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.