Wow!  What a year it has been.  Since the beginning of the year, I have been developing my knowledge around a new content and thinking about ways to deliver it that incorporates technology, allows for student independence and provides built-in collaboration for students.  Through various trials, mistakes and wins, we have worked out a system that is a win-win for students and teacher, and the results of student surveys throughout the year indicate that students are becoming increasingly receptive to this style of learning here at Horning.  

During the beginning of the year, I sent out a survey that asked students about their level of engagement in class, with the content and if they liked how the technology was being used in the class.  During the very first survey, about half of students considered themselves somewhat engaged in the content, most did not like how technology was being used and many felt like they were not interested in the content of world geography.  After changing to a hybrid model where students have ownership over the content, how they present their learning, the chance to talk to others and to have a dialogue with other students and teacher, the increase in engagement has been dramatic.  

In our most recent survey, only ten percent of students disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were not engaged in their learning.  That means about 90 percent of students felt some level of engagement and a similar number enjoyed the hybrid station model.  Students gave feedback that they enjoyed working with others, creating something by applying their knowledge and having opportunities to think outside of the box.  These skills will certainly come in handy and will make our students college and career ready after high school.  

After thinking through all of this information, I decided with our district technology coordinator that it was important to have some baseline data to determine if there was a real difference in the results of hybrid learning.  Turns out, there is a major difference.  Most students in a more traditional classroom felt much more neutral in terms of engagement and in terms of how they felt about their ownership in the classroom.  

As I continue this work next year, I believe that what we are doing will make an impact on student outcomes, and we can only continue to improve and refine what is happening.  

Pushback and Evolution

I really care what my students think about their learning because I want them to be engaged and have fun with their lessons.  We have worked really hard at understanding how to use technology properly, and our first leap into a blended classroom was with flipped lessons.  Immediately, I loved it.  Although there was a great deal of planning on the front end, it freed me up to meet with small groups and to ensure that I was there for students who required extra assistance.  After a few weeks though, I realized that my students did not like the format nearly as much as I did, and they actually were pushing back.  Having taught elementary school prior to middle school, this was a big change for me.

From the students' feedback, I could tell there were some definite positives, and from formative assessments I could tell that there was definitely a transfer of knowledge.  I needed, however, to consider other blended formats which led me to the station model.  What a difference!  Not only am I seeing successful engagement, but I am also able to meet with small groups and target any skills the students need.  Students are helping one another be successful and we are working at having roles and responsibilities in our groups!  I am excited to continue to talk about this journey...

Thinking around BB9

I have been excited about working through how to optimize BB9 and thinking of ways to engage students in taking more ownership of their learning.  I have been taking small steps, but I feel that, as I continue, I am going to build a strong course that can be used (with tweaks) every year.

One major piece I implemented this week is building flipped modules that students complete at their own pace.  I have considered different formative checks to help analyze student learning.  One huge piece of learning for me was discovering with Brian Yearling's help that assessments could be inputted directly into BB9.  This could easily replace a Google Form and provides a "one-stop-shop" for students and teachers alike.

Achievements in Blackboard 9 is
a tool that educators can use to offer digital
badges for the completion of tasks, review
of content, or scoring well on a quiz.

Another big piece I am wrapping my head around is creating games/competitions using badges.  I mentioned this to my students and they are very excited about this potential.  All in all, the unit has been successful.  We have worked through some technological learning curves, but students are feeling more comfortable and seem to be enjoying their journeys.

First Steps to a Technologically Rich Classroom

Our class is currently wrapping a unit on human geography.  We have used technology along the way, but we are finishing our unit by using Explain Everything.  I have used Explain Everything in the past, but I have not had students create slides first to place into their show.  If you want to see engagement in your classroom, this is a very sound route to take.  The students enjoy video taping their own voices and hearing what their classmates have to say.  They also enjoy using the tools to showcase certain elements of their presentations.

I am very excited for our upcoming middle school unit on physical geography as we will be digging into Google Earth and ESRI.  If you have not experienced ESRI before, do yourself a favor and consider it!  It has a breadth of tools available that allow students to see how maps change over time, to look deeply at various topics and their are some ESRI-made lessons in a range of topics from climate change to overpopulation.



A Note from the Tech Coach:

ESRI is a free tool available to any SDW educators (and their students). It marries maps with data to provide teachers a way to share how data plays out right on the map. If you are an SDW educator would like access to ESRI for exploration or use with your classroom, contact Brian Yearling