Are the students not suited for the learning environment or is the learning environment not suited for the students? How are you personalizing learning?

Consider this scenario...
A young teenage boy is walking through the hallways of a busy high school, textbook, binder, pencil case and calculator in hand.  He momentarily pulls the headphones from his ears in order to talk with a couple of close friends.  They are discussing what time they will meet online tonight to play video games with each other.  After the short conversation, the student puts his earphones back in his ears and pulls his smart phone from his pocket to check how much time remains before the bell will ring to start class.  He notices he has received a text message from a friend so he continues to read the message as he begins walking to class.  As he reaches the entrance to the classroom he is typing a message back.  
The bell rings as he drops his textbook, binder, pencil case and calculator on his desk.  He sits down on his chair, wedging himself into the small seat that is attached to his desk.  He checks to make sure his phone is on 'vibrate' and quickly shoves it into his pocket.  He yanks the earphones from his ears, allowing them to dangle from the collar of his shirt and then reaches into the pocket of his hoodie to switch off his MP3 player.  He turns to see what the excitement is that's coming from the crowd of students sitting in the rows of desks at the other end of the room.  They are watching a classmate post a comment on another student's Facebook wall.  


The teacher approaches the front of the classroom and the room becomes quiet as students focus on the teacher. Today's class is similar to most other days with the teacher providing instruction using a combination of a whiteboard and overhead projector.  Following this, students begin working on an assignment, periodically reading sections of information from their textbook and using their calculators to answer specific questions.  At multiple points during the 80 minute class, students' concentration levels dip and their attention shifts. They converse with classmates, turn to listen to a fellow classmate, daydream about what they will do after school and occasionally they leave the classroom to walk down the hallway to the bathroom.


Recently I had a conversation with a teacher about some students who he was concerned about.  He described them as restless, fidgety, easily distracted, occasionally disruptive and generally disinterested in their learning.  He explained that he is frequently forced to redirect these students to their seats to do their work and even when he does so, the students do not accomplish nearly what they are capable of.  Finally, he said "I just don't think these kids are suited for this environment, sitting in desks, listening to a teacher and working on pen and paper tasks."


As much as I agree that these students are not particularly well suited for their learning environment as it currently exists, I believe the better questions to ask are:  Is the learning environment suitable for these students? And, what changes need to be made to the learning environment and the learning opportunities to make them more suitable for these students?


This has made me reflect on the importance of meeting our students where they are, differentiating our instruction for all learners and personalizing the learning for our students.  There are pockets of innovation occurring in many schools that are personalizing the learning experience for students.  Unfortunately, many of these innovations are tied to specific teachers and quite often these ideas are not shared with the larger educational community.


So, if you are involved in or have witnessed an innovation that is personalizing learning for students, I encourage you to share it with others by commenting on this blog.  Thanks.