Just when I thought I had my blended learning classroom in a good place, everything changed. Half way through the school year, my district decided to pilot a new math series. This meant change. A change I was having trouble dealing with. For about two weeks I struggled and became quite frustrated trying to figure out how this new math series fit into the way I had been running my blended learning classroom. I kept trying to force the math series in but kept getting disastrous results. My struggles and frustration spilled over into my classes. I did not like what I was seeing from the math series, I did not like what I was seeing from my teaching, and I did not like the results I was seeing from my students. Every night I left school feeling disheartened, but determined to make things better the next day. The only problem was I kept trying to force the fix every new day, instead of sitting back, reflecting, and seeing what other solutions came about. I was suffering from a little ca...

The menu started small, however, I am starting to feel as if the menu is growing exponentially. There are so many choices to choose from: Study Island, Khan Academy, GAFE, Go! Math, and code.org just to name a few. With more and more choices, I have to remember there is only time to have one meal a day in class, with a possible dessert after. Yet like at a restaurant, not everyone chooses the same thing. Some people don't like tomatoes. Some people don't like onions. And some people don't like anything without ketchup. So therein lies the trick. How can I serve a balanced diet of education at my tech restaurant? How do I keep my customers coming back? How do I get them to "eat their veggies"? Some of the possible answers I am finding are: knowing the curriculum, knowing the resources that are out there, and most importantly knowing my students. What is good for one group, may not be the best choice for another group. Allowing students to have choice is impo...