The final chapter of “Blended” reminds us that change is a process and it takes time.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m a fan of Blended Learning! Blended Learning provides a way to meet the needs of all students regardless of their academic level or ability. It allows me to easily differentiate instruction and provide engaging activities to all learners. It also encourages students to be more independent and take responsibility for their learning. I dare say it’s the “perfect” answer to, “How do I meet the needs of all 32 students at the same time?” I say all of this to point out that although “blending” may be a great forward step in education it is still a process and the process should not be rushed. On page 285 the author suggests, "start with a rallying cry and a SMART goal that will allow you to know whether you've been successful in innovating." This one simple sentence made me stop and think, "Why am I "blending" my lessons?" I honestly can’t remember why I started “blending” my lessons other than I was told to. I didn't start out with a goal in mind other than, create three stations that provided my students the opportunity to work individually, collaborate with their peers and work in a small group with the teacher. I definitely didn't have a, "students will be able to" kind of goal. This thought led me to my next one....maybe this is why it's hard for teachers to buy into "Blended Learning." They don't see "Blended Learning" as an engaging and innovative way to teach their content but rather they see it as "how can I take what I've always done and make three stations that allow my students to work individually, collaborate with their peers, and work in a small group with me?" In order for Blended Learning to be successful educators need to understand why they are "blending" and I'm not sure everyone does..... After experiencing blended learning in my classroom and reading this book I can definitely tell you why I "blend" my lessons. I "blend" my lessons so all students will have the opportunity to be successful in my class regardless of their ability, academic level or learning style. I "blend" so I can create lessons and activities that appeal to each individual learner and provide them the best chance for success. I "blend" for my students!
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How do we motivate students? Like many educators I design lessons and activities intended to engage and motivate my students. They are designed to encourage my students to take an active roll in their own learning and enjoy it in the process. I try and think outside of the box and incorporate material of high interest. I'm excited about these lessons because surely they will motivate my students, they will be excited about coming to my class, they will want to learn! I start each day, each lesson, each class with this enthusiasm and excitement but, unfortunately, I never motivate all of them. Chapter 5 of Blended suggests that there are two "jobs" that top the list for students. Students want to experience success and they want to have fun with their friends. I agree that these are two major components towards motivating students but, the idea of success and fun is different for each student. The book also talks about the need to let students learn at their own pace and decide that path they take towards achieving success. I agree wholeheartedly with this notion. I often group my students for Blended Learning based on data. This typically means I have high, middle and low group. Grouping them this way helps me differentiate instruction to a degree but even within these groups my students have a range of needs, learning styles and abilities.
As I mentioned in my last post "Blended Learning" is the latest in a long list of educational buzz words. Other words that have made the list in recent years are; "differentiation" "student engagement" and "collaboration." If you think about it Blended Learning incorporates all of its predecessors. If using a Rotation Model there is definitely an opportunity for students to collaborate and engage on a task. The small group rotation allows the teacher to differentiation instruction according to the needs of the group in front of them. The Rotation Model really does allow you to meet the needs of all learning styles and ability levels.
It's because of these reasons that I am on the Blended Learning Bandwagon!! I LOVE Blended Learning! I always try and consider, "Is "THIS" (in this case - Blended Learning) what's best for students? " The answer for me is "YES!! Blended Learning is an excellent model for all students!" But....then I'm remind of this........a lack of time, resources, and unfortunately money! I'm an elective teacher and in the school subject hierarchy electives are towards the bottom. School leaders and politicians are more concerned with "tested" subjects. Now, part of me doesn't blame them in many districts school rankings are determined by these test scores. Good test scores leads to better rankings which in some districts leads to more money. I get it!! Every school needs more money!! So, where does this leave me and every other elective teacher?? It basically leaves us on our own. We are left to create resources and spend our own money. All of which takes A LOT of time to create, organize and prepare for. I am passionate about teaching and want to do my best for my students but I also know that I need a healthy work/life balance. I would love to BLEND my lessons every single day but it's just not a reasonable expectation. Right now I'm working on BLENDING twice a unit and next semester I'll work on the same. By the time next school year rolls around I will have four BLENDED lessons per unit and I just hope there isn't a new BUZZ word in the mix! "Blended Learning" has been the latest in a long line of education buzz words. I love the idea of blended learning and the positive impacts it can potentially have on all students. I also truly believe that it is the way of the future. I'm convinced in the next decade, some form of blended learning will be the norm in classrooms across the country but as a I read through the last couple of chapters I'm left with a lot of questions. I found myself asking, "How is this possible in my classroom or in my school?" and "Where does the money come from?" As I've mentioned before, I'm a Spanish teacher which means I'm an elective teacher. Elective teachers are rarely mentioned because we are not considered mainstream education. Now, I recognize that Rosetta Stone is an option to use for software but Rosetta Stone focuses primarily on conversational Spanish and not reading and writing. It's also quite expensive!
One thing that stood out to me while reading was the need for a positive culture, something which I believe is lacking. Take for example a few facts at my school:
I'm sure I missed a few details but that in essence is what happened last year. People were frustrated. Not everyone knew how to use the technology in their rooms in a meaningful way. They didn't know how to use them to enhance instruction. From personal experience, no one told me what programs to use or what was available. No one told me how to incorporate certain applications, videos, or websites into my lessons. I was left to figure it out on my own and I did. The option for me and many of my colleagues was to design and create my own materials. (We were using the DIY strategy mentioned in Chapter 7) I found myself making videos and searching for reliable ones online. It felt like it was my first year teaching all over again and I was working harder than I ever had before. I can tell you that the reward was worth it but it wasn't easy. There is one drawback though, it's difficult to customize the material when you create everything yourself. It takes a lot of time to create videos and it's hard to make one for every learning need. Like I mentioned earlier, I think Blended Learning is valuable. I think it's an excellent way to differentiate and meet the needs of all students I just wish the training would have been different. If teachers had felt more prepared, they would have been more excited and the Blended Learning Culture would have been different, it would have been positive.
Easel.ly, Delvr and Capzel are three websites that I have never heard of before!! I spent some time exploring all three websites and the one I was most interested in is Easel.lly . The site allows you to view and create infographics. In Spanish 1 students are expected to read simple text in the target language. In order to reach the appropriate level upon completion of Spanish 1 students are expected to read familiar lists such as a grocery list, class schedule, tv guide, sports scores or menus. The difficulty I often face is finding authentic text that is challenging yet reasonable for Spanish 1 learners. This website allows me to search for existing text such as the image below or create my own. I dabbled with the website and it will require some time and patience to create such documents but I can definitely see the value in doing so. I also love the idea presented in Untangling the Web. The book suggests having students create a survey, administer it to their peers and then summarize their findings in an infographic. This will allow my students the opportunity to speak, write and read in the target langauge! It will also be a great way to teach students how to make their own forms using Google Forms.
This week I am going to focus on tools I have used before in my classroom; Today's Meet and Wordle.
Blogging has always intimidated me! I listened to teacher after teacher talk about the "WHAT IFS???" What if a student writes something inappropriate? What if a student cyberbullies another student? What if a parent reads something inappropriate before I have a chance to edit the page? What if a student includes identifying information in their blog, like their name or address? Then, I stumbled upon, Today's Meet. Today's Meet provided a way for my class and I to dip our toes in the water of blogging. Today's Meet isn't actually a true blogging tool but it does allow my students a way to express their ideas and opinions with not much work on my part or theirs for that matter. Creating a room is easy and inviting students to the room is even easier. One of my favorite features is that students don't need a LOGIN!!! All they need is the link to the room and they are in. I've used Today's Meet for a gambit of things in class but one of my favorites ways is as an exit ticket. I pose a question at the end of class to gauge student understanding and they submit a response. It allows me to quickly see if I can move on or if I need to revisit a concept the following day. I'm also excited to use Today's Meet during Blended Learning. I plan on creating a room where student's can ask me for help or to clarify instructions. I hope this will allow me to better focus my time with the small group I'm working with and still address the concerns of others students. Next up is Wordle. Wordle itself is a simple tool but the ways to use it in your classroom are endless. Wordle allows you to create extraordinary word clouds. I have used Wordle in the past for a variety of activities. This year I asked my students on the first day of school what they needed to be successful in class and what prohibited them from being successful. I then entered their words in Wordle and created a positive and negative Wordle for each class. The following day I showed each class their Wordles and we discussed that many students needed the same things to be successful in class. It was a great way to start a discussion about appropriate classroom behavior and procedures. One of my favorite ways to use Wordle is in conjugation with a Google Form. Recently, I had my students visit a variety of Spanish websites, People en Espanol, ESPN Deportes, Glamour in Spanish, etc. Their goal was to identify 5 cognates. (A cognate is a Spanish word that looks like an English word). Students entered their words into a Google Form I created. I then copied the words from the spreadsheet the Google Form produced and pasted them into Wordle. We used this information to discuss cognates and the importance they have when reading in Spanish. Using Google Forms takes some of the work off of me and makes it quick and easy to make a Wordle. While reading this week I did learn two tricks that I never knew before about Wordle:
Untangling the Web is a great book for any educator who is searching for new and innovative ways to weave technology into their classrooms. As I read about the tools I was inspired with idea after idea for implementing each one in my classroom but I decided to focus my attention on just three; Symbaloo, Big Huge Labs, and Poll Everywhere.
Last year I began using Google Classroom in my classroom. For the most part I love everything about it. I like that students can collaborate digitally, I can easily upload an assignment for each student to complete and I can email students directly from the classroom. One issue I have with Google Classroom is posts get lost in the announcement feed and there isn't a way to search for a specific assignment or announcement. Symbaloo will allow me to create a class page with websites that my students will visit often. It will provide me with an easy way to direct them to a specific website. I have used Poll Everywhere as a participant but I have never used it with my own students. I hate to admit it but I never took the time to really look into it and consider ways it could be useful in my classroom. As I was reading, I visited the site and began to explore. Immediately, I saw how I could use the site to quickly check for student understanding and gather data! I will most likely create polls ahead of time but I like that they can be created on the fly as well. It will also help me address any concerns that may arise during a lesson. Finally, I like that responses can be submitted in multiple formats (multiple choice, free response, etc.) The tool I am most excited about is Big Huge Labs. One of the units in Spanish 1 is My Friends and I. In the past students have submitted "selfies" to describe themselves but Big Huge Labs will allow students to make a magazine cover describing themselves! I intend to have students create a magazine cover with their picture on it that I would then print and put up around the room. I made a quick sample for my students to use as a guide. Students will also create a short video of themselves in which they describe themselves. I will use Aurasma to link the video to the picture! I recently learned about Aurasma and am excited to start using it in class this semester. |
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