A Tail of Three

Individualized Learning Plans:
that term is being pushed around lately - in fact it's part of our new District Improvement Plan - and for good reason. Every student is different and has very unique needs:

• how they learn
• how they produce that know
• what peaks their interest
• what engages them 
• how they manage their own 'intellectual safety' - thanks to Dr. Robert Zeitlin for explaining that new term to me (as "can I raise my hand？"can I take pride being passionate about learning?" "Can I flex my 'smarts'?")
• and so on.....

As a parent of 3 canines and 3 humans (all male mind you) - I'm fascinated by their uniqueness but  more specifically how their individuality is is masked by the pack.

I explained to my counselor last week that adopting our fourth boy (no, we're not getting a fourth dog) is more like joining a member into a pack. Edward is already 12 - and our little family has been together since 2010. Our pack is already established. We have routines and procedures for doing things and new members will join in and go with the flow.

The key to individualized learning and living (in my humble opinion) - is not about setting them all on individual paths as a segregated experience - but how to encourage and support their individual needs together in a pack. 

Most of what we'll do is team work/group work/group living - and so not to align our thinking with solo living, I embrace 'pack thinking'.

So to really put this into action: watch this quick clip~Video

(Background: rainy, cold day and they were left in the house all morning).

If you watched (you should it's funny, plus the rest of this wont make sense).

Ozzie is the brown lab -with his back turned to me

Jack is the yellow lab

Ben is the Black and brown shepherd mix 

So if you had to guess who the guilty party is you'd say...........................Ben right?

Yup! so would I. Why? Well, based on his behavior and his nonverbal "I want to get as far away from this situation as possible" -  he looks really guilty.

Jack is the most obedient and loyal dog ever! When I say "come here" - he starts moving forward. He would walk into a fire if I told him to. He does love to chew socks and blankets but never hard plastic. So he is not without his faults - but he didn't destroy this chip clip.

Ozzie is almost invisible in this scene. In fact he has played his stealth card quite well. He usually flops his furry body in the middle of the kitchen floor, in the doorways, or at the top of the stairs. We are constantly walking over him. At night - he is quite invisible due to his dark coat.

The guilty one was Ozzie.Yet he was not going to offer himself up for Ben. He was quite ready for Ben to take the fall (as he usually does - his assumed role as the naughty one).

SO : lost in the pack their roles are established and assumed.

Ben is the naughty one, Jack is the obedient one and Ozzie is the lazy one.

Individually - 

Ben has some triggers, and anxiety issues. I joke that he is a Shepherd mix (Shepherd + crazy) but he really is a special needs dog (thunder jacket and all).

Ozzie isn't as 'lazy' as imagined. He has spent the last 3 or 4 years debilitated by a generative knee disease and was laying around because his ACL was shredded and his meniscus was shattered (by time of surgery). Yup canine mother of the year here! $3,000 later and he is as active as the others.

Jack won't leave our side. He is always within 1-2 feet of mom or dad - annoyingly so. He can be trusted out in the yard and when ever the gates are left open (happens a lot around here) - he returns to the front door, while the other two gallivant in the neighborhood. He however has an obsession with eating socks or corners of blankets. $3,000 later and a section of intestines removed we had to section off the downstairs from upstairs so that he doesn't have access to stray socks.

In their pack however those are all very difficult to see.

Segue to the educational environment. 

Parent conferences are just one of the few times you get to talk about your individual child. Yet even I hear, "well, I have a class of 30 students". Yes, I understand you have a pack you're teaching, but my son can't be lumped with the pack. He has an extremely low reading score, he struggles with language processing and he just this year found his voice to talk in class and ask questions (he started school in the first grade and has been painfully introverted to the point of shutting down completely, in a preservation mode). SO what he needs according to his learning plan (for ELL, for his IEP) and just as a unique learner cannot be what the other 29 get. Thankfully he has an amazing team of teachers who do care about the individual and the "I've got 30 in my class" wasn't an excuse, it's reality.

My advice on making this all work together: 

• get input on your students from their families
• conference with your students 1-1 as often as possible
• discuss as a team of teachers how your students respond and engage in other classes (there is always one teacher the student performs best for)
• do not label students (quiet one, nosy one, interruptus maximus etc)
• allow room for change and growth within your pack (especially if you teach middle school - the alpha won't be the alpha all year long)

I'm sure there are more - let's learn together - please share!