All teachers know that you need great

systems in your classroom, even the little things.

It's as if if there's any one problem, create a system for it.

I remember one of my teachers was frustrated by her bookshelf at

the end of free reading time because the books were a mess.

So after lots of lecturing she finally decided

to take a picture of what she wanted it

to look like, and post the picture on top

of the bookshelf, and it essentially solved her problem.

It's so simple but if you find a structural systematic approach

you can solve a lot of problems.

>> And so blend to learning teachers are coming

up with great systems to make their classrooms run smoothly.

>> I would say like as far as systems go there's not,

there's not much different from a regular general ed classroom, so to say.

Like, the same directions apply.

Like ,we have signals for when they need to use the restroom.

Like, we have hand signals.

We have

like expectations for what you bring to class.

Like, we talked about in the first week of school like, how

we're going to pass out papers and what we expect you to do.

I think the difference is like them having computers all

the time, and like how specific you need to be it.

And like how important it is to teach them to like treat

their important with respect, and like it's a tool, and not a toy.

We're not like looking up different things,

like it's an educational resource for us

while we're at school.

>> so the first two weeks are procedures, and

that includes when they go to the computer labs.

So, Mrs. Sarah, who is my Paraprofessional, she's going

to show the kids how to walk into lab.

If they do not walk in quietly with their hands behind their back and sit

down at their computers, she takes them out, lines them up, and they do it again.

If they don't enter quietly, takes them back out, lines them back up.

And we can do this seven, eight, nine

times if that's how long it's going to take.

most the time it doesn't.

and then as they know as soon as they get into the

lab, Mrs. Sarah tell them, she models what she wants them to do.

She says headphones on, they all put their headphones on.

[NOISE]

>> Watch how smoothly it works when you have good systems, for a student to

know exactly what to turn in, and then easily transition to working on a tablet.

[INAUDIBLE]

There's a clear theme that emerges from all these structures and systems.

And it's that the teachers are creative.

The teachers find solutions to the problems, and they're getting ahead

of the problems, and mapping out where we need to go.

And we know that the things we've raised are just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm sure at home there's a lot of you've already had a really great system

or structure that you've been thinking about, that

works really well in the blended learning setting.

So we want to move that discussion onto the discussion board.

So get online, post a good

example of something you've seen or you think is essential, and let's vote

up and down and get some really good responses bubbling to the top.

>> Now there's one other idea that Brian and I have

been toying with, which is that as we move to these

blended learning environments, what are the right signs that we should

be looking at to see if students are truly engaged in learning?

>> I think about this as stop measuring proxies

of learning, and start trying to actually measure learning.

And I remember when I

was running a summer pilot, we've talked about with blended learning

This, there was a student who wasn't there the first day.

So I came back the third day and I saw this

kid and he was standing in the doorway eating an apple.

And I kind of, I was an old school, like law and order kind of principal.

I went up to this kid, I was like, what are you doing in the hallway?

Why are you eating an apple, where were you day one?

And he just looked at me and said hey, slow down.

I'm the top scoring kid in the class right now.

And I took a breath, and I said come show me.

And we walked in and he opened his laptop and he had

made more progress in his one day than everybody else had in two.

So I said go finish your apple, right?

It's like, he had proven to me that he knew this material.

And I could finally get inside the black

box and see some indications of learning versus whether

I, his head phones were in, or whether his eyes were on the teacher the whole time.

>> Now, this idea of actually following the actual learning and

paying attention to those signs, it's clearly not fully there yet.

But the idea here is

that as educators, we should start focusing on how we can move more toward

actually observing signs of learning, rather than

what we think of typically, as engagement.

>> So kids get off task and, as in any classroom.

when I have noticed that kid is off task

I usually go over and ask them what they're doing.

that might mean as I'm walking over they just closed

down the tab on what they were just doing,

and we might check the browser history or whatever.

It depends on how much you actually care about that nonsesense.

but kids, if, I generally find that kids who

are off task are not engaged or motivated, or

understand why that task is the right one for

them at that moment to help them in their learning.

So if you're convinced that it is the right task for them,

that it's the right module in Khan Academy or whatever it may

be, then that's a conversation I think is worth having with the kid.

And in the blended classroom, you often have the

minute to three minutes it takes to have that conversation.

Because other students are generally working hard and on task.

And you, you can, you can, you can get that done.

it could be that, that kid particularly as you

get into middle grades and high school grades, really disagrees

with the task they've been assigned with them.

And I try and respect that as much as possible.

If that kid can articulate to me that

they actually should working on something else at that

time, I generally say sure, that works for me

and what's your plan for coming back to this.

And like, put it, put it back in their hands

to take responsibility for coming back to that original learning.

>> The first move of a blended learning teacher, is to explain the purpose.

Before the student's

interact with the program they need to know the why of the program.

The second move is to organize in a consistent and predictable way.

So I have stations in each of my classroom

where the technology is set up, where students are completely

self sufficient and getting an iPad, moving to the

spot on the carpet where they work on the iPads.

Getting a Chromebook, carrying it over to their seat, working on

it there.

The systems have to be predictable, have to be consistent.

third, have systems for troubleshooting.

So, in my classroom, I have a

student who's assigned to be troubleshooting the iPads.

I've seen that this student is really good at being the point person for this.

Other students can go straight to her to help troubleshoot any issues before

they come to me, because I am teaching a group on the carpet.

So, using the strengths of the students in your classroom

in order to enable you to spend more time teaching.

>> So one of the things that most schools fail to do in a

blended learning model is really look at

the data that the software programs are providing.

Almost all of the programs can tell you, these are the

five kids that are in trouble right now on the software program.

And I've seen in cases where sometimes a

teacher will let a student go three weeks with

absolutely no growth.

And the information was there every single day

on that report that was never looked at.

So we have each of our, our each of our

teachers or Paras, print out that report daily, and know exactly

who are the five kids I need to talk to tomorrow

when they come in the lab about their performance from yesterday.

That's become part of our staff culture and it's been extremely

successful at driving our achievement in blended learning and software programs.

One of the most important components of using a lab or a Chrome

Book lab effectively, is that the teacher's

up and monitoring students at all time.

We ask the teachers every two to three minutes to step

back, scan the room, and look for behaviors that are not acceptable.

You know, typically, you'll find students that may not have

their headphones on when they need to have their headphones on.

It's really about having your head on a swivel, when

you're in the computer lab, because kids will occasionally drift

off and get off task.

So, just like in a traditional classroom, you

want to be tracking the classroom at, at all times.

We also have a, two different chance that we use

when we're logging in, and one when we're logging off,

so that we have a, a very quick transition from

being on the computer to being ready to exit the lab.

And other technique is really critical to have in your

blender learning program is a way to reward student performance.

So, we have several different awards

that students can win in a week. Who grew the most?

Which were the students that had the greatest improvement one week to the next?

>> Before students go on technology, we map out what it should

look like, what it should sound like, what it should feel like.

What it should look like is you are on your technology.

Your eyes are on your iPad. Your eyes are on your Chromebook.

Your hands are moving, you're interacting with the program.

What it sounds like is it's quiet in the classroom.

So that the students

on the carpet can work. What it feels like is it feels purposeful.

It feels intentional.

It feels like you are showing honor to the people who are learning.

Like you are showing love and respect, you feel happy.

So mapping out the purpose, and mapping out

exactly what those clear expectations are is essential.

>> Its really important to help students

understand that you're going to be honest with them.

It takes a long time as a teacher to come to a place where you

feel comfortable being honest with your students about

what they know, and what they don't know.

Because you're really worried that you're going to break their morale.

But you have to do it if you want o move the needle,

and you want to help students change the projector y of their lives.

You need to empower them with information.

And so a lot about the next generation model

is taking what students know, and what they don't know.

And putting it in their hands and saying you have,

you have the power, you have the power to decide what to do next.

This is where you're at, what do you want to do?

But we're going to be here with you and have that conversation along side.

And we're going to be here and these are the tools and these

are the structures that are in place so that we can support you.

But I need you to understand that like we see what you see, and your parents see

what you see, and you need to see what you see so that we can make movement.

>> Throughout the course of a day,

found myself starting to just ask kids a lot more questions.

To help them come up with their own answers to things.

Whether that is to understand content,

whether that is to understand instructions,

or whether that's to like, you know, resolve conflicts with their friends.

Or problems that they feel like they have with a teacher or another adult.

I think it's sort, we really try to create this culture as much, as a

faculty, that our job is to help kids learn how to solve their own problems.

and I've, and I think it's been a great thing, cause I think, instead of me

just giving kids answers, it's really helping me

push kids to come up with their own answers.

Moves of the Blended Learning Teacher II

Blended Learning: Personalizing Education for Students

Meet the Instructors