Before charging off and asking students to write a Personalized Learning Plan, you should ask students to please take some time to clarify their thoughts on how they will use the plan to improve their learning. This can be done as a writing assignment, pair share or full-group discussion in advisory. Below is a list of focus questions. Some of the answers to these questions may be resolved by a school-based decision, such as what kinds of inventories they will use. However, all students may not be clear about the decisions the school has made for moving forward with the planning and development of the PLP. Certainly by high school, all students should be able to articulate the cognitive answers to the following questions. If they can't, students may view the PLP process as merely checking off boxes without understanding the power of their own PLP.
Focus Questions for Planning your PLP
1. Where will you develop your personal learning statement? In school? In advisory? As part of a Language Arts assignment?
2. What kinds of interest inventories or assets inventories might you use to help you develop your strengths and challenges?
3. What other resources will you use to develop your personal learning statement ? (Discussions with family members, advisors or guidance? Work evaluations? Awards or transcripts? Diary?)
4. How will you distinguish between what you like versus what you are successful at?
5. Depending on where you are in school, will you be using your PLP for achieving short term, medium term or long term goals? How can you use this plan to achieve all three types of goals?
6. Will you use this plan to follow a traditional secondary (7-12) curriculum or to design components of your own curriculum?
7. How often will you reflect and revise your plan?
8. How important do you view your plan as a tool for learning?
9. What would make this plan a useful tool for you to be successful in your secondary education?
10. What do you need from your advisor to help you be successful in developing your plan and achieving the goals in your plan?
Does your school have a