups Mr. Mitchell said “just be involved” in sports, clubs, events, and other school activities to meet and make friends with new people. So how does this affect you? My hope is that it can help those who still haven’t fit into social cliques and feel like they just don’t fit in, as well as those who are in social hierarchies to be more empathetic to those mentioned previously. So if I could leave you with one last thought let it be this. If we as both students and humans could understand each other better, not just who we are but why we are who we are, what would the world be like? Thank you all and have a wonderful day, Sincerely, R.J. Sullivan |
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