Picture a 9th Grade student on their first day of class: Nervous, but interested and excited.
During the first couple of weeks, the student works hard. They always take notes when the teacher talks; they seem engaged during classroom activities. The student also invents an intricate four-color highlighting system for their book – proudly showing the teacher their highlighting.
The student takes their first assessment, expecting a high score; unfortunately, they score a bit below expectations.
The student works harder, writing furiously as the teacher talks and highlighting most of every page in their book. When the teacher asks about their study habits, the student says that they are working hard by going over the notes and re-reading their book.
The student takes their second assessment, again expecting a high score; however, the score on the second assessment is again a bit below their expectations.
At this point, the student’s interest and excitement begin to waver. The student knows how much effort they are putting into the class, but the assessment scores are making the student question the point of their effort.
The student faces a choice: Keep trying, but not see the results they want? Or, accept that they are “not good at school” and put their effort somewhere else?
As educators, we’ve seen this type of student in every grade level in high school. These students are wonderful to have in class because they give real effort and care about their learning; what they are missing is a system that turns their effort into deep learning.
The Learning System for Students is the foundational course for that system: Students gain ideas for the knowledge and skills for learning, then apply the ideas to their current activities or classes.
I believe every student should have a personal learning system; this course is where the system starts.
The Learning System for Students has nine lessons, designed in a 1-3-1-3-1 pattern. Lesson 1 provides the “why”; lessons 2, 3, and 4 give ideas about the knowledge and skills for learning. Lesson 5 is the hinge lesson, using attention as the connection between the ideas and application. Lessons 6, 7, and 8 are the application of the knowledge and skills for learning; Lesson 9 combines every part of the course into the foundation of a personal learning system.
Lessons 1 and 9 connect by asking students one question: What does your studying look like? Educators and students can see a change in the answer, showing how the ideas in the course reached students.
| Lesson | Core Question | Artifact |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – Learning System | Why does having a learning system matter? | None |
| 2 – Balance | What conditions are needed for a person to learn? | Balance Card |
| 3 – Brain | How are working memory and long-term memory used in learning? | Bowl / Warehouse Reference Card |
| 4 – Knowledge and Skills | What is a student building when they learn? | Web Sketch for a Model |
| 5 – Attention | How does attention affect learning? | Environment Map |
| 6 – Studying | How does a student design a study session for deep learning? | Study Check |
| 7 – Practice | How does a student use a practice session to increase learning? | Practice Check |
| 8 – Performance | How does a student perform well? | Performance Check |
| 9 – Learning System | How does a student create a personal learning system? | Web Sketch for the Course |
Each lesson has questions for reflection and discussion, asking students to use a specific example from their current activities or classes. These specific examples connect to the ideas in the course, making the ideas personally relevant to the students. By building the foundation of a personal learning system with their own examples, students can use their learning system in their future activities and classes.
The Learning System for Students has nine 15-minute lessons, for a total time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The course is designed to be plug-and-play for educators: Press play and pause at the right times, ensure students have the materials, and monitor that students are discussing topics in the course.
Three timing options fit most school calendars:
The recommended timing is twice per week. This timing is short enough to carry momentum for the ideas in the course, but long enough for students to use the artifacts between lessons.
To understand how students received and applied the ideas in the course, I built course feedback into the last five minutes of Lesson 9. Students respond on a Google Form (or on paper when devices are unavailable) without any identifying information – making student responses anonymous. You will receive the results for students in your class; I will use the feedback to improve the next version of the course. I will also use anonymized quotes and compiled data when I share this course with other educators.
If you want to preview any of the lessons in the course, check out the Educator’s Guide. This guide has links to the workbook and nine lessons, showing the structure of the course. (Note: The title slides in each lesson reference 9th Grade, but the ideas work for students in Grades 8 to 12.)