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As schools open again, we often usher in new practices along
with our returning student masses. Perhaps this year finds your school going
blended in a new way. If that is the case, there is a good chance August faculty
trainings included a heavy dose of training to jumpstart classroom practices
and spark the imagination of teachers in implementing digital learning. But as
we have seen and research supports, dousing teachers with a fire hose of
information in August is insufficient to produce impactful and sustainable
change.
In Blended Learning inAction, we discuss the importance of building teacher capacity through
systems of ongoing faculty training and support. One way to do this is to look
for early opportunities of success, the low-hanging fruit we can use to plant
seeds of more systematic growth. Such bounty can be found along the following
branches:
Teacher Trailblazers
Who is lighting it up
in the class? How can you help reflect that light and spread it? Within
every school, there are teachers pushing the edge of innovation. However, they
often innovate in silos within a more traditional culture. These teachers are
typically connected educators engaging in Twitter chats and idea sharecropping
within robust PLNs outside the school, but they remain relatively unknown in
this light within their own school communities. Sending a quick survey via
Survey Monkey or Google Forms can gauge excitement and proficiency levels
around the targeted practices. School leaders can use this data to identify and
empower teacher trailblazers to try out new practices and share them with
others within the school.
Digital Curriculum Salves
Where is the
pain-point in instructional prep? What tool can relieve this pain?
Blended learning involves not just technology integration
but the ability for students to learn and demonstrate learning via a digital
curriculum tool. These tools are adaptive substitutes for teacher instruction
and paper-based resources like textbooks and workbooks. Digital curriculum can
reduce prep for teachers stressed to differentiate instruction for various
skill levels. Low-hanging fruit can be found in leveraging digital learning to
this end. By posing these questions to teachers, school leaders can not only
engage teachers in the process but can also help teachers relieve specific
pain-points via a digital tool.
Model-to-Model Alignment
What do your classes
look like now? Which blended model looks most similar?
The instructional flow of a class can be among the most
difficult to change. Teachers and students accustomed to certain class
choreography can easily become confused and frustrated in a new sequence. To
avoid stepping on toes, it’s helpful to select a model of blended learning
closest to the existing practice. The ultimate goal may be a different model,
but the low-hanging fruit lies in the incremental.
Project-Based Learning
What existing projects
are highlights and points of teacher pride? What are the opportunities to make
those connected, collaborative, and more innovative through digital tools?
We as teachers become attached to favorite projects more
than anything else in our curriculum. Many projects already tap into creativity
and collaboration within the class group; however, it is possible to find
opportunities to make them connected beyond the classroom via online
discussions, perhaps even with peers from another class or school or country.
Further, there is opportunity to create more authentic audience and purpose via
digital tools.
Early success found via low-hanging fruit provides
opportunity for community celebration and recognition of success at a critical
point in the change initiative. This momentum fuels teacher confidence and
community sharing, leading to augmented teacher capacity as schools progress
through early stages of a blended learning implementation. Share where you have
found low-hanging fruit in your classrooms via #blinaction!
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