Use a student leadership team for feedback on PLPs

Guiding Crossett Brook PLPs with student voice

The Crossett Brook PLP student leadership group presented their recommendations on PLPs to the teaching staff at the end of the school year. The educators received the students’ ideas well. It was pretty cool to see a roomful of teachers rapt on a hot afternoon during the last week of school.

And the students knocked it out of the park.

What did the students recommend as changes to their PLPs?

 

The students made recommendations on:

  • what type of platforms should be available;
  • what the different parts of a PLP could look like;
  • and how goals and projects should relate to one another.

One of their strongest recommendations was that the PLPs be largely project-based, allowing them to showcase the work they’ve been doing on the school’s revolutionary Brainado unit. Additionally, the students recommended adopting the PLP peer collaboration system modeled by students at Peoples Academy Middle Level and Stowe Middle School.

But above all, the student leadership team recommended that they, along with the rest of the students at Crossett Brook, be given the freedom to continue driving and refining the PLP process. Student-led personalized learning! Imagine that!

The students delivered their recommendations with confidence, and supported each other in undertaking this daunting task.

What did educators think of the recommendations?

The students prepared a survey for the educators requesting feedback on each recommendation presented. Early results show near-unanimous support for EVERY STUDENT RECOMMENDATION. The educators also gave the students huge props for being so willing to put themselves out there to present. And also for the amount of thought that had gone into the recommendations. Overall, so great to see student voice flourishing!

As a result, the student leadership group’s next move is to join educators from around the state at the 2017 Middle Grades Institute this month in Burlington.

student leadership team

How do you incorporate student voice in PLP evolution?

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Life LeGeros

Life has worked in various roles in K-12 education, including classroom teacher, assistant principal, math department head, state agency administrator, and school board teacher representative. His dissertation focused on the impact of math teachers' knowledge on the growth of their students. He believes in teacher leadership, student empowerment, and challenging the status quo. He loves being immersed in tech-rich and outdoor environments, though not simultaneously. Find him on Twitter @lifelegeros.

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