We kickoff 2021 with a post centered on hope, intention setting, and how these support the implementation of personalized learning in SC classrooms.
2020...it was what it was. As we step into a new year, we believe this school year can hold new opportunities for educators and teachers alike.
The state motto of SC is, "While I breathe, I hope." What a perfect way to frame entering a new year with hope as we encounter each new day with its successes and challenges.
But why is hope important for educators to have right now?
Our partners from KnowledgeWorks, Robin Kanaan and Brenda Neal, joined us in our January podcast episode to discuss this exact question!
Robin describes how the concept of hope as a strategy changed for her recently:
"The concept of hope is interesting for me. I was at a point where, not too long ago, I would hear people say, 'I hope test scores go up for kids,' 'I hope what I’m doing makes a difference." We're going to hope people do the right thing...? I got a little jaded and thought to myself, 'Hope is not a strategy.' You have to add some meat to hope."
But that changed when KnowledgeWorks began working with RSU #2 in Hallowell, Maine:
"My thinking was challenged in the most profound way when we worked with them. Their school vision is to cultivate a hope in all learners. They taught me that hope can be a strategy. They define it as:
Believing the future will be better than the present and I have the power to make it so, knowing there are many paths to my goals and not one of them is free of obstacles.
Hope is a choice. But I have to have some of those skills that enable me to see that tomorrow can be better than today and that we have the power to make it happen, which turns hope into a strategy."
If we can view hope as a strategy, then how do we build hope into our kids in a strategic way? Brenda shares, "One way we can help them be equipped to face obstacles is to increase student ownership of their learning."
Hope is a choice. But I have to have some of those skills that enable me to see that tomorrow can be better than today and that we have the power to make it happen, which turns hope into a strategy.
Robin continues to explain:
"Hope begins with student ownership and learner agency and this idea that kids can track their own data, set their own goals and make decisions as they move through those PL pathways where you are meeting kids where they are based on pre-assessment and readiness data. It starts with growth mindset and that your brain is malleable. And that I can grow my brain! I might not know how to do something today, but I can learn it and maybe by the end of the week, I can."
If we begin with student ownership, Brenda explains that we will reinforce characteristics found in the Profile of the SC Graduate:
"If I have what it takes to make the future better than the present, then I have positive expectations of good in the present and future and I know that it is not going to be without problems. So that focuses on the problem-solving part of personalizing learning. Helping kids identify their macro goals and then micro goals and then action steps. Kids don’t come wired with that. That is a learned skill. If we can walk them through that, they can begin to see they can conquer and celebrate. You are the master of the decision, the pathway and you can do this."
In a similar vein, our office has created this template for all of our #PersonalizeSC educators to think through how they can make hope actionable in the new year! Download the template and insert your text on it or doodle your responses on paper! Want to share? Post it on Twitter or Instagram with #personalizeSC !
Want to listen to Robin and Brenda discuss hope as a strategy? Check out our podcast episode with them here.
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