As a year has almost gone by in my transition to a blended learning coach, I'm realizing more and more just how passionate I am about blended learning. See, before I was introduced to blended learning I was always entranced and perhaps befuddled by the concept of "what's next?" in educational technology. I think, as educators, we tend to be searching for anything to help us reach every single one of our students. It's a never-ending race as our students change and move to the next grade, but still... we search.
But when you think about blended learning, it's not so much about what's next, but rather, how we choose to incorporate it into our classroom to best impact student learning. So when I was facilitating a year-long professional learning opportunity with teachers and we tasked them with the "Chopped Challenge, Blended Learning Edition" I felt it necessary for me to play along, too.
The task: Use all of the props placed in front of you to help explain blended learning.
The audience: A blog - which, for many teachers was a stretch and a new endeavor.
The why: It's important to share our voices and reflect on our own learning.
So here goes...
THE PENCIL
To me, the pencil can represent a lot of different ideas. One, the thought that in some scenarios a pencil may be the perfect fit for the job and the best way for students to learn. Technology, like our pencils, is a tool. But if you zoom in over the pencil in this picture, you'll notice the pencil is from New Zealand. Having the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and explore their educational system was an amazing experience as a student, but opened my eyes to better educational practices than what I had sometimes experienced in the States.
THE LEGOS
The legos make me think of how students - and teachers - can gradually work up to blended learning. While we sometimes feel the need to have a complete overhaul, our success and growth is built one block at a time. Sometimes our towers may crumble, but we'll still have the pieces to pick ourselves back up.
THE CRAYONS
The crayons represent differences among my students. But they also represent choice. When using blended learning, you can provide more choices for your students that better align with how they learn, where they are at academically, and what their interests are.
THE CAR
I believe that blended learning and the intentional integration of face-to-face and digital learning can truly be a vehicle to providing more opportunities for students and teachers. In a station rotation model, teachers have the opportunity to work with smaller groups and truly connect with students. Students have the opportunity to drive their own learning and cruise towards their interests.
THE ENVELOPE
The envelope helps us to remember that just because something may be "older technology" there could still be a lot of value to it. Blended learning acknowledges that some classrooms (most, maybe?) are not meant to function in a solely digital space. It reminds us to slow down and revisit best practices, regardless of how dated and analyze their impact on student learning.
I'm already impressed with so much of our cohort and their response to this question. I know that we have a great group of individuals working towards bettering themselves and having an even stronger impact on student learning. Let the 2017-18 school year begin!
But when you think about blended learning, it's not so much about what's next, but rather, how we choose to incorporate it into our classroom to best impact student learning. So when I was facilitating a year-long professional learning opportunity with teachers and we tasked them with the "Chopped Challenge, Blended Learning Edition" I felt it necessary for me to play along, too.
The task: Use all of the props placed in front of you to help explain blended learning.
The audience: A blog - which, for many teachers was a stretch and a new endeavor.
The why: It's important to share our voices and reflect on our own learning.
So here goes...
THE PENCIL
To me, the pencil can represent a lot of different ideas. One, the thought that in some scenarios a pencil may be the perfect fit for the job and the best way for students to learn. Technology, like our pencils, is a tool. But if you zoom in over the pencil in this picture, you'll notice the pencil is from New Zealand. Having the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and explore their educational system was an amazing experience as a student, but opened my eyes to better educational practices than what I had sometimes experienced in the States.
THE LEGOS
The legos make me think of how students - and teachers - can gradually work up to blended learning. While we sometimes feel the need to have a complete overhaul, our success and growth is built one block at a time. Sometimes our towers may crumble, but we'll still have the pieces to pick ourselves back up.
THE CRAYONS
The crayons represent differences among my students. But they also represent choice. When using blended learning, you can provide more choices for your students that better align with how they learn, where they are at academically, and what their interests are.
THE CAR
I believe that blended learning and the intentional integration of face-to-face and digital learning can truly be a vehicle to providing more opportunities for students and teachers. In a station rotation model, teachers have the opportunity to work with smaller groups and truly connect with students. Students have the opportunity to drive their own learning and cruise towards their interests.
THE ENVELOPE
The envelope helps us to remember that just because something may be "older technology" there could still be a lot of value to it. Blended learning acknowledges that some classrooms (most, maybe?) are not meant to function in a solely digital space. It reminds us to slow down and revisit best practices, regardless of how dated and analyze their impact on student learning.
I'm already impressed with so much of our cohort and their response to this question. I know that we have a great group of individuals working towards bettering themselves and having an even stronger impact on student learning. Let the 2017-18 school year begin!
I love your Lego analogy! It's okay to take it slow, and if the tower crumbles and falls apart, you can pick up the pieces and start again. A great message for both teachers and students!
ReplyDelete