A Taste of Success...Day 6

I remember the 1st time I ever saw and tasted the ocean it left such an impression on me. Before, people would try to explain the taste or explain how big it was. I respected their attempt but when I finally laid hold of it with my own eyes and tasted it with my own mouth, it did not compare! When you taste something you finally gain the experience you were seeking. It is the same in education. Many times we spend an inordinate amount of time explaining how to do, set up, give theories, philosophies, and read books on topics. Of course, these steps are necessary to understand and unveil the vision. To get the biggest impact though is when the teacher experiences the success of the implementation. When this happens great teaching and learning will evolve! Buy in will happen. They will become your biggest cheerleaders. Today we had a teacher taste the success of merging Balanced literacy into the Blending Learning station rotation model. She was so impressed with being able to get all the components of her ELA block into her ELA block! After spending the first 5 days, hammering in processes and procedures her class moved like clockwork and every second became purposeful. After experiencing this success, both the teacher and students are hungry for more! Stay tuned for more BL highlights as we continue on this journey!

Ms. Schultz greeting the students upon
arrival and giving them a word of encouragement
before they start the day! 

Our co-blogger Mrs. Young explains to 5th grade
the expectations of genius hour! 

Mrs. Weaver in our guided math group. Great student
engagement from all 20+ students in the class! 

HDES BL Spotlight T.O.W

Ms. Hunter greeting students first thing in morning! She always
has a great, positive attitude! 

HDES BL Spotlighted Teacher of the Week: Ms. Hunter

Q. How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching in North Carolina in the public school sector for three years. The 2015-2016 year is my fourth year and I really like teaching and learning new things. 

Q. What grade do you teach? 

I currently teach fourth grade and  have taught fourth grade for the past three years. Fourth graders are a fun age, because most students are able to work together or independently on various task. 

Q. How has your first week went with BL implementation? 

My first week of blended learning implementation was a little hard. I use the word hard because just like my other co-workers, this is a new teaching model for me to implement. Currently, my greatest resources are the blended learning manual, videos, and other teachers. In the classroom this week,  I modeled the three blended learning stations of Technology, Independent, and Teacher directed. My students did okay working in the stations, but I'm currently striving to decrease the noise level in the classroom and have quicker rotations from station to station. I know with continued practice, support from administration, and support from the literacy coach, the students and myself will see positive effects from blended learning over time. 

Q. How has BL changed your thoughts about teaching?

Initially,  blended learning was completely new. I'm still learning new things about blended learning everyday; but I have started to change my thoughts about teaching because of student engagement. During the first week of school,  students started station rotations and I was able to spend a short time at the teacher directed station with small groups of 6-8 students. In this station, I focused on the literacy skills for the week and key vocabulary.  Eventually, I will connect this station with my guided reading. Even though a similar lesson was taught to each group in the teacher directed station, each group actually learned more information from the lesson in a small group. The constant rotation is definitely  something new for me; but if the students are learning more, I'm all for it!

Q. If you had one word to describe BL what would say and why? 

If I could describe blended learning in one word, I would say engaging.  I really believe blended learning allows students to engage in different activities in smaller groups. Some stations require creating your work, others require writing, reading, or following procedural directions through technology. Using the blended learning model allows the teacher to expose students to many learning styles in a short time through smaller groups. 

The Process Begins...Day 5

The Hanford Dole Bobcats survived the first week of school. Reflecting on the week, we know that one of the core component to blended learning is having dedicated staff to implement it. 

As we visited classrooms this week, teachers were teaching procedures, modeling and practicing station rotation, and building relationships with students. It was an amazing sight to see. Even our CACC class have implemented blended learning. 

Mr. Courtwright states that blended learning in action is liking watching the Bulls run the triangle offense! Our staff are creating champions in every student with blended learning. 

Every staff member at Hanford Dole plays a vital role in the implementation of blended learning. We are dedicated to ensuring our students are successful academically, socially, and mentally. 

We are putting each puzzle piece together one at a time. Blended learning innovation at Hanford Dole is a process, not an event. See to a part of this process be sure to subscribe to the blog and follow us on Twitter: @courtwrightmr and @FITinEDU. 

From 180 to 20!

We had our 1st quarter behavior assembly with all grade levels to discuss the Bobcat Expectations and Consequences that students receive if they make poor choices. We implemented our OTI system last year to improve student discipline and to keep students in the classroom by giving them fair, equitable consequences and tangible incentives. The results have been mind-boggling great! We reduced Out of School Suspensions from 180 in 2012 to 20 in 2015! OTI stands for Outside to Inside.   The meaning has two purposes. 1)To reduce out of school suspensions by creating a system and process that reduces Out of School suspensions and handle consequences internally and to work from the outside to the inside in our system and processes to handle discipline. Below is a picture of a diagram we created on our approach.

The arrow pointing to the teacher is where we are currently focused at in our practice. We have much to share on our model and will discuss in our blog as the year progresses. Please let us know if you have any questions about our model and how we use it if you want immediate information.
In today's meeting, we specifically reviewed these points with the students so they are clear about the expectations and consequences related to their behavior and choices.

Step by Step list of our system and processes for Discipline

Ms. Hunter and Ms. Ellis greet their students upon arrival! All teachers greet the students everyday at their doors as  students make it down the hallways at 7:10am! 

Blended Learning Defined--Day 3

We posted a question on twitter this morning @courtwrightmr @FitinEdu. What is your definition of high quality blended learning? In today's blog, we will discuss a definition of BL that you can trust, build upon, and use in your development and implementation of BL. In the late 90's, the Dufours created elements that would make a successful PLC. These elements included a focus on learning, a collaborative culture with a focus on learning for all, collective inquiry into best practice, action orientation: learning by doing, commitment to continuous improvement, and results orientated. This term PLC is used by nearly every school in America but rarely used according to the actual definition. Those who have attended their live conferences, trainings, and read their books, know the difference between the meaning of what a true PLC should look like according to the Dufours most trusted definition and model compared to what educators just throw around as educational jargon to be a PLC. We are seeing the same thing with Blended Learning. Many educators are saying their school is a blended learning school or a blended learning classroom because they have a sliver of BL implementation or a particle of the different models of blended learning in their classroom or school. Today we would like to share the Clayton Christensen Institute's Definition of Blended Learning. Please take time to research what this institute is and what is their purpose. It will give you assurance and trust to use their definition of High Quality Blended Learning as you look to make your schools and classrooms student centered!
It is important to study and be constituted with this definition instead of just reading it and nodding your head in agreement. It is very worthwhile to memorize this definition and think about it regularly. We have also included the models that represent the 4 different types of models based on their research and the 4 sub models of the rotation model. 
As we continue our BL journey we hope that you can rely upon and build upon a definition of BL that is clear and will lead you in the right direction!

Our BL manual is available for $19.99, but to our blog readers we will send it to you for free! Let us know if you would like to get a copy of our BL manual. Next Question??...What is the difference between individualization, differentiation, and personalization in your BL model. 

Morning Meetings are Blended Learning

DAY 2--Blended Learning Implementation at HDES

Mrs. Stewart prepares her class for a morning meeting. 

To strengthen our culture, climate, and classroom community we have begun implementing the Responsive Classroom model. One of the main features of RC is the morning meetings between teachers and students. This is to build a sense of community and climate. Monday-Friday from 7:30 to 7:45 homeroom teachers conduct a 15 minute morning meeting to build upon our students social and emotional skills. Our doors open at 7:10 for students and all students are eligible for a free breakfast! With the combination of a free breakfast to nourish the students and a non-threatening, highly engaging morning meeting, students are ready and prime to begin instruction. Below are some morning meetings from today!

Mrs. Daye conducting her morning meeting! 

Mrs. Gilland's class loves morning meetings! 

Mrs. Ellis models a morning meeting example to her students!

We look forward to the continued success morning meetings are bringing to our students and school! 

BL Day 1 of 180

What an amazing start of an exciting year! As we embark on our Blended Learning Journey our teachers embraced one of the key elements to ensure High Quality Blended Learning...Procedures and Processes.

Students were taught procedures and processed that will ensure their success with Blended Learning. Mrs. Bates taught students how to listen and follow rules using music, while Ms. McNeil taught her students the procedures for the station rotation model.

High Quality Blended Learning also involves student collaboration and students having fun while at school. What an amazing

opportunity Mrs. Ellis, Mrs. Stepp, and

Mrs. Schultz provided to their students today. 

Our students experienced a day of learning procedures and processes, through collaboration and fun! Day 1 of our Blended Learning Implementation was a success. Procedures, Morning Meetings, and Responsive Classroom helped set high expectations for our students today. 

It is imperative when implementing Blended Learning, you teach procedures, processes, and routines.   Blended Learning allow students the opportunity to own their education. During their experience, the teacher is a facilitator and they are in charge of their learning. Teaching procedures and routines on Teaching students these procedures, processes, and routines will give students the necessary tools to be successful in their learning. 

BL Spotlight Teacher of the Week

Ms. Craven 1st Grade Teacher goes over with staff about the
importance of rules and procedures.

HDES BL Spotlighted Teacher—Ms. Craven

Q. How long have you been teaching?  This is my 16th year, having taught Pre-K, 1st & 2nd in 4 counties, all Title One schools.

Q. What grade do you teach at HDES? 1st

Q. What are you most looking forward to with teaching BL in your classroom? More one-on-one time with my students & establishing personalized learning

Q. How has BL changed your thoughts about teaching?  It has enhanced how I view teaching.....Differentiated & thinking outside the box, to prepare students to become productive citizens.   I love the idea that students are taking ownership of their learning, that it is individualized & personal to fit their needs.  

Q. If you had one word to describe BL what would say and why? Individualized.....Students are learning at their own pace as the teacher acts as a guiding force in the right direction.  I like how students are treated as individuals in their ownership of learning because each student is different & we all do not learn the same way.

Blueprint for Blended Learning

In today's post, we will discuss the steps we took after gathering the information from our various committees and look how we started to create the blueprint for BL implementation.

S.M.A.R.T. Rallying Cry--To maximize the impact of BL we started with the Problem we are trying to solve and the Goals we are trying to achieve. This became our rallying cry and we state it with S.M.A.R.T. Objectives. For those who have not used SMART objectives, it is an acronym with the following Criteria:
 Specific--Specific area for Improvement.
 Measurable--Quantify an indicator for progress
 Attainable--Setting the benchmark
 Realistic--Can results be achieved given available resources.
 Timely--When will results be achieved

The screenshot below identifies what our SMART goals are schoolwide for 2015-16!

The next step in our Blueprint we Adopted from Horn and Staker's 'Blended' is to organize the right team to turn a rallying cry into a concrete, high impact initiative. In 'Blended', 4 teams are mentioned but we will focus this year on 3 teams: Functional, Lightweight, and Heavyweight teams. Every staff member at HDES is on a team this year as we added a Blended Learning Buddy, Bounce Buddy, Tech Buddy, and Mentor Buddy. We will discuss these latter teams in future posts!

Functional Teams--This team is grade level specific and works best to make improvements at their grade level.

Lightweight Teams--Is to take grade level chairs and heads of departments to collaborate and plan for coordination that crosses their grade level.

Heavyweight Teams--Team that looks for significant breakthrough improvement. This transcends the boundaries of the functional and lightweight teams. The thinking process is to figure out a better way to knit things together to meet the overall project's goals.

Example of our teams:

Designing the Ideal Student Experience:
If you have not watched the Coursera Mook on Blended Learning produced by Horn and Greenberg, there is an outstanding piece on designing the ideal student experience.

As we created our ideal student experience, the goal was to get the design right from the students' perspective so they feel that school aligns well with the things that matter to them, students show up to school motivated and eager to learn!

Designing the teaching Experience: To gain teacher buy-in teachers as much as students must benefit from Blended Learning Implementation. BL creates an opportunity for teacher motivators such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and growth that are difficult to provide in the traditional classroom. According to Horn and Staker, getting the design right for Ts may be the single most important determinant of whether the rise of BL will net out as a win overall. Below is our design.

Designing the Admin Experience: This is an additional piece that is not included in 'Blended' as part of the Blueprint for implementation, but we felt as administrators that we needed goals, experiences, and next steps as much as the students and teachers need to hold one another accountable and to look for ways for continuous improvements. We hope that Horn and Staker would give us a thumbs up on this addition!

This is the 1st of half of the blueprint for implementing BL. As you can see, to create these steps and designs will require countless hours of discussion, surveys, and research to create a personalized Blended Learning Blueprint for your school. We will continue with the Blended learning models, definition of High Quality BL, and creating the culture for implementation future posts! Stay tuned!

Timeline to Day 1

In the winter of 2014, we were able to tour Washington DC Public Schools and observe how they were embracing blended learning and implementing blended learning into their schools and classrooms. On the two day visit, the one thing that was most impressive to me was the student engagement and on task behaviors. We were able to tour an elementary and middle school during our visit. The snowy weather prevented us from seeing the high school. As a principal of an elementary school, I was most interested in how the elementary schools were implementing the station rotation model. Later in the blog we will give you an overview, definition, and examples of what High Quality Blended Learning is and what models are included in Blended Learning based off the Clayton Christenson Institute's definition. Many references will be made to the book 'Blended' by Michael Horn and Heather Staker. We also have been greatly helped by the Coursera Mook by Brian Greenberg and Horn.

After visiting Washington DC Public Schools, in the spring of 2015 we were able to visit Horry County Schools in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. During this visit we were able to take our Literacy Coach. We were so impressed with the Blended Learning implementation at Burgess Elementary School. A school that has exploded in student population over the last five years. They went from 300 students to over 800 students. They have a very transient population, but one would never know, because of the clockwork type precision the students and teachers operate. They also use specifically the station rotation model. Students would rotate on a fixed schedule through a guided station with the teacher, an online digital content program, and other modalities which included small groups, projects, paper and pencil assignments, etc.
During the spring and summer of 2015, we fully embraced the idea and concept of implementing Blended Learning. The first thing we did was create a Blended Learning Committee that looked at what was working, what wasn't working, and what can we do to make our school a better place for the students, staff, and community. We also formed various other committee's to take a specific look at the entire school and how we operated. The committee's we formed were the iPad, Discipline, Bus Driver, Professional Development, Staff Meeting, School Culture/Climate, Uniform, Parental/Community Involvement, and Grading Policy Committees.
As we progress through our Journey on BL implementation we will go into greater detail on what came out of these committees when they met with their teams...Stay Tuned!

Who We Are

We are the Bobcats of Hanford Dole Elementary in Salisbury, NC. 

We are located 30 minutes north of Charlotte, NC.

We will be co-blogging this journey through Blended Learning. I am Michael Courtwright, the Principal and I am Felecia Young, the Assistant Principal. We will be focusing this blog on the steps we have taken, the steps we are taking, and the steps we will take in our journey to implementing High Quality Blended Learning that is defined by the Clayton Christenson Institute and the work done by Michael Horn, Heather Staker, and Brian Greenberg in the book 'Blended' and the Coursera Mook. We are excited you are joining us on this journey as we focus on increasing student achievement, increasing teacher efficacy, and involving the community through Blended learning implementation this 2015-16 school year. Buckle Up! It will be quite the ride!