{"id":13767,"date":"2018-01-12T08:51:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T12:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=13767"},"modified":"2018-09-26T11:09:57","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T15:09:57","slug":"the-rise-of-the-project-based-plp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/the-rise-of-the-project-based-plp\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of the project-based PLP"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new recipe for Personalized Learning Plans<\/h2>\n

\"Crossett<\/a>Rather than trying to get students to care about existing PLPs, some schools are revamping their PLP process to start with what students care about. They are asking students to pursue their passions by crafting projects based on their personal interests and deepest curiosities.<\/p>\n

The new recipe that is emerging: start with a cool personalized project and then build the PLP around it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Many educators faithfully followed the formula laid out by the Vermont Agency of Ed (AOE) as they began implementing Personalized Learning Plans. As a new PD Coordinator working with a number of schools, I created my own PLP<\/a>\u00a0and experienced the power of exploring my identity, setting goals, and reflecting on growth.<\/p>\n

Yet what worked for me wasn’t such a big hit with all students. In many schools, PLPs fell flat. Despite the best efforts of educators, students asked “How can this be personal if I don’t care?”<\/p>\n

Early glimpses of project-based PLPs<\/h2>\n

Some classrooms found great success with the formula of goal-setting based on learner profiles. Check out this recent blog post<\/a> by Don Taylor and other examples at the PLP Pathways site<\/a> to see the power of goal-setting in rich student-centered contexts. Teachers interweave goal-setting\u00a0with the project-based learning that students are doing every day.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the PLP process provided a vehicle for students to advocate for engaging learning opportunities. Fayston Elementary School, for example, launched PLPs<\/a> with a process that was fairly typical other than giving students wide latitude in the types of goals they set. A few students set goals that morphed into independent projects. Soon almost every grade 5-6 student was pursuing passions and exploring personal interests.<\/p>\n

\"students<\/a><\/p>\n

When asked, students often point to project-based learning as encapsulating personalization. Students from Shelburne Community School who participated in the PLP (re)Design process<\/a>\u00a0came up with this elevator pitch:<\/p>\n

“Our PLPs should have hands-on projects with more school time to work on them. We should have choice of a platform and an authentic audience (PLP fair, etc.) to share our learning.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(See this site<\/a>\u00a0created by teacher Sam Nelson for background and resources on Shelburne Community School’s student-driven PLP reorientation.)<\/p>\n

The VT Agency of Ed’s PLP guidance emphasizes that format is a “local school decision,” and the project-based PLP can meet Act 77 requirements just as well as one focused on structured goal setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

As some middle schools begin to recenter PLPs around projects, here are four essential ingredients to this emerging recipe.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Hook ’em with a cool project<\/h2>\n

The rationale here is to take the excitement of a cool project and leverage it to drive the PLP process. The learning outcomes of the PLP, such as goal-setting, showing evidence of growth, and connecting personal identity to school, are all enabled by the project.<\/p>\n

Personalized projects (aka passion projects or genius hours) emphasize student choice and often produce high engagement. This makes them well suited to be PLP vehicles.<\/p>\n

Eric Brunvand, ELA teacher at Shelburne Community School, described the soft entry into formalized planning that they took with Personal Interest Projects (PIPs).<\/p>\n

“We did not require students to create more than one or two action steps, instead we asked them to jump into their projects as soon as possible and then to set next steps as they went. \u00a0I looked at it as you would a household project…you normally end up heading out to the hardware store more than once as you figure out exactly what the task entails.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Engagement comes first.<\/p>\n