Have you ever walked into FACS teacher Ashley Winslow’s room? You may notice that it doesn’t look like the rest. Instead, you will see students working on their projects at their own pace.
Ashley Winslow has been at South High for 11 years and she teaches all of the fashion classes.
In her Fashion Apparel and housing design, her students work on projects such as constructing pillowcases and personalized lanyards.
When you walk into Winslow’s classroom it might look chaotic and disorganized at first but that’s actually how she teaches–her teaching style is called “personalized learning.”
So what is personalized learning?
“It’s meeting students where they are and helping guide them to create their learning pathway. There is an arsenal of tools to use to guide them,” Winslows said.
Freshman Emilly Lima takes Winslow’s Intro to Fashion Apparel and Housing Design class and she appreciates this new way of learning.
“It makes me feel like I’m able to do my own thing and work on my own time. I don’t have to be worried about the whole class being done with the assignment,” Lima said, “and if you didn’t do it, it’s your problem.”
Although it may seem like Winslow’s personalized learning is the best way to learn, it might not be like that for people like sophomore Izzy Preston.
“It’s ok. Sometimes I struggle with knowing what I’m supposed to do,” Preston said.
Winslow also believes that personalized learning can be hard and it might not be for all students who have trouble with staying on track.
“Personalized learning requires a high level of self-motivation and discipline. Students must take the initiative to set goals, plan their learning, and stay on track. Some students may find it challenging to stay motivated without direct teacher-led instruction,” Winslow said.
Sophomore Logan Wactor is one of the few male students Winslow has, and he claims to love her personalized learning approach.
“I love it because I get to talk to all types of people I wouldn’t normally talk to,” he said.
Winslow’s class is a semester-long course, but what are students getting out of this experience?
“The goal is to FULLY personalize the course for each student based on their interests and passions,” Winslow said.