prestonhickert

Deep Dive: Playlists and Choice Boards

January 12, 2020

One of the pillars of our HMS by Design program is personalized learning. Personalized Learning touches on meeting students where they are, responding to skills they need to develop, and giving them voice and choice in their learning. One way to do that is through playlists and choice boards.

What are playlists and choice boards? Well, that’s a good question.

According to Steve Morris, “If you ask ten teachers what is a choice board or an interactive playlist, you will probably get ten different ideas of what a choice board or playlist is! For simplicity, we will say a choice board or interactive playlist is a tool to give students a voice and choice of what activities they want to work on and when they want to do them, while challenging them with higher Depth of Knowledge exercises. One thing it isn't...a "To Do" List!”

So two big takeaways: (1) these tools provide voice and choice; (2) students move through increasingly higher Depth of Knowledge levels.

Provide Voice and Choice

I absolutely and in love with these China Playlists from Phil Kasinski at Sierra Middle School in the Riverside USD. In addition to providing voice and choice, Phil also provides students the ability to choose their own pace and pathway.

Increasing Depth of Knowledge Challenge

Playlists and choice boards should include a mix of DOK 1 and DOK 4 tasks. Wondering what a DOK 1 and DOK 4 type of task will look like? Check out this slide. We want students to experience Jeopardy tasks and Shark Tank tasks, ideally within the same playlist on the same skill.

These resources from Windham Schools are helpful in looking at what type of tasks falls into which category.

DOK 1 tasks might include:

recalling elements and details of a story (e.g. sequence, character, plot and setting)
making a timeline of events
drawing pictures to explain what an event was about
make a facts chart

DOK 2 tasks might include:

create a Venn diagram
identify and classify the characteristics of characters
describe the cause/effect of a particular event
create a flowchart to show critical stages

DOK 3 tasks might include:

support ideas with details and examples
determine author’s purpose and describe how it affects the interpretation of the text
write a prediction about how views on this topic would change in time or place
create a presentation that shows how it applies to another situation

DOK 4 tasks might include:

conduct a debate about an issue
write a letter to the author outlining changes you would make and why
prepare a list of criteria to judge an activity, including priorities and ratings
write a thesis, drawing conclusions from multiple sources

The Ohio Department of Education also has a ton of product ideas for various DOK levels.

Designing Playlists and Choice Boards

There are a lot of basic templates for building a playlist and building choice boards. Perhaps the easiest way to build them is through a Google Doc. This makes sharing and linking resources a whole lot easier.

Education Elements has a Building Playlists 101 playlist that explains the process of building a playlist. Valor Schools also has a Playlist Template.

Here are some examples:

Wrap Up

The fact of the matter is that there are TONS of examples, templates, and resources that will help you in developing your own playlists and choice boards. You can even pack this one away in the “increase student agency” toolbox for later.

Depths of Reflection: Fostering Critical Thinking Through Reflection

January 01, 2020

Leadership in the Diamond

October 28, 2018

Baseball is one of my favorite sports. The start of baseball season signals the end of winter and the beginning of spring. #blessed

But I also love baseball because of all of the different ways you can teach leadership through the game. A few years ago, I led an entire student council officer training on lessons from the Kansas City Royals’ playoff runs and Dayton Moore’s More than a Season book. There are ample examples that I could give -- the 2014 miracle postseason run, the single at bats that changed the game, the “never give up” attitude.

As I look back at what we did during that workshop, this line sticks out the most: People are important. Process is important. Be a part of the team.

I absolutely love the movie, Fever Pitch. During the movie, Jimmy Fallon’s character, Ben, goes on about why the game of baseball is so special. He says, “You know what's really great about baseball? You can't fake it… You can either hit a curveball or you can't. That's the way it works… You can have a lucky day, sure, but you can't have a lucky career.”*

This is exactly like leadership -- you can’t fake it. People see right through fake. People also see through luck, because it eventually runs out. 

It’s like this quote from Kyle Scheele: “Leadership cannot happen the way student council calendars happen where there is a big event every couple of months. If your heart beats every couple of months, you are dead. Those are just a small beat in a series of many. Leadership is constant bumbum, bumbum, bumbum. Leadership is the little acts that happen every day.”

Baseball during the postseason is the best. Players play with the title on the line every pitch, every game. They earned their spot because they were consistent through 180 games. They looked for, and took advantage of, every opportunity to succeed. They had a plan and they followed through. 

Leadership, like baseball, is about being consistent for every game -- all 180 of them. It’s about looking for those moments to capitalize and build culture. It’s about being intentional. 

You can’t fake leadership. Building leaders and building culture requires more.

---

*Fever Pitch, 2005. Fox. 

Word of the Year: Intentional.

August 14, 2018

On the eve of a new school year (my second), my thoughts have swelled around what the next year will look like. My PLN is filled with literally thousands of ideas I could try. Dozens of books fill my Amazon “teacher books” list. And my planbook is currently sitting open to a blank calendar, ready to be filled.

I intentionally spent the first part of summer reflecting on my first year of teaching. I made it out alive, so I hereby declare that it is a success. *cue to confetti*

As I started to look towards what I wanted to do the next year, I kept coming back to the “small things” that are part of our job -- those tiny details that help our students find success. I thought about how I could bring more inquiry into my classroom and offer more choice for my students. I read a lot of books about inquiry. I thought about how to empower my students in their learning. I read a lot about visible learning. Do you see the pattern?

When the end of July popped up on the calendar, I started to focus on what my “word” of the 2018-2019 school year would be (I suppose that’s just my STUCO brain at work because I love a good theme). I decided that my word would be INTENTIONAL.

There are a lot of things that I want to be “intentional” about, but really that word represents slowing down (as much as possible) and focusing on my students as living, breathing humans.

So, the areas that I want to be more intentional:

INTENTIONAL ABOUT INQUIRY. Let’s ask more questions and then chase down those answers. Maybe we can share out what we find along the way?

INTENTIONAL ABOUT STRUCTURE. Let’s develop assessment capable learners, who can drive their own learning and see how they can get better on their own. Let’s develop (and stick with 😅) routines that help our classroom run smoothly.

INTENTIONAL ABOUT KINDNESS. This is the battle I will always take up arms for.

INTENTIONAL ABOUT CELEBRATING. Learning is F-U-N! Making progress is fun! Let’s celebrate when students grow, and let’s celebrate how awesome our teammates are.

Ah, I feel an incredible year ahead. I’m excited to meet my new 405 crew and see where the year takes us. What's your word for the new school year? What are you focusing on?

Mindsets: Castles and Kingdoms

June 26, 2018

In 2011, I arrived on the campus of a small (and unknown) college campus in Missouri. Our car drove up this long drive towards a building that looked like an oversized golf-ball had crash-landed on a green. There were these older kids wearing funny hats and matching shirts screaming at us, and at one point trying to open the car door for a Chinese Fire Drill (keyword there is trying, I had all of my weight on the lock so it would not open).

Fast forward eight years, and I’ve seen this “red carpet” welcome rolled out for hundreds of student leaders year after year at our Summer Leadership Workshop. I admit, sometimes it still makes me uncomfortable.

It is so necessary. Why? We are building the next generation of student leaders and we need to set the tone from day one -- this is no ordinary place, you are welcomed, and we are so glad that you are here.

A few months ago, I read a book by a genius of a man, Bob Goff. Over a few pages, he spells out this mindset of building castles and kingdoms. Let me explain.

To start with, you have to know this important detail: we are constantly building castles and kingdoms, every day and every moment.

Building a Castle vs Kingdom

Have you ever seen a classic, old-time, Hollywood castle? The one with the moat? That’s the one I want you to picture.

When we build castles, we are only letting certain people in. As Bob says, “castles have moats to keep the creepy people out.”

When we are kingdom-minded, we let the bridges down and let everyone in. In our kingdom, everyone is accepted and everyone is welcome.

What are you building?

Houston Kraft gave an extraordinary presentation to our advisors at our State Convention this past spring. He asked us three simple questions: How do we want our students to feel? How do we want our staff to feel? How do we want our people to feel?

I say we lower the gates and bring in our people.

I recently picked up a copy of Richard Parkhouse’s, Building the World’s Greatest High School. Think about this quote: “To see belief systems at work at your school, you don’t have to look very far. For example, if you look at the way that freshman students are greeted on their orientation day, you’ll see the school’s beliefs about the value of these students in crystal clear detail… Are they brought into the gym with much fanfare, music moving, barbecue blazing, and students cheering? Or, are they greeted by an administrator in a suit and tie preparing to talk to them about the dress code?” Are we building castles or kingdoms?

How are we welcoming students and staff back to school in August? Are we lowering the gates and celebrating them? Are we saying “we’re glad you are here”?

Are we building castles or kingdoms?

---

Shoutout to these awesome books (I’m not getting paid if you by them, by the way, I’m just a big fan):

Everybody Always, by Bob Goff.

Building the World’s Greatest High School, by Richard Parkhouse.

Deep Dive: Playlists and Choice Boards

Depths of Reflection: Fostering Critical Thinking Through Reflection

Leadership in the Diamond

Word of the Year: Intentional.

Mindsets: Castles and Kingdoms

Welcome!

@prestonhickert