Skip to main content

It's All About The Learning

Chromebooks, tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktops. There is so much to choose from for a blended learning classroom. How does a teacher begin to figure out which one is best?
For starters, it definitely helps to have a knowledgeable and accessible director of technology. My director of technology, after listening to my blended learning ideas, decided that Chromebooks would probably be the best option for my sixth grade class. And after the first several weeks, I like the decision he made. The students, who are beginners with the Chromebooks, are starting to use them with ease now. The students are up and running in no time, and with no help from me. So, there is that "independence light" at the end of the tunnel that I was wondering if I would ever see after the second week. The students will get there, and probably much faster than one may think.

It is easy to become excited picking a device. It is easy to become wrapped up in the device that was chosen and read about all the things it is capable of. It is easy to start planning elaborate lessons with the new classroom tool. It is easy to see its drawbacks when starting out, too. It is also easy to become lost of what the true intent of that device is. Whatever the device, it must always be all about the learning. No matter how many bells and whistles it has, it must always come back to the learning. If one loses sight of that, no device will work.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When is Work, Not Work?

When I first started thinking about running a blended learning classroom last year, I envisioned three stations running efficiently and effectively, while at the same time bringing in the 4C's (collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking) daily. For the most part, I finally feel like I am seeing what I envisioned a year ago. But I am also seeing things now that I never envisioned, and I don't think they would have been possible without me trying something new. Probably the best thing that has come from running a blended learning classroom, that I did not envision, has been the relationships I have been able to build with my students. With having stations, and one being direct instruction, I have been able to meet with no more than nine students at a time. This small group setting allows us to cover the lesson effectively but also more informally, which allows for a more relaxed and social atmosphere. In this small, relaxed, and social atmosphere I have h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Never Say Never

Quick rundown of new ideas I have implemented in my teaching and shared with my colleagues after attending PETE&C 2016: Kahoot, Classcraft, Aurasma, Google Chrome, and Chromebooks. Plus, a more refined focus on blended learning, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides, and not to mention building my PLN more. I'd say PETE&C was worth it. Kahoot, the engaging formative assessment tool that students and teachers love, went over extremely well with my students as they used their Chromebooks to answer. Every day since using it, at least one student has asked me about when the next time we will be using it. Classcraft, the classroom-based role-playing game, took off among the students, too. They were extremely excited to setup their avatars and start playing. They also showed me they knew a lot more than I did on the subject matter of XP (experience points), HP (health points), and AP (action points). I think I might have them design a Kahoot formative assessment on ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Enter The Twilight Zone with Blended Learning

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.  I feel that opening part of the show  The Twilight Zone  directly relates to my school year this year. This is my second full year of running a blended learning classroom, and I feel as if in some way my sixth-grade students and I have crossed over into the Twilight Zone. Strange but wonderful things are happening in and out of my classroom, that I have not, unfortunately, witnessed before in my 15 years of teaching. Students are embracing the idea that learning can take place anywhere, anytime and that their voice matters to others, as they enter a whole other dimension in Google Classroom. They are seeing learning opportunities on their own outside of the school day and wanting to sha...
Post a Comment
Read more