Michael Mohammad, a high school science teacher in Elmbrook School District in Wisconsin, is passionate about personalizing learning for all learners. Mike writes a blog post, Mo Physics, Mo Problems about his own journey to personalize learning and building his PLN.

Mike shares what happens in his class on social media. I’ve been part of Mike’s PLN for several years and have enjoyed what he shares with the world. When he first learned about personalized learning, he decided to try it right away with his kids. I was pretty excited about the results and just wanted to learn more what his kids were doing in his class. So it just made sense to invite Mike to join me in a conversation. Below are excerpts from the podcast:
 
Can you share a little about you and your background? Why did you go into teaching?
I grew up in Wisconsin. I live outside of Milwaukee, WI with my wife and my new puppy who is a Golden Doodle named Georgia. My parents are immigrants from Pakistan and they pushed me to be a doctor. My mother never went to school and my father became a pediatrician. I actually did work that would take me down the path to become a lawyer or doctor. I always loved school, because it came easy. I was good at “doing school”, but enjoyed English because it allowed me to create and be imaginative. Science was sit and get, English was creative thinking. It was a big leap for me to push to become a teacher. I found in college that I really liked science education and it really made that connection to who I am. There was no push back once they saw I was happy. My parents are very happy with my career choice.

What are the best things about teaching science and high school for you?
I teach 10th through 12th grade Physics. The best thing about science is that you can really make it hands-on. It’s not that hard of a leap to make learning hands-on for students and it’s a great place for students to take risks. When we talk about engineering and designing, it is fantastic. I see the world through science. I am able to take risks without fear. This is science at its best: when we are challenged to think, do, and learn.

Why is it important to personalize learning? Can you share how you are creating a space for every learner?
Learners have passions and aspirations. I need to bridge their passions and aspirations to the content.
It comes down to my Why statement. When I think about when I was a kid doing things just to do them. I cannot tell you a single thing I did in my physics class in high school except the day we went to Great America. When I polled my students to see if they knew what physics was, 90% had no clue. I wanted my students to know how physics connects to their lives not just the world at large. I live physics and want them to experience it the same as I do. Students have to do hands-on with physics or it is not personal to them. Everyone is different. They need to talk about who they are.  It doesn’t matter what subject you teach or population, there is a spectrum of abilities and preferences. It is about removing the obstacles from learning and building the “why” for learning. Teaching learners to know how to learn for themselves rather than simply absorbing information.

What are some strategies you are using to build a culture of learning in your classes?
On the very first day, I ask students to build portfolios using Google Sites starting with a passion page. They are asked to find four videos that talk to you about who you are, your passions, what you want to do, etc. and embed those on the page. Then they write a paragraph about the videos and how they connect to you as a person. This post talks about the portfolio and how it changed over the last term.