Day 20--Vast and Varied

Mrs. Blackwood's K students were engaged from start to finish in her
ELA block today! 

 On day 20, one thing we strive for as educators is to teach engaging lessons from the start of the lesson to the end of the lesson. In engaging lessons, it is crucial to personalize, individualize, and differentiate the learning to meet the many needs of all the students in the class. Without having 1:1 tutoring or very small group instruction it is nearly impossible to provide this UNLESS you transition into blended learning. Blended learning is the one educational program that is creating opportunities to meet the vast and varied needs of our students. Blended learning is not a one size fits all but through its various models it fits the bill to meet the needs of the students whether through station rotation, individual rotation, lab rotation, and the flipped classroom. The 4 sub-models just mentioned are off shoots of the rotation model. One blended learning model that is becoming increasingly necessary at the elementary level is the Flex Model. The flex model provides an alternative to the learning needs of many of our students who excel with online learning. At the elementary level we need to recognize this strength and learning style of our students and provide them with the necessary schedule and online learning experience they need to be successful. It takes a major mindset shift for us educators to grant this opportunity to our students. Today in our after school program, we have made a major shift to online learning being the backbone to student learning. There has been great excitement among the students, staff, and community as we embrace this new endeavor of after school online learning that is personalized through Rosetta Stone, Achieve3000, and Dreambox. Until then, Keep Blending On!

Bates and Schultz are taking the lead in implementing BL after school among our 3-5 students!