 "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid."
I believe Albert Einstein said this, but it's been debated. This quote has also been criticized for a few reasons, one being that by calling everyone a genius, especially children, that they may believe they don't have to work hard in life. I don't really see it that way. What it means to me is that when it comes to learning, not all children are the same and shouldn't be treated as such.
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 Gradeless schools and classrooms seem to be a hot topic of conversation in my life right now, so I wanted to address the idea of “going gradeless” here on my blog.
Let’s talk about what it means to have a gradeless school or classroom, the benefits of taking that route, and what to do to measure or demonstrate learning instead.  Differentiating learning is the world's best classroom management strategy, in my humble opinion, and personal learning plan templates are the perfect tool for personalizing learning in your classroom. But how do you use personal learning plan templates? Let's dive in.
 What is personalized teaching?
In short, personalized teaching is offering personal learning / customized learning opportunities for each student. Learning experiences are based around every students' unique background, interests, strengths, challenges, goals, and more.  Distance learning is a challenge in itself, as is differentiated learning, even in a classroom setting when you are face-to-face with students on a daily basis. But differentiating learning from a distance significantly adds to the challenge. How do you engage high school learners in content and skill-building while also considering and applying each student's unique qualities and circumstances?
 In 2008 I signed on to to work as a project-based educator at a small charter high school in St. Paul. I knew that I would be taking on far more than the role of "teacher", as most educators do, but I had no idea when I started this job that I would end up being the events coordinator, which included the high school graduation ceremony. I went on to plan a commencement ceremony for 20ish students every year for 9 years.
 If you follow my blog you know my philosophy by now. Every topic I discuss here from student-directed learning to learning through travel leads back to one goal - that all of my students have a passion for learning. My dream as an educator is that all learners LOVE to learn. Janie Scheffer is on that mission with her own students, to ignite a passion for reading and writing specifically. She does this with conferring. Check it out.
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Blog IntentTo provide innovative educational resources for educators, parents, and students, that go beyond lecture and worksheets. AuthorSara Segar, experiential life-science educator and advisor, curriculum writer, and mother of two. 
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