Flexible Educational Resources

As our society shifts more and more to the personalized experience, shouldn't the classroom also reflect this cultural norm? How does flexibility have a role in the educational experience? How can one assigned teacher possibly provide flexibility for each individual within their classroom? In thinking from a policy perspective as well as a resources to provide perspective, I have had the opportunity to be involved in making decisions that lean in to providing more flexibility.

In order to set the vision, community members, city personnel, board members, central office personnel, and teachers conducted site visits of various k-12 schools around the nation (mostly in Arizona and Missouri). Through these tours, we began noticing how having a flexible physical environment is an essential key to providing teachers the ability to provide flexible student grouping. Various physical features in the design of the building and classroom including things like large open spaces with multi-use purposes, partitions and garage door type walls that could be opened and closed, furniture that could be moved and rearranged in a variety of ways to encourage individual work to working in pairs to working in larger groups. Once the vision was set, we had to plan. This meant many meetings of working with architectures, teachers, and central office personnel to ensure all needed components were included. August 2022 we opened a STEAM wing that consists of 6 classrooms and 2 Steam labs.

While the building was being built last year, the teachers went through lots of professional development. The focus was on flexible student grouping, using data to dictate instruction, and project-based assessments. Currently the instructional coaches are assisting the teachers in this new building on how to best group students based on meeting the student where they currently are and pushing for growth. The students are grouped together across grade level and across curriculum. One grade level (1st-5th) occupies the various classrooms in this wing so that students can go up and down based on what they need.

In addition, the entire space is used and has a purpose. The hallways can be transformed in to small group spaces or individual reading nooks. There is a space for students to be able to present projects to the entire class. There is an outdoor learning space. The signage from the classroom names to the paint on the pavement provide learning opportunities.

It has been a privilege to be apart of making decisions, approving expenditures, and encouraging innovation with the goal of personalizing learning for each child that walk through the doors of this school.

Another wonderful program that the Board of Education has supported is the use of Flexible Pathways. Students are encouraged to not only meet the graduation requirements mandated by the state, but also complete additional CTAE requirements (including a final capstone project). The complete a certain amount of courses in a particular area such as Hospitality & Tourism, Engineering, Computer Science, Aviation, Gulf Coast Sustainability, Health Sciences, and more. Attending student's capstone projects last year provided evidence that students are utilizing real world problems and using their skills and learning new skills to tackle the problem. I was amazed at the level of data and hard work and knowledge that these students possessed in areas from hydroponics to health sciences. It was evident that students were not only learning within the walls of the school building, but all over the community. These flexible learning opportunities create life-long learners!

These programs are regularly monitored by the Board through both our monthly meetings, emails, and attendance to school events. We created a monthly student Wave Maker and faculty Wave Maker so that each month a student and a staff is recognized for their efforts. These nominations are made from staff at the local schools. In addition, every month each principal takes a turn providing a highlight of something happening in the building. All endeavors reflect back to the district's vision and values.

References:

• Andrade, M. S., & Alden-Rivers, B. (2018, December 27). Developing a framework for sustainable growth of Flexible Learning Opportunities. Higher Education Pedagogies . Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23752696.2018.1564879

• Ark, T. V. (2015, January 29). How learning will work in the near future: 12 features of next-Gen Platforms. Getting Smart. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/01/29/learning-will-work-near-future-12-features-next-gen-platforms/

• CA Dept of Education. (n.d.). Flexible Learning Environments . Flexible Learning Environments, Best Practices and Resources - School Facilities. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/bp/

• Connecticut's Official State Website. (n.d.). What are flexible pathways for learning? CT.gov. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Mastery-Based-Learning/What-Are-Flexible-Pathways-for-Learning