Skip to main content

At The Edge of The Diving Board

Am I ready for this? Are my students ready for this? Is it too late to turn back? What will my students think if I turn back? Did I prepare them well enough? Should I spend more time going over the different stations? Will this work?
All of these questions and so many more were flying around in my head as I looked out at my first period math class who were about to begin the blended learning station rotation model. Then I was able to take a breath which gave me a sense of calm. It was in that moment I saw the excitement in my students' faces. I saw their belief in me. I realized they were craving something new, something different, something meaningful, and something that they can take with them for years that will help them in THEIR future.
So, I jumped off that "diving board" and into the blended learning model. I came up splashing and reaching for that edge of the pool, and as I made it over there I realized it was fun, exciting, engaging, and yes, messy, but also very manageable.

Taking that first jump off the diving board isn't easy, but once I did, I am very glad I did it. And now that I jumped in, I can't imagine staying out of the pool any longer. This blended learning experience is going to be a blast, even though there may be an occasional bellyflop.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Flipping Out for Faculty Meetings

This year my classroom grew from about 25 students to about 665 students, as I made the transition from sixth grade teacher to elementary principal. It has been an exciting and enjoyable transition. It has also been interesting being on the other side of things. For example, being on the other side of faculty meetings. September's faculty meeting I did the traditional approach. Scheduled it. Sent out an email reminder. Met with the faculty and started going over what I needed to say, offering very little time for discussion. But then I did change things up about half way through. I introduced our district's Google Expedition VR kits. I took them on a few virtual reality field trips and showed them how they could be used with any subject. Then before I knew it, it was time for the students to arrive. As I prepared for my October faculty meeting, I thought about how I introduced the teachers to the Google Expeditions VR kits and how teachers in grades 3, 5, and 6 used tho

Instant Pot, Instant Failure

The Instant Pot I received for Christmas this past year sat for a few months before I even thought about using it. My wife would remind me frequently we had it and that I should try it (I do all the cooking in the house. She does all the laundry. Fair trade-off). When she would encourage me to use our new cooking gadget, I looked at her and our Instant Pot with a little disdain. I felt my cooking was pretty good, and besides I already had my go to Pioneer Woman dinners that couldn't be beat. So I was always a bit insulted when the Instant Pot was referenced in my house, as I felt not only was my cooking being insulted but so was the Pioneer Woman herself, Ree Drummond. Then one night in late January it all started to change. I came home late from work to find my wife using the Instant Pot! I have to admit, the meal she cooked was pretty good, but secretively I was a little upset. I was not about to let her one-up me with the use of the Instant Pot, so I began searching for and