The Personalized Classroom
G A E T C N O V . 6 TH, 2 0 1 3
RACHEL HANSON AND ERIN ZITKA
CONTENT SPECIALISTS, FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOOLS
What is Personalized Learning?
 Personalized learning begins with the learner and
means that students' needs and preferences drive
their learning. Transforming a classroom into a
personalized learning environment means
including student voice and student choice.
The Personalized Classroom
 Creating a personalized classroom does not happen
overnight. Teachers need to be able to take small
steps. In this course, we present four ways to help
them do that: Blended Learning, Flipped
Classroom, Student Choice, and Student Voice.
Blended Learning
 A rotational model is one way to incorporate blended
learning in your classroom. Students rotate through
stations in small groups.
 The teacher decides how long the students will spend
at each activity. Each station will focus on a different
learning modality.
Blended Learning
 One of the stations needs to include online learning.
 Other stations may include activities such as direct
instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and
pencil-and-paper assignments.
Blended Learning Example

In this example, the class is studying Dante's Inferno. In order to enrich the
students' experience with this work of literature, the teacher offers opportunities
to connect with it in many different ways.

Station 1: Students listen to a recording of a portion of Dante’s Inferno: Recording
(No Product)

Station 2: Dante’s Inferno: “A Virtual Tour of Hell”: http://foxtwin.com/inferno/;
Students embark upon a tour of Dante's Hell, from Dante's mysterious awakening
in the Dark Wood of Error down, down through nine levels until they reach the
Cocytus where Satan himself resides, encased in ice forever. (No Product)

Station 3: Students read a New York Times review and a Telegraph review of the
video game Dante’s Inferno. Students compare and contrast the two reviews. This
activity can be in written or discussion form. (Product could be post/reply on a
discussion forum, writing a compare/contrast essay, or creating a venn diagram).

Station 4: Teacher-Led Group: Close read of a passage of Dante’s Inferno (Product
- Annotations)
Most Effective Video/Audio Digital Resources
http://learnzillion.com
Requires a login, but free to sign up
Review, Common Mistakes, Core Lesson, Guided Practice, Extension Activities, and Quick Quiz
Available in Math and ELA
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/index.html
Thousands of free math videos that are categorized according to grades and topics
English Grammar Videos
http://www.khanacademy.org/
Thousand of free math videos covering pre-algebra, algebra, developmental math, calculus,
algebra II, geometry, linear algebra, pre-calculus, probability, statistics, and trigonometry
Science, History, and Finance Videos
http://www.60secondrecap.com
This is a fantastic site which provides short, engaging videos on several literary topics for a variety
of the classics.
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/default.aspx
Free educational videos include Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, History, Social Studies,
Computers and Technology, The Arts, Foreign Languages, Life Skills, Vocational, Career
Development, Business, Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics
Most Effective Interactive Digital Resources
http://www.chompchomp.com/
This is the home of “Grammar Bytes”. You will find a host of ELA resources here. There are terms
defined, interactive exercises, handouts, and presentations.
http://www.mathopenref.com/
Free online reference for geometry teachers and students. Features animated and interactive
drawing to demonstrate geometry terms and concepts
http://regentsprep.org/
Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Trigonometry concepts that provide lessons, practice, and
teacher resources.
Global History, US History, Earth Science, Living Environment, Chemistry, and Physics resources
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mejhm/index.html
This multimedia resource includes interactive math activities, print activities, learning strategies,
and videos that illustrate how math is used in everyday life.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
This site offers a host of resources, including interactive quizzes and games for topics such as
reading, writing, grammar, and spelling in ELA and numbers, calculation, percents and
fractions, measuring, shapes, and graphs in Math.
Most Effective Text-Based Digital Resources
http://www.purplemath.com/
Contains practical algebra lessons demonstrating useful techniques and pointing out
common errors.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/
This site features a variety of lesson plans and resources for literature, social studies,
history, foreign language, and art and culture.
http://www.coolmath.com/
Really clear math lessons (pre-algebra, algebra, precalculus), cool math games,
online graphing calculators, geometry art, fractals, polyhedra, parents and
teachers areas too.
http://www.readwritethink.org
This site offers a wealth of resources for teaching language arts as well as other
subject areas.
http://www.webenglishteacher.com
This site offers a host of English Language Arts resources on topics such as grammar,
reading, writing, and vocabulary for all levels.
The Flipped Classroom


The Flipped Classroom IS:
A means to INCREASE interaction and personalized contact time between students
and teachers.

An environment where students take responsibility for their own learning.

A classroom where the teacher is not the "sage on the stage", but the "guide on the side".

A blending of direct instruction with constructivist learning.

A classroom where students who are absent due to illness or extra-curricular activities
such as athletics or field-trips, don't get left behind.

A class where content is permanently archived for review or remediation.

A class where all students are engaged in their learning.

A place where all students can get a personalized education.
The Flipped Classroom
 The Flipped Classroom is NOT:
 A synonym for online videos. When most people hear about the flipped
class all they think about are the videos. It is the interaction and the
meaningful learning activities that occur during the face-to-face time that is
most important.
 About replacing teachers with videos.
 An online course.
 Students working without structure.
 Students spending the entire class staring at a computer screen.
 Students working in isolation.
The Flipped Classroom
Flipped Math Lesson Example
Flipped Learning Resources:
Flipped Learning Network
http://flippedclassroom.org/
Catlin Tucker’s Blog
http://catlintucker.com/2012/04/flipped-classroom-beyondthe-videos/
Flipped Classroom
http://www.techsmith.com/flipped-classroom.html
Tools for Flipping
 Educareations http://www.educreations.com/
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Created & share videos with your iPad.
Screencastomatic http://screencast-o-matic.com/
Free screen recorder, 15 min or less in length.
Ezvid: http://www.ezvid.com/
Free video maker, posts to youtube
Ibuildapp http://ibuildapp.com/
Build an app for your classroom in 5 minutes (iOS & Android)
Showme http://www.showme.com/
Create and share video using your iPad
Jing http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
Screen capture and 5 min or less videos
Screencast http://www.screencast.com/
2GB of storage & 2GB of monthly bandwidth
Student Choice
 Meaningful Menus for Creating Choice in Your Classroom
Student Choice
Student Voice
 Simply put, student voice refers to how students give
their input as to what happens in the school and
classroom.
 For example,
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Deciding as a math class how to review concepts for a test
Discussing an approach to learning a particular standard
Incorporating peer coaching and collaborative learning
ELA students choosing what works of literature to read during the
year
Using polls and surveys
Resident Expert Projects
Q&A
Rachel Hanson
rhanson@forsyth.k12.ga.us
770-887-2461 x203370
Erin Zitka
ezitka@forsyth.k12.ga.us
770-887-2461 x203368