What is a Personal Learning Plan?

Students in our schools have a Personal Learning Plan (PLP), a dynamic collection of students’ history, identity, dreams, goals, evidence of growth & challenges, and artifacts & products demonstrating the skills they are developing, and powerful reflection on their continuous improvement over time.

Why do students need a PLP?

• The benefit of the PLP is to streamline a student's growth and improvement so that all stakeholders in the student's life (parents, advisors, live source experts, community members) can be engaged in pivotal discussions based on the student's history, goals, and evolution.

How do advisors support the development of the PLP? What are the expectations for student upkeep?

• Our advisors create their own PLPs and serve as the co-creators of the student's PLP, helping students as a group and individually develop this dynamic, personalized plan that is shared with all stakeholders in the student's life. While it is formulated during Socratic circles, the common PLP vocabulary utilized among the parents and advisors of the student, creates a collective investment in the PLP process and therefore in the student's life, learning, and success.

• The PLP is established in the first several weeks of school, including the personalization of the outside of the binder in which it’s housed in the form of a vision board. The components are a collection of data on the student and the establishment of personal and academic goals. The tracking in the PLP happens weekly throughout the year as the student revisits the original goals and tracks progress. The last weeks of school include preparing the End-of Year Analysis (EOYA). The EOYA may be an informal presentation of the PLP to the stakeholders the student chooses. It may also be more formalized as an Event Night presentation to which the student's stakeholders are invited.

  What are the basic components of a Personal Learning Plan?

  • WHO AM I?

    • Discovering the Self

      1. This I Believe

      2. Personal Mission Statement

      3. Personal Agreement

      4. Identifying & Exploring Strengths

      5. Identifying & Exploring Challenges

      6. Interests & Passions

      7. Personality Type

         1. MBTI Tool

      8. Learning Style

      9. Mindset/Outlook

      10. Emotional Intelligence

      11. Inspirations

      12. Create My Own:___________________

  • WHERE HAVE I COME FROM?

    • Nature, Nurture, & Other Experiences

      1. Family Tree

      2. Stories

      3. People & Events That Have Influenced My Life

      4. Resume

      5. Educational Background

         1. Past Academic Reports

         2. Standardized Test Results

         3. Attendance

      6. Accolades & Awards

      7. Create My Own: _______________

  • WHO DO I WANT TO BECOME?

    • Establishing Vision

      • Dreams & Aspirations

      • Identifying Areas Where Goals Need to Be Set

      • Career Identity

      • Life Goals

      • Planning Milestones

      • Setting Priorities

      • Ideas for Making a Difference

      Create My Own: __________________

    • HOW I AM DOING?

      • Taking action

        1. Progress

           1. Project Plans

           2. Documentation of Time & Learning

        2. Road Map to Goal

           1. Process & Pre-work

           2. Yearlong Goals

           3. 6-week Goals

           4. Weekly Goals

        3. Self-assessment Tools

        4. Progress Chart (Performance Rubric Tracking)

        5. Academic Standards

        6. Leadership Development

           1. Activating Voice

           2. Serving Others

        7. Exposure to New Ideas

        8. Passion Exploration

        9. Utilizing Support

        1. Create My Own: ___________________

    • WHAT HAVE I ACCOMPLISHED?

    • Creating opportunity for reflection

      1. Development of Self-assessment Practice

      2. Portfolio

      3. Gratitude & Acknowledgements

      4. Sharing Progress

         1. Student-led Conferences

         2. Presentation of Work

      5. Mindfulness

         1. Journaling Practice

         2. Meditation

         3. Create My Own: __________________

  • WHAT DO I NEED?

    • Maintaining Balance

      1. Wellness

         1. Nutrition

         2. Sleep

         3. Physical Fitness

         4. Mental Health

      2. Emotional & Spiritual Development

         1. Building supportive relationships

         2. Finding a Mentor

         3. Utilizing Restorative Practices

      3. Aligning Time Management with Goals & Priorities

         1. Planning Downtime & Vacation

         2. Balancing Tasks & People

      4. Gather Support

      5. Creative Outlets

      6. Create My Own: _________________