I wouldn’t trade my senior experience in high school for anything! For me, 1998 represents the golden era of my upbringing, and I definitely learned and grew as a person. If I had to categorically capture my high school senior experience in a word, I would use the word “traditional”. I went to the same school every day. I took the exact same courses and sat in the exact same seat every day. Each class was 45 minutes. I ate lunch with the same people at the same table in the cafeteria. When time allowed, I walked the same girl to class…. and now that same girl is my wife! Although Marysville High School was incredibly structured and did not offer many options outside the proverbial box, I wanted it that way. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have changed anything then, and still wouldn’t if I could go back in time. It was “just right” for me, at just the right time.

But 2015 is a new era where personalization and global competency have never mattered more for students. I am reminded of the importance of both as I sit at a street café called “Café Santa Maria” on a beautiful morning in Madrid, Spain. The sun is shining, my café con leche is strong, and every conversation I hear activates background knowledge acquired in a Spanish classroom back in ‘98. In about treinta minutos we will continue on day two of a nine day quest through Spain with 16 wonderful GHHS students. Our students are collectively intelligent, intellectually curious, and funny! The experience of traveling to Europe is one thing, but watching their minds explode and think about the thinking is on another level. It may be the architecture, local customs, food, language, or even just the sheer amount of meta-cognitive deep thinking….. but smoke is coming out of their ears! Our students have many immersion opportunities internationally, and we hope that the amount of opportunities will continue to grow. Learning that takes place outside of the classroom is but one way to personalize.

Traditional and contemporary school experiences do not need to be competing values or compromise personalization. The class of 2015 had an average of 20.47 credits accumulated prior to taking a class their senior year. Because the state of Ohio only requires 21 credits for graduation, this is significant. Personalization is becoming more of a core value daily and I feel trust grow daily as our teaching faculty explores exactly what personalization is and could mean. Words like time, structure, personnel, or the statement “we have never” are slowly starting to fade. GHHS now has 1 to 1 computing and that has opened up our minds and hearts to personalization in new ways.

When students have the opportunity to research, collaborate, and problem solve with students on the other side of the world, content and real world issues have increased relevancy. Structured autonomy has found a stronger presence in our building as well and it can serve as powerful approach to personalization. When a teacher outlines big ideas, learning targets, academic and content vocabulary for a given unit in rubric form students have clarity on purpose and intended learning outcomes. When the teacher then tells their students to research and show me what you know through a video you create, written essay, a debate, a written play, or even a school presentation….. our students have multi-modal learning opportunities to not only demonstrate what they know, but students also have a differentiated platform to flourish.

As we take a hard look at the portrait of a graduate and their senior year experience, I don’t believe that every single student who wants to become a marine biologist needs to live in Australia for part of their senior year and work side by side with experts in that field. That said, why couldn’t they? Could a student who wants to work in public office live in Washington, DC, for an internship with experts in public affairs, or even lobbyists? The answer is yes. Could a student who wants to become an artist reside in Paris for 9 weeks to study artists and their work at “Le Louvre” and “Musee d’Orsay”? Yes. Recently, a senior student who was taking 5 AP courses asked me if he could miss school every Wednesday so he can work in the statehouse with experts in public service. I was immediately on board and our teachers did not blink. Would they alter coursework, due dates, and even delivery of instruction to provide this opportunity for our student. You bet. We currently have a senior student who wants to become an elementary teacher regularly working with students and teaching at RLS (Grandview Height's Elementary School). I believe this is excellent for the next generation of students, and equally beneficial to our student who wants experience in her probable career field. There are many more examples of us breaking down traditional barriers and our intent is for that list to continue to grow. Personalization of learning is powerful.