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Midterm Report: All C's

With my blended learning classroom truly coming into its own, me finally feeling as if I am no longer treading water, and all of my students engaged and energized, I am now starting to see how the puzzle pieces fit together. It has taken a long time to get to this point, 15 weeks to be exact, but it has been worth it. Not only do I feel confident and comfortable with the blended learning approach, but I also feel relevant again in the true world of education and what it should be.
Creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Commonly referred to as the 4 C's in education and I have wanted to incorporate these since I read about them years ago. Finally, now I am with the blended learning classroom. Utilizing online learning forums like Khan Academy and Study Island have allowed me to personalize student learning and make my class student-centered. However those were just part of the puzzle. Now I am piecing the puzzle together using Google Classroom and code.org to really bring out all of the 4 C's. Students can't get their hands on this fast enough. They are feeling empowered and taking charge of their learning.

I also cannot stress enough the importance of connecting with other professionals. I have gained so much insight and so many fantastic ideas from my colleagues. I was recently at a workshop and someone shared a brilliant idea for collaboration. Funny thing was, no technology was needed for this to work. Students simply evaluate themselves on a lesson and they group themselves accordingly into three groups. One group is independent, another group is collaborative, and the last group is teacher directed. Students have the option of moving to other groups as they see fit. Very simple but very effective.  
So my midterm for the second marking period is out, and it has all C's. I couldn't be happier. I am so thankful for this opportunity and so excited for each and every new school day. Hopefully I keep getting those C's.  

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