Paris independent schools

FUTURE READY…

SUCCESS ONE BY ONEPARIS…RICH IN TRADITION, FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE

PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Our story so far…Why did you begin?

Creating a System for PERSONALIZED LEARNING

NEXT GENERATION

LEADERSHIP

ACADEMY Cohort 4

UNIVERSITY OF

KENTUCKY

In partnership with

NATIONAL CENTER FOR

INNOVATION IN EDUCATION

Paris independent schools

Our story so far…What were your first steps?

We began learning from our Cohort colleagues and Next Gen staff & resources!

We made the 6 Next Gen Principles our guide at every District Leadership meeting

We visited schools…Eminence Independent, Franklin-Simpson High School, & Montgomery County Schools

We reached out through emails and phone calls…Superintendent Hamby and his teachers in Trigg County where I first heard the term “FUSION”

We participated in webinars, attended conferences, read books, and incubated ideas.

We committed to the principle of Student Agency by listening to our kids through multiple surveys and round table discussions.

Paris independent schools

TURNING POINT…

The kids were unhappy…something(s) had to change!

I asked our superintendent in February if we could bring a team of six to Cohort 5…we knew we still had a lot to learn

We began revamping our Master Schedule to include 30 minutes of Prime Time at 10 a.m. every day called iTime and placed FUSION as a class option every hour.

A conversation with Lu and Carmen where they suggested I look at Summit Schools in California…Summit’s 2 minute intro clip was exactly what I was looking for!

A conversation with Linda France where she mention the iNACOL Conference resulted in me spending spring break listening to every keynote speaker…Michael Horn, Sal Khan, Gene Wilhoite, and more!

Invited Justin Bathon to visit with the high school principal and me one day during spring break.

Paris independent schools

Justin Bathon and the big AHA!We shared our vision and yet the ‘place’ we described kept colliding with traditional classroom questions.

Justin listens closely to us, grabbed the vision and says,

“What don’t you make FUSION the hub of your school, the thing that really defines the changes you want to see at Paris High School?”

AHA! FUSION as the vehicle that transforms our high school.

Paris independent schools

Next Steps… I reached out to Justin again and said “we are ready to

begin…please send me anything that may help.”

He responded with a priceless email full of books to read, people to contact, and at least a dozen video links he thought would help…I showed everyone of them at our April and May leadership meetings.

We embraced Michael Horn’s new book

Blended ~Using Disruptive Innovation to

Improve Schools to guide our work.

We put together a Design Team from the high school

Justin came to a Leadership meeting in April/May to

share about LMS/CANVAS

We were on a mission…

Paris independent schools

Why do we care about Blended Learning:

It is the engine

that will help us actualize personalized learning for all students

and competency-based learning

provide access & equity for kids

more cost effective and engaging than one to one tutoring

Paris independent schools

…from Michael Horn’s book BLENDED

Start with a Rallying Cry

Create a Framework for Team Design

Design the Virtual and Physical Setup

Choose the Model

Motivate the Students

Elevate Teaching By Invitation

Create the Culture

Discovery Every Step of the Way

Communicate With Our Community…the Big Splash!

Paris independent schools

Support from the top…

A school or district that goes down this path, must have support from the superintendent…period.

Paris independent schools

Lessons learned? Pitfalls to avoid?

Repeated warnings to not make1:1 technology the goal, but to recognize technology as a tool!

We worked hard to follow that advice and once we had the vision, we realized we could not make personalized learning happen without it.

Paris independent schools

What motivates us? Autonomy, Purpose, & Mastery

Drive by Daniel Pink

Toolbox…Autonomy… Voice, Choice, Self-directed Learning

A Systems Approach to Continuous Classroom Improvement with a focus on student goal-setting and using data analysis to drive next steps

Student Voice, The Instrument of Change by Russell J. Quaglia and Michael J. Corso

Master Schedule Changes – Common Plan, Extended Time in Reading & math,

iTime – 30 minutes of PRIME TIME Every day at 10:00 a.m. with a focus on reading, relationships, student voice, CCR, clubs, and celebrations

A Place called FUSION – Personalizing Learning through Blended Learning and Project Based Learning

1:1 Technology Initiative – Chromebooks for every high school student

Mastery… Competency Based Learning

Implemented Standards Based Grading

Purpose… FUTURE READY

This is…

Paris independent schools

A HAPPY PLACE…where everybody knows your name

~~~

What are your next steps?

FUSION for ALL STUDENTS

AUTHENTIC PBL

&

STUDENT INTERNSHIPS!

Let’s just DO IT!