Running Head: MAKING LEARNING PERSONAL

Learning About Students

Shannon Skelton

National University

TED 690
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Abstract

This paper is a review of William Powell and Ochan Kusuma-Powells educational text

How to Teach Now (2011), particularly Chapter 1. Knowing Our Students. Throughout the

chapter he introduced and stresses the importance of teachers understanding the complex

interplay of factors that influence a students learning (Powell, 2011) and offers techniques for

teachers to learn about their students in a well-rounded manner. By understanding the measures

that should be taken and effectively reacting to this learned knowledge, teachers are taking the

first steps in creating a learning environment for students to thrive and are showing competency

in TPE 8: Learning About Students.

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Teachers have various means of getting to know their students, whether it is a survey on

the first day of school, a spotlight activity like the Star of the Week, or candid conversations

with students during class time. Throughout our credential programs appreciating and supporting

diversity and exceptionalities are thoroughly discussed and methods of differentiation are

stressed. In Chapter 1, Powell and Kusuma-Powell elaborate that every student presents us with

a different learning puzzle that we must solve in order to give them the best opportunity. That is

the goal of personalized learningto use what we find out about our students as a key to unlock

their learning potential (2011). They discuss a wide range of factors that can affect a students

learning including but not limited to self-esteem, sense of efficacy, cultural norms, social status

within the class or group, life experience, dispositions and attitudes, and habits of mind (Powell

and Kusuma-Powell, 2011) which supports the argument that methods for learning about

students should be equally varied to gain a valid understanding of your students, an

understanding that is far more thorough than can be achieved with a single survey.

While truly knowing each student in that class is a skill that few teachers have mastered

and thrive on, many teachers reserve these techniques as a response to intervention when a

student is struggling to meet learning goals in their class. In these cases, as teachers analyze

student work or ask more revealing questions to the student, they tend to focus on student

deficits as opposed to student strengths. Creating a student learner profile can provide a way to

shift this focus and "unmask" success (Powell and Kusuma-Powell, 2011) and provide a more

well-rounded depiction of the student. Developing these student learner profiles may seem like a

daunting task to many teachers, thus Powell and Kusuma-Powell provide teachers with a

phenomenal resource and developed a series of questions that teachers might want to ask

themselves, [their students and parents] as they develop a learner profile. The questions are
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categorized under the five dimensions of learner identity: biological traits, cultural and societal

influences, emotional and social influences, learner preferences, and academic performance

(2011).

This article resonated with me because I recently interviewed Link Crew Leader

applicants and one of the questions we ask is, if you were a teacher at Westview, whose

teaching style would you want to emulate and why? In answering this question, most of the

students focused on the teachers that make a sincere effort to know each of their students and

appreciate them for the unique gifts they bring to their classroom. Students know when they are a

stranger in the crowd or a respected asset to the classroom. Whether the teacher uses gained

knowledge from their learner profiles to provide equal learning opportunities to students with

exceptionalities or to create a strong and intimate learning environment, students will reap

remarkable benefits from the extra efforts made. I plan to use some of the questions and

techniques offered in the chapter when learning about my students and I will remember that

every student has different talents and struggles, yet small modifications can make big

differences in the learning that takes place (Powell and Kusuma-Powell, 2011).
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References

Powell, W. and Kusuma-Powell, Ochan. (2011). How to teach now: Five points to personalized
learning in the global classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/111011.aspx