I was recently in a meeting with a family and their child, and we were reviewing the student's goals for the year. When it came time for me to talk, I briefly went over the blended learning classroom with the family and my reasons for doing it. They seemed very much on board with the idea, then I asked for the student's feedback of the new approach. As soon as I asked and before the student answered, I realized I have yet to ask for feedback from the rest of my students. So at the end of this week, I intend to get all of my students' feedback on their thoughts of the blended learning classroom. If I am really focusing on making my time with them student-centered, then I must hear what they have to say and incorporate their ideas, thoughts, and suggestions into my, or rather, our class time together. Student feedback results coming on the next post...

I constantly reference basketball in my classroom, as I used to play and coach. I gave up playing over ten years ago, when during the course of one game I had the ball stolen from me and found a pass to me go right through my hands. I knew at that point I had to stop playing competitively, because I had gone from athletic to pathetic in my "athletic career" in one game. Anyway, when I reference basketball in the classroom, I reference it from the point of a basketball coach (not someone who is pathetic on the court) teaching his players how to shoot a free throw. Once the coach gives the proper technique and then models it, he steps away and lets his players practice. The coach may give pointers here and there, but the point is the coach lets his player practice on his own. The coach only steps in when he sees his player struggle, and sometimes the player will recognize his struggles, and will seek out help. Similarly, shouldn't a teacher consider doing the same? W...

As my blended classroom continues to evolve and grow into a more effective classroom every week, I am quickly realizing how this venture is not as frustrating or frightening as I made it in my head at the beginning of the year. Each week, I learn from my mistakes and improve upon my practice; giving my students and myself a better blended classroom experience each day and each week. In previous posts, I mentioned it's all about the learning, and that is true. No matter the device, it all has to come back to the learning for the students but also for the teacher. What I am learning is that as I incorporate the blended learning into my classroom, I still must incorporate my strengths as a 14 year teacher into as well. If I don't, then problems and frustrations quickly rise. For example, I have never been a teacher who can effectively manage log sheets of students work, so when I tried having students record their daily work at the independent learning station and turn their l...