Blended Learning Hits a Homerun!

Yesterday I met Payge Scoggins, freshman at Richland High School.  Payge and the freshman class at the three Birdville ISD High Schools are the first group of students to experience blended learning in their English Language Arts classrooms.  Blended is being implemented in Birdville ISD as a result of being awarded the Raising Blended Learners grant in April 2016.

This spring rather than completing a traditional research paper project, teachers Kate Chambers and Heather Palmer instead engaged their students in a research based Passion Project.  A focus of blended learning is to personalize learning for students and engage them in relevant learning experiences.  Kudos to all Birdville teachers striving to do exactly that each day!

Payge says, "I decided to put together this softball game event at first for a school project but soon it became even more special and meaningful to me.  My dream for my future career is to work with kids and adults who are disabled or have special needs.  My passion is to play softball so I thought I could put the two together and create this charity softball game.  All the donations we receive will go to the Special Olympics foundation."

Each member of the girls' softball team partnered with a special needs student and all enjoyed a fun game of softball - batting, running the bases, and playing the field.  One of the special needs students sang the National Anthem just before Laura Holt, Director of Special Education, threw out the first pitch.  NBC-5 covered the event and you can see the story here: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/Richland-Softball-Game-Raises-Money-for-Special-Olympics_Dallas-Fort-Worth-425404194.html

Payge saw an opportunity and hit a homerun by planning and coordinating the first Richland Charity Softball Game, raising $448 for Special Olympics.

See the Richland High Facebook story here:

From Consumption to Creation

Today we complete week two of the 2016-17 school year!  I was asked to share advice for a new teacher last night.  The excitement and adrenaline of starting a new career is quickly dwindling.  With the exception of maybe one, all of the teachers in our blended implementation are not first year teachers.  In fact, may of them would be considered seasoned veterans.  These teachers have been seen as masters of their trade.  They've earned that title and respect!  However, right now, some of them are feeling the anxiety of a new new teacher because they have accepted the challenge of changing the way instruction looks in the classroom and focusing on student-center, personalized, blended learning.  This transformation will not happen overnight, or in just a few weeks.  It will take months of practice, trying new strategies, failing, and trying something new.

My advice for any new teachers, and blended teachers is this:

1. Take care of yourself!  Develop a consistent routine of eating, sleeping, and exercising.
2. Remember why you chose to be a teacher - kids need adults who are passionate about them - socially, emotionally, and academically.
3. Take one day at a time and celebrate successes along the way.
4. Share the responsibility of designing learning experiences with your team.  No one should work in isolation.
5. And finally, shift your mindset to begin thinking of learning as creation, not consumption.  Provide opportunities for students to discover and learn.  Shift the responsibility of learning from the teacher to the student.  Ultimately, the students should be working harder that the teacher.