Blended

Three weeks ago, I jumped into the blended learning model and I am loving it. My approach to creating a blended learning environment has focused on three important changes in my classroom:

• student choice 
• student ownership of learning 
• my role as the teacher 

Student Choice
I have used Schoology all year as a learning management system for our classroom, posting resources, pushing out assignments, giving assessments (pre, post and formative) and creating discussion boards for my students to publish their own thinking and respond to their classmate’s thinking. The first thing I changed to create a more blended learning environment was how I organized the resources on Schoology and how students were given assignments. I created a separate sub folder for each concept we explored in our Genetics Unit, 5 concepts in all. The first item in each sub folder is a mini-lesson (less than 5 minutes) introducing students to key concepts and ideas. I expect my students to watch the mini-lesson, either at home or in class, and then choose their path for the rest of the sub folder. For most concepts, I have created three paths: pilot, flight attendant and passenger. All paths are self-directed and each path has varying levels of independence. Students who feel like they need more help and direction choose the passenger path, students who think they need less help and more choice in the direction of their learning choose the flight attendant or pilot path. I wasn't sure how this system would play out at first - would all kids choose the passenger path because they thought it might be easier? It turns out that my students have, for the most part, made appropriate choices. Many, including my non-traditional learners, are challenging themselves by picking the more independent roles of pilot and flight attendant. At the same time, students who feel like they need a little bit more teacher direction tend to choose the passenger role.

In addition to allowing students to choose their path through each concept sub folder, I have also given them lots of student choice when it comes to showing their understandings. I have been trying to encourage them to use their iPADs to their full potential as a powerful tool to demonstrate their understandings. My students have chosen a variety of tools to showcase their learning and understanding from many apps including Skitch, Popplet and Educreations.

Student Ownership of Learning 
For several years I have been skeptical of “flipped classrooms” because I didn't like the idea of “lecturing” my students. My skepticism towards mini video lessons has undergone a fairly dramatic change over the last 3 months. As I stated earlier, I have created short mini-lesson to introduce the main concept of each sub folder. My expectation was that students would view the lesson as they began to explore each concept. I also hoped that students would go back and re-watch the mini-lesson as they explored each concept in order to clarify ideas and clear up misunderstandings. I was thrilled to watch my students actually use the mini-lessons as a resource throughout their time with each concept. I have also built in formative assessments throughout each sub folder so that both myself and each student can gauge their understandings. I have seen many students start the formative assessments and not only realize that they are not quite ready to move on yet but also make the decision (on their own!) to go back and revisit previous activities, including the mini-lessons, in the sub folder before moving on.

The Role of the Teacher
One of the biggest benefits I have seen as we evolve into a blended learning environment is the time I now have in class to work with students who are struggling. I am a strong believer in formative assessments. Using data from these ongoing assessments, I know who is struggling and who isn't. My struggle has always been finding time during class to help the students who are struggling while not hindering the students who aren't. This is a hard task to manage with thirty-two students. Our blended environment has alleviated many of these time constraints. Because the students are pacing themselves through the unit, they are at a variety of different places at any given time. I have found that it is fairly easy to work directly with a small group of students who are struggling without slowing down the rest of the students.

Overall, our jump into blended learning has gone very well. There are of course some problems. Some of my students are struggling with the self directed component of our new learning arrangement. They are used to being told what to do and would much rather have me direct their learning. I also have a number of students who are missing work. In most cases, the work is missing not because it is not completed but rather because it just hasn't been submitted. Because their learning is more self-directed, due dates are now very flexible and vary from student to student. This is a big adjustment for many of my students and they are still learning how to manage their own work flow. I am also trying to find the best systems to manage my own work flow as well as finding the time to build each concept’s sub folder. At the end of the day though, the benefits far outweigh the challenges as I watch my students begin to become self-directed learners who are taking on the challenge of owning their learning.