After reading Chapters 10, 11 and 12 what are your thoughts?
We read about:
- Unit Recovery / Grade Improvement
- Blended Classrooms or Academy
- Graduation Flex Academy
All of these chapters were insightful with ideas to move learning forward. How are you thinking you might use digital content to impact student learning?
Chapter 10 made me think of the new trend of standards based grading. My grade school has adopted this form of assessment and I think the jr/hs are considering it. On page 138, the author discusses how students can be "accountable for their learning and required to master the concepts". If students are being accessed or even self assessing themselves at the basic 4,3,2,1 they will see their success and their needs improvement areas instead of thinking I am bad at math--period. I feel that helps the students with a more positive mindset. This also allows teachers to see what material needs to be presented again in different ways to meet their learners. Again in a blended classroom, I fee choice is important. The same content can be presented in the same way, but then allow the students to take ownership of how they want to apply what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12
I might be completely off with this idea, but this chapter makes me think of something my district is considering for the future. Graduation Academy says it should be flexible, running outside of the traditional day while teachers/advisors are considering the courses that needed to be attended. My district is considering in an alternative learning experience in a real world environment-- a grocery store. From a few presentations I attended it seems that students would participate in the running of a grocery store as course work. I don't know if they intend to do what this chapter has inspired in my mind, but I could see students who need recovery credit applying their needs, where students who are preparing for college applying their future needs in upper management assistant duties. Yes, along side adults to keep the structure, sanitation, and store policies in tact. Running a grocery store would include flexible learning since they are open after school hours. I was thinking that this idea could lend to independent study and then I see it is mentioned on page 160 as well.
Chapter 13
Suspensions and Homebound.
I like the idea of how using digital content would allow the student and teacher to keep learning moving forward and not stall because a student is not going to make up the work or as in many suspensions a zero is recorded. Some students who get themselves in this predicament really don't care if they received a zero and most likely could care less about catching up. If they know they will be held accountable for all missed work maybe (thinking positive here) students will think before they act.
When I taught in NC, we had detention rooms. A teacher was appointed and all work was sent to this room for the students created by the content teachers the student had each year. They had daily events to follow. I would suggest that the teacher/mentor had a program on their computers where they could see each students screen to prevent wandering. I can see where Google Classroom could play a role in this-- it's consistent across the school and all staff would be familiar with the program. The adult could also comment/email with the student without the peer pressure of other students knowing when help his needed or refocusing is needed.
At IVS we have pacing charts to help our students stay on track if they choose to pay attention to it. I feel these would be handy for distance students, summer school and the other kinds of alternative classes mentioned in this chapter.
Hi Marianna! I enjoyed reading your post about Chapter 10 and Standards Grading. Some of the departments in our f2f High School has been doing it for the past 2 years and it does help students "see" their learning, and ultimately be in charge of it. The biggest challenge is the mind shift from task completion to skill mastery in other teachers, students, and parents.
DeleteMarianna - I agree with you about the trends in standards based grading. Our school district's plan is to implement this a year from now...to be honest, I am not quite ready since I am old school. However, I am adjusting my mindset to figure out ways that I can make this work for the content that I teach. Your comment from the book about students being accountable for their learning and requirement of mastering the concepts confirms a positive focus for me.
DeleteI think that the information in Chapter 10 (Unit Recovery) would be an excellent starting point for many districts, schools, or teachers to begin the conversation of incorporation of blended learning. Loomis did an excellent job on describing how using courseware could be a resource for teachers to assist students that have struggled throughout a particular unit. As many schools are incorporating textbooks or ebooks that are complimented with online activities/resources; this would be an easier, cost effective route for teachers and schools to experiment with the concept of blended learning. While reading this chapter I felt that using courseware as remediation could actually be expanded to allow all students the opportunity to review. I know that sometimes students feel they haven't fully grasped material but with no additional resources, they just continue forward. I really thought the description of the way traditional course curriculum is presented was powerful. Sadly, with limited resources and time, many teachers are pressured to push forward to complete a curriculum and many students are left trying to collect as many pieces of comprehension as they can. Personally, I think this is needs an entire shift in educational mindset, but I feel we are slowly getting there (quality vs. quantity of learning).
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 was a great description and review of how blended learning can work in any classroom. I think the stress that courseware and digital content are not teacher replacements but rather tools to be appropriately evaluated and deployed was important. Stresses I feel that could develop in a blended learning environment is teacher hesitation and frustration due to lack of training and other professional development. Loomis does a great job of explicitly reiterating the importance of continual professional development of for these types of curricular shifts and I think that is key to successful implementation. Personally, I think that in order for a blended learning environment to work, students AND parents need to be conditioned on expectations. This could be done, as suggested previously, but doing an introductory course or some other sort of scaffold approach to help everyone adjust to role changes.
Chapter 13 described what I feel many districts think of when employing digital course offerings. With students being able to recover massive amounts of credits due to failures in the traditional classroom setting, one could argue, why do students even need to take traditional courses at all? Obviously, there would be valid points to contradict this question, but again we need to consider the quality of the education presented; and as Loomis described, making sure that this accommodation is not abused by students. Personally I felt that this chapter presented ideas of how to structure credit recovery programs rather than actually "thinking outside of the box" on how to incorporate blended learning practices. It just felt more stagnant than innovative to me.
I really appreciate that the reading continually states throughout that digital content is not taking the place of classroom teachers. As I've mentioned before, some teachers believe in this "myth." There are limitations to learning online. In Chapter 10 it discusses that unit recovery "asks students to be held accountable for their learning." It shouldn't be okay for students to fail courses. How can they be successful at the next level, if they haven't mastered current content? The idea of unit recovery requires students to gain mastery of material, while being responsible for their learning. This is a great way to re-teach material, assist students in gaining skills needed for the future, and requiring they be responsible learners. In Chapter 11, when discussing how schools are "embracing" blended learning, it mentions that schools usually start with a "small pilot" program. This in fact, is exactly how my last high school began implementing blended courses. Teachers from various disciplines, interested in teaching a blended course, were then invited to training for the upcoming school year. Starting small and evolving into the next school year. I agree that blended classrooms help students develop skills needed for the future including; self discipline, motivation, and collaboration.These are skills needed across the board day in and out. Chapter 12 discussed the idea of creating a school within a school. The planning and design, as well as making sure there are clear student expectations and goals, as well as sufficient teacher training, are key components needed for such a program. I really like the idea of having an advisory teacher to mentor a group of students. This creates a platform for open communication, collaboration, and creates student-teacher and student-student connections.
ReplyDeleteI agree - assistance not replacement of the teachers.
DeleteReplacement would cause too many issues. Assistance is key for those willing to accept.
DeleteHello! Yes, I agree that failing should not be an option. I am a Career and Technical Educator, so we focus on so many things to get our students ready for life in general...to be work-place ready and to know appropriate actions and behaviors - your comment about being successful in the next level can mean a university, a technical college, and on the job training...and even being solid in society as a human being... we need to get them to the next level successfully, what can we do for them to get there successfully also? Some of these ideas sound solid - good stats and are working...how can the word get out to administrators to implement these ideas? .
DeleteAll three of the chapters really hit on ideas that I would love to see started at my school. I love the idea of starting with a small pilot program and then building from there. We currently have one teacher (science) who has started introducing the concept of blended learning in our school. She is doing this with virtually no training, and I would love to introduce this idea to my school-small group, ongoing training, get bigger with time. As with many things within our schools, I think that the need for constant professional development is the key. We are not wanting this to replace our teachers, we are wanting this to make our teachers even better. I am not sure how others feel about their districts, but I see our biggest struggle being the parents. We would really need to communicate effectively with our community as to our vision and really get them on board with what we are doing.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of professional development do you think would be needed to help teachers buy into the idea of blended learning, Jan?
DeleteHi Jan,
DeleteI completely agree. Professional development and training is key! How is the science teacher are your school doing with a blended classroom?
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteThe mindset explained on page 138 describing the accepted tradition of allowing students to continue to fail courses still holds true with many staff members I know. This is why we are scrambling to find a good online LMS(Learning Management System) that best suits our student body. The ‘old dog’ so to speak takes a long time to learn a new ‘trick’. We are working on improving this mindset but it is an annual struggle to encourage outside and local people to apply for positions here. Our daily battle with absent students creates a sense of hopelessness in developing knowledge rich educational encounters with many students.
Chapter 11
We use the school-within-a-school concept to focus on those high-risk students so they can work on a timely graduation. It seems to be working for some students but not all due to ‘life’ circumstances. There appears to be mediocre support from the staff I believe because of the incorrect fearful mindset that this will somehow replace them someday. The staff can access the digital assessments but short of a brief introduction at the beginning of the school year that is all the training we receive surrounding this LMS. I hope to see more information about how this system is working this year.
Chapter 12
Our school-within-a-school utilizes a graduation type design based upon more maturity levels as well as credits needed to graduate. There are a few students who come to class ready to work and many who just come to socialize or just a warm, safe place to be. The staff working in this environment do a good job following up on the students who need to focus on completing the coursework needed to graduate with their friends. We have quite a few that need a flexible course schedule due to work or childcare as well.
Evaluating the students seems very important when using the school-within-a-school. Thanks for the emphasis of that important element.
DeleteKatie W.
I agree with your comment on chapter 10. Too many of our teachers just "hope" a student will improve. Unit recovery seems like a good option for students who find themselves in this position.
DeleteChapter 10- One of the larger considerations, or main points of this Chapter, focuses on what to do when students “...have not learned the knowledge and skills they were expected to master.” (Loomis p.134) The author suggests that the solution is Unit recovery in a digital format. One of the largest issues that I have with this Chapter is the statement Loomis makes about “...classroom teachers...allowing students to fail to demonstrate competency…”(p. 135) A fairer statement would be that schools as a whole have set up this type of system. I am not disagreeing with her premise that online Units can help students to recap missed material, but am really wondering what that looks like in a traditional high school setting? Loomis continuously asserts the fact that teachers can “reteach” content that students do not master, but is she seriously suggesting teachers create these digital Unit recovery items themselves? How are classroom teachers expected to do this in the f2f classroom in a school setting with limited technology?
ReplyDeleteHi Elisabeth, you make an excellent point regarding the "reteaching" of content and who is responsible for creating the content. I really think one of the biggest challenges for most teachers is time. It takes a lot of time to develop quality content and to also provide authentic assessment.
DeleteI also wonder how the digital content is organized to keep students engaged. And is there only computer graded reviews or assignments in the digital content? How is this monitored? Does the f2f teacher monitor the unit recovery?
DeleteElisabeth,
DeleteI do not think Loomis is talking about schools with limited tech resources. And according to Chapter 11, the digital content she promotes is not teacher developed (key point 2). She also recommends starting small and scaling up (key point 6). The nudge, I think, is to start somewhere.
Chapter 10: I love the concept of unit recovery. I am worried, however, that my units are way too long to implement this idea. I suppose I could narrow it down to a lesson, or even standard, recovery. I feel this would be a lot of tracking on my part. I do think that this could really hold students accountable for their learning. Some students try to do just enough to get by for the semester, so if they fail a unit within that semester, they will be given the opportunity to pass it, but they need to work for it. I see where this would work, but I also see where this would fail. Some students simply do not want to work for their grades. I suppose getting parents involved as much as possible could be the key to success for such a concept. I love the idea, but could also see it being more work on my part than it may be worth.
ReplyDeleteI feel like some of us have touched on what Chapter 10 was outlining in earlier weeks of our book study. Innovative school designs are based on personalized learning. This can be to accelerate and enrich or remediate and close gaps. The idea of unit recovery can be very challenging if you only commit half-way. I see this being much more successful if your design you classroom from the beginning with some type of blended learning model (rotation, flex, flipped) so that students are immersed in using digital curriculum that is personalized to them. Structurally you would be set up to provide opportunities for unit recovery that would still allow the rest of the classroom to learn.
DeleteShea-Alison Thompson
DeleteJen, I have the same concern. Often at our f2f high school, students who are in a crunch to graduate on time through credit recovery options complete classes that are less robust than their regular ed curriculum. However, I wonder if those students need all of the content. These are often at-risk students who are struggle to cope with life's demands. A fine line, I believe.
Chapter 11: I honestly am discouraged by the mention of digital courseware throughout this book. I feel like the push is towards the purchase of digital courseware, which my school will not and can not do. I suppose I need to remember the beginning of the book which posed the option of teacher-created digital courseware as opposed to ready-made courseware. That aside, I also see chapter 11 as a bit redundant as it is a culmination of previous chapters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Jen. The push for the purchase of digital courseware seems too strong. Huge districts like when Loomis works may be able to purchase digital courseware for all of the core courses, but it may not be affordable for other school districts and I question if the digital courseware meets the needs of the district, curriculum area, and/or students to the best of the interests, needs, and learning gaps. I also worry that the book focuses too much on core curriculum and leaves the elective courses out or functioning on the fray. Electives need support and could use blended learning too.
DeleteYou make a fair point, Jen. Do you think there is another way to implement blended learning other than costly digital course ware?
DeleteI agree with Elizabeth and think that the book focuses too much on core curriculum. Electives do need more support and creativity is what inites imagination and helps builds businesses and ideas. Is there any blended learning classes for the fine arts?
DeleteI agree that parents should be part of the equation in the grade improvement plan.
DeleteI agree that many districts will not be able to purchase the digital courseware and when are we as teachers supposed to have time to create our own. The ideas in the book are good, but implementing them is another thing.
DeletePurchasing courseware contradicts the idea of "ditching the textbook" in my opinion. There is so much out on the internet that is free.
DeleteI agree with you Marianna. When we adopted textbooks 7 years ago, we were excited to include their digital option...at 20,000 dollars for 6 years. We now are realizing the value in teacher-created online content rather than ones from the textbook. This is especially true in the world language classroom as we move to authentic resourced based comprehensible material ie material made by authentic speakers FOR authentic speakers which the teachers working to make it comprehensible for their student. This is NOT was most (if any) textbook companies can recreate, especially at 20,000 for 6 years!
DeleteChapter 12: Fortunately, for me, our school rarely has students who are not on track to graduate. If there are such students, there are not enough to create an entire "class," and therefore, we have no such need for a teacher in such a classroom. That being said, we do offer the credit recovery should a student need it. As I have stated in a previous chapter reflection, this credit recovery is less than ideal. We basically send a student to take an online course on his/her own without any f2f interaction or real-time guidance. The student could be having someone else do his/her work for them and we would never know. We also do not have enough teachers in our district to be able to facilitate such a class. The idea of a Graduation Academy is superb, but not for our tiny school.
ReplyDeleteExactly Jen. While some of these ideas are great, I feel they are more useful in larger schools. We do not have the faculty to pull this off successfully.
DeleteLisa hits on a point that needed said. Typically, not even a large school has the funding to spare a teacher for this "extra" classroom. I don't see education moving away from courseware for credit recovery for years.
DeleteYour comments are exactly the same regarding the small school population and the limited need for credit recovery. We do require that kids sit in a room with an adult while they do their credit recovery and the Montana Digital Academy requires test/quizzes to be proctored, so we are dealing with the cheating issue fairly well.
DeleteCh. 10
ReplyDeleteI have always had issue with allowing for an F on major grades. Not just a final for a unit but major quizzes and projects. Giving kids another chance to fix things is important because sometimes the student is just needing a little more help. I do retakes quite often but our district lacks the resources for reteaching digitally. We just don't have the money. Does this digital course ware come with textbooks? How does this work with classes like literature that is subjective? There is a lot of writing and need of evidence to support the answer, how does that work in the digital course ware?
Ch 11
Again, this is still a huge cost issue. I love the idea and would relish being able to implement this in our district but finding the funding in order to use this for our students is virtually impossible. The idea of being able to provide small group instruction and yet make sure the other students are on task still learning the same content is great.
Ch 12
I thought the idea of Graduation Academy was great for schools with high enrollment and a large number of students who would be on the list to fail. Many students begin to give up and drop out in these situations and allowing them to catch up and graduate is a perfect solution. This would definitely not be something our district would even need to do.
Lori my thoughts exactly on all chapters. Sadly though (chapter 10) we do have teachers who feel like the student earned the F and should have tried harder the first time. I'm with you....some students just need a different approach or a second lesson to get it. They are still working and learning and isn't that our goal?
DeleteChapter 11 agree $$$
and Chapter 12 agree our district would not need to do this.
Chapter 10 was my favorite out of these three.
I have to agree it is important for a student to be ab le to fix a grade, but at my school there are a lot of teacher that do not allow retakes on tests or exams.
DeleteLori, I was fascinated by Chapter 12. I love the concept of a Graduation Academy with positive program naming and the goal of helping students make up lost credits in an digital environment. Why is it that you think your district would NOT need to so something like this? Are you thinking the target population is too small to warrant such a program?
DeleteI think what I liked about the GA was the any time, any place, any pace approach to earning credits. Whose to say a gifted student could not finish up a semester of Geometry in 6 weeks of dedicated work? Why should we hold them back?
CHAPTER 10: Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement
ReplyDeleteThis chapter prompted many questions for me: How might standards-based grading fit with this concept? Would alignment with online courseware work better for some subject areas (such as math) than others? I could see this working well for skills-based units with narrow standards to be met. Who builds/finds/aligns the courseware with the class and when does the work occur? Is this realistic for a student to put in extra time on their own on this online course with no teacher support -- while also still keeping up with the “regular” class work? Doesn’t this go against everything that was stated in the previous chapter about Independent Study? Perhaps the short-term contract (1-2 weeks) will provide more success? Will all students be trained/oriented to use the online courseware at the beginning of the year or how/when would that occur? If students only have a short time period to make up the missed learning (1-2 weeks) then to also learn a new courseware/LMS is going to also take time.
CHAPTER 11: Blended Classrooms or Academy
The idea of implementing blended classrooms by providing teachers with high-quality digital content as a base to build upon seems like a step in the right direction and help keep all students (regardless of which teacher they end up with) on track to master all grade-level standards in a given year. In our middle school, I know that there can be cases where students end up at vastly different points in the standards/curriculum depending on which teacher they had that year. This poses many issues including varying levels of readiness for the next year(s) of learning and potential gaps in instruction -- not to mention students who say their class is either “way ahead” or “way behind” the others in their grade. Like others have mentioned, I appreciate that the digital content isn’t there to replace the teacher, but I do think it might improve equity in many cases. I also think it might help PLCs to be able to focus on data conversations and collaborating to build authentic assessments if they don’t need to worry as much about the basic building blocks of their course(s).
CHAPTER 12: Graduation Flex Academy
One interesting point that I thought was brought up in Ch. 12 was that Loomis warns against having a student in the Graduation Academy “return” to a regular 18-week traditional course for anything in their schedule. I am wary of this because I am not sure that just plowing through tons and tons of online content all year as quickly as possible in order to graduate is really serving students in the best way. I did really like the academic advisor piece which focuses on helping keep students on track/accountable and provide that mentorship role. The idea that students in the Graduation Academy can’t hide and are given more attention than in a traditional classroom definitely has its merits and gave me a different angle from which to approach the Graduation Academy concept.
Sarah--I agree with what you said in Chapter 11 about teachers not being replaced by digital learning. School districts need to do good training, communication, and supply necessary resources for teachers to feel comfortable.
DeleteI agree! 10 years ago, I feared the teachers would be replaced. As the digital education world expands, it seems that there is room for both.
DeleteThe Chapter 11 content does seem to address the student/teacher equity element. I am wondering if teams of teachers could collaborate on developing the online versions of their courses. Everyone would have access to the content and resources and student work samples and assessments.
DeleteI know that bullet 2 on p.152 urges that schools "Provide digital content, rather than have teacher build or curate it." I do not agree. Teachers are content experts. They know their students and how to reach and teach them.
Using the suggestions identified by Loomis for grade improvement would probably be the most beneficial (for the school where I worked) of the topics (Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement, Blended Classrooms or Academy, and Graduation Flex Academy) presented in this week’s chapters. The district I retired from expected that students would be able to improve their grade. Personally, I would like all of education to require students to meet standards before they move on and I could also see using CIA blended learning as a way to accomplish that idea. Loomis (pg. 137) noted that students should be required to complete digital content before they are able to take a retest. This is a factor which our school has not required in the past. This policy requires effort on the part of the student – not just more work for the teacher. It was well-known that students would not study for an exam because they knew that they could fail after not studying because they had something else they wanted to do. The school policy was such, that they could retake the test and get a better grade without any additional effort on their part. Loomis did a great job of noting parameters to consider for policies and procedures with such items as deciding ahead of time the number of units a student could recover or improve. It would be necessary for the administrators and counselors as well as the teachers to help with the mindset that the grade improvement “is an opportunity and not a burden”. So, I think the most important way or the how to use the digital content for student learning is to place responsibility for learning on students and not just the teacher.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth - I think it is the norm to not require additional work before retesting when taking a recovery course. I have witnessed students taking the test first and then going back to do the assignments. I like completion accountability and it seems most LMS have setting to ensure completion or mastery is accomplished before moving on in the course.
DeleteChapter 10
ReplyDeleteThe idea of unit recovery is a good one. It provides a pathway for students who have failed a certain part of a course to master the material and be able to go on with the other students. As the author mentions, catching kids before they totally fail a class saves them! This option relies on mastery learning and that teachers across a school district are in lock step with that curriculum. It would take diligent, systematic supervision of students and would demand extra personnel to aid the regular classroom teacher. It would be a great addition but my school would not have the means to do this.
I did like the author's comments on p. 139. "Remind students that they are responsible for their own success and unit recovery is an avenue to timely high school graduation." She adds later, "hope is not a strategy."
Chapter 10
I started this chapter with a lot of enthusiasm, as my one-to-one school professes to use 'blended learning". I realized immediately the biggest problem. Our school does not provide digital coursework for us to do this. This was my "aha moment". I have been knocking myself out for the last many years, trying to look for online materials to teach our curriculum. I have spent hours and hours trying to find just the right video, or a podcast that deals with a certain cultural aspect (I teach Spanish) or an article or info graphic that is at the right level for students to read. If I had access to courseware that was appropriate, it would be amazing! We tried to find a textbook that had an online component and actually went with a series we thought was going to be great. But the content didn't have enough practice and so we ended up having to do our own thing again. Loomis admits on p. 143, "Finding the "just right" balance between the two (teacher guided instruction and online learning) can be difficult to locate." I am not afraid of blended learning; I am afraid my life will be consumed with searching, searching and more searching.
I really do love the idea of using stations, and I am going to try this next year. But I will have to develop the materials myself. I like the idea of given students control over their own learning, and letting them work at their own pace. But you need a package of units or "courseware' as she says that is developed that works for you. I do not have the time nor the expertise to write my own online program. She agrees with me on p. 151, "Asking teachers to build or curate digital assets takes time away from the classroom design..."
Unit 12
I can see the "Graduation Flex Academy" being a great idea to help students stay in their home high school. In Boise we have a high school that is for the "bad kids" and it is a tough place. I see the ideas she sets forth as being very helpful if a school district could afford it and had the right situation to implement it. But in Idaho it would be extremely difficult to set up something like this since we under fund out schools as it is.
My takeaway from.....
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 Use digital content as an aide to deliver instruction versus teacher acting as facilitator reminds me of 21t century skills. Collaboration, critical thinking, are not taught in a lecture format, but a discussion much like this book study. I have learned much from others in this format.
Katie W.
ReplyDeleteChapter 10 - The courseware for a student who falls behind to help the teacher and student to bring that student back to mastery sounds like a good idea. The clear, communicated guidelines the author speaks of do seem valuable.
Chapter 11 - I see the benefit of courseware and blended learning to meet the needs of the students. I also like the idea of using courseware to assist in determining student mastery levels.
Chapter 10: I love the idea of unit recovery and we are starting a program (school-within-a-school) for our Alg 1 math students who need additional support. Throughout the process of creating this intervention we always envisioned the course would help guide students in identifying deficiencies and then using the digital curriculum to remediate. We realized when we were creating these supports that it really lends itself well to a standards-based grading and the teachers took the lead in exploring what that would look like for our students. So, maybe it's backwards, but we discovered the SBG make a lot of sense for our students because of our BL model. Also I really love that the teachers had the lightbulb moment and it wasn't an administrator telling them what to do! My biggest take-away from this chapter is that students gain control of their learning and create a mindset that it's not acceptable to fail.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11: When I first started reading this book this model of BL is all I had in mind. Little did I know that we have pockets of different models of BL throughout our school. Something I'm going to share with my math teacher are the schedules on pg.144. She is a concrete, black/white thinker who will stew over the tiniest details because she wants it to be perfect for her students. Helping her to visualize a couple different schedules using BL will alleviate some of her stewing. Also, we already established that students will be working in the room for the first 2 weeks of the semester in order to establish good routines and procedures. Once the "training" time is over students will not necessarily have to be in the classroom in order to receive skills or curriculum. This is the joy of this BL model when working with seniors in high school!
Chapter 12: Our county has an alternative program that students can CHOOSE to attend. It is mainly upperclassmen when are several deficient with credits, but not limited to upperclassmen. The director of this program has a background in social work and I have always admired her program and how she gets the best out of her kids. They use a BL model like in chapter 12 and I have to agree that staff selection is a HUGE component in our students being successful there. The staff at our alternative are among the most selfless in education. They don't get fanfare, they are guides and coaches, they mentor kids who are dealing with a lot of "stuff" and the teacher have less turnover at their school than most of us in the public schools.
Hi Deidra! I loved reading about the Alternative Program in your area that students can "choose" to attend! There is a lot of negative stigma that accompanies students when they are transferred to the Alternative School setting, and it is usually viewed as a punishment. Are students also assigned to go to this school when they are no longer eligible for the traditional school; such as the case of suspension?
DeleteGary Norris Ch 10, 11, 12
ReplyDeleteChapter 10
Unit recovery is an ongoing challenge for both students and teachers. In our school we have had some success with both peer mentoring and digital resources to help students overcome mastering difficult concepts. Some students seem to respond well to working with another student to better understand content they are have have not successfully completed. As far as digital intervention, Khan Academy as been a valuable resource at our school for students to have a different look at content they ave not been able to understand. Also, students can independently work at home using digital material. It is important that teachers review student progress before allowing a retake of the unit test.
Chapter 11
I witnessed a program where school administration decided that curriculum would be provided solely using by a vendor digital program during the upcoming fall semester. Teachers received training during the summer break. Teachers were informed that textbooks would not be used in the classroom. Chaos would best describe the atmosphere as the new school term began. Teachers were unprepared to orientate students as to how to navigate the program and students became extremely frustrated because they had no idea what was expected of them. It took several weeks before students and teachers became comfortable with the vendor program. Bottom line, start small when adapting online learning and consider a blended learning approach until you find balance between digital learning and guided curriculum.
Chapter 12
Graduation Academy is a great method to focus seniors who need extra credits to graduate. Some seniors are ready to be "done with school" and their parents are anxious for them to graduate on time. The GA provides explicit expectations for seniors to complete credits for graduation. Expectations should include classes that need completed, completion dates and regular input from an advisory teacher. Also, parents should be made aware of the GA requirements as they can provide extra mentoring at home. There is nothing worse for a parent who expects their child to graduate only to find at the last moment that they lack credits to complete high school.
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteI found this chapter quite intriguing. The idea of unit recovery seems like a great way to have a blended learning in the average classroom. Rather than failing an entire semester due to a few units, the student has the opportunity to save themselves, which I like a lot. I do things like redone assignments or corrected tests currently in the classroom, but I like the idea of recovered content to ensure the student is actually learning something, not just Googling the right answers or possibly repeating the same mistakes. It does seem like it could be a tremendous amount of work to set up recovery units for students, so I would start with units that I know students tend to struggle with in my courses. Perhaps have the students have to complete a series of content modules before they could complete the test retake so that they have another shot at gaining the content. I think the idea of unit recovery could be a really successful thing!
Chapter 11
I saw possibilities in this chapter as well. I’ve never been a fan of the flipped classroom (or at least how I’ve seen it done in the past), so I was relieved that the author wasn’t just advocating for that. I am still not sure about a lab-based blended learning in schools, but I didn’t mind the idea of the teacher leading instruction (not just sage-y on the stage-y however) combined with digital learning. I see the possibilities for differential instruction in terms of creating advanced modules for students who need more challenging and remedial modules for students who need more practice time. It affords the possibility of differentiation and for any teacher, that is an exciting prospect. This could be through activities or readings delivered in a digital format. The idea of the rotation format was the most appealing to me, as it allowed the teacher to deliver more personalized instruction in smaller groups, as the kids would be rotating through the digital content and ‘teacher-time.” You could even do three groups - advanced, proficient, and below proficient to help tailor content even further. Perhaps two days of all class teacher-led time and three rotation days a week, so students have two days of digital content, two teacher-led for content, and one specialized day for their learning level. A very interesting idea!
Chapter 12
I think that there are a number of ideas that could work in this chapter for many schools. I know of several school districts who have created separate graduation style academies away from the other schools - set up in almost exactly the way that the author describes in her book (one big room - four content teachers, lots of workstations). I remember thinking that it would work, but it must be a bummer being separated from the rest of their senior classes. So I do appreciate the way she set it up so it is still within a standard school and the students don’t feel so divided from their peers. I think the positive naming is also helpful. Finally, I do agree for some credit-low seniors that the idea of graduation academies and digital content is important, as it allows them to recover and catch up much faster than someone who has to take the courses face-to-face. I don’t have a lot of insight into credit recovery, but that’s what I got from this chapter!
Shea-Alison Thompson
DeleteLindsay, I agree, using digital learning for credit recovery is a fantastic strategy if the resources and personnel are available.
Lindsay--I liked Chapter 12 because I felt the teacher can do this on their own, use their own sites, and use their own time table for digital learning or re-learning.
DeleteChapters 10-12
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other post when blended learning is a hard concept for small school districts to fund and support. Going small with one or two classes seems to be a great start. The Recovery program would be another great place to start. I like the concept of doing the recovery as soon as possible, not their senior year. Having smaller groups/stations/rotation makes sense, too. Lastly having a teacher bringing the human aspect is very important.
I would agree that credit recovery should be done as soon as possible and also like the rotation models that allow teachers to provide timely help for struggling students.
DeleteI have used blended learning for my business classes for quite a while. I originally started using it because of the need to have more than one class at a time in my room. A teacher can only be stretched so far and still be effective.
DeleteI also agree with the post about small schools having a hard time getting to funding and support for blending learning. I also agree that the recovery programs should be looked at earlier than later. As an elementary teacher we are noticing gaps in our math curriculum and we are going to start doing the station rotation with our curriculum and some Khan academy. In chapter 10 the author discuses that when a few students fail a unit test and you should reteach the concept. My question is what do you do with the students who passed the test? Do they continue to go on ? The teacher still plays such an important piece and this statement is stated once again throughout these chapters.
ReplyDeleteShea-Alison Thompson
ReplyDeleteI like how the author anchors a blended learning discussion on the premise of blended learning as being the combination of textbooks and teacher-led instruction. She adds to this by suggesting digital learning.So, really, we are considering augmenting our skills, not wholly changing them, which could be a selling point for blended learning naysayers. In all of the chapters I've read so far, the author asserts that blended learning has a purpose and that its success is really hinged on teacher preparation. The key to that success is mobility among the CIA model components, and I would say, flexibility and creativity. Too often, teachers get stuck in a rut. That's what I see often in my non-online settings. The author continues to discuss professional development as a key factor (when discussing the Graduation Academy). PD is important no matter what, and research shows that most PD is ineffective in promoting change in instruction. I'm an advocate of teacher-led PD, not PD that's pulled out of a hat (different focus each year and selected by administrators who aren't in classrooms anymore if they ever were at all). I like the idea of a Graduation Academy to support seniors who are failing. But I do believe that some of the previous models mentioned might be more powerful in student outcomes and high graduation rates. Freshman Academy discussed in one of the earlier chapters is an example. If we get to our students early in their high school career, their options as seniors expand.
I think that we also need to remember that the technology can help with the data crunching so we can get immediate feedback on how our students are doing and adjusting for that outcome to ensure success.
DeleteChapter 10
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple things that stuck out to me in this chapter, first was the idea of an aide in the classroom to assist with reteaching. I’m just not sure that I see how that would work, I understand that the students need some additional help but when would this help happen. If the teacher needs to move on with the rest of the class and the coursework, isn;t the student than missing out on the new material? However, I suppose if you have a blended classroom then the student could go back and work on remedial work as the other students engage in an extension activity.The second thing that stuck out to me was that the students needed to be held accountable for their learning! Yes! Yes! Yes! I agree completely that it is the student’s responsibility to relearn the materials when they fail the first time around.
Chapter 11
I like the idea of the digital courseware being able to meet the needs of the students, allowing the students that need to be challenged be challenged & those that need some remedial lessons to receive them.I feel that I could change my classroom to rotating groups and meeting with half of my students on a topic twice a week while on the other 2 days they are working on digital courseware. The only issue I see in my current classroom is that I would need the right courseware to make this completely effective. I believe over the next few years this is a possibility as we look at new curriculums.
Chapter 12
I feel the main point to take from this chapter is making sure the students have an advisory time at least once a week to set goals and know what they need to accomplish for the week. I also agree that the staff is an important part of a Graduation Flex Academy or any academy for that point. We need to make sure that the students have staff members who care and that the students can trust.
That is an interesting question - where does that aide come from and is the aide well-trained?
DeleteIT is the student's responsibility to learn but we need to make sure they understand how to relearn the material - too often we have students who give up instead of work hard for the success.
Hello --
ReplyDeleteUsing a blended model for unit or concept recovery seems reasonable. Obviously this sort of model works best for motivated students and for courses that are sequential. Broader reviews of concepts, such as a literary review of satire, could certainly help students improve performance on a final exam as well.
I appreciate some of the common sense advice in chapter 11, such as don’t move too quickly into a blended environment, and allow for roles to be defined: “Let the technology do what it is best at--delivery of basic skills and acquisition curriculum. Allow the teacher to do what they are best at - guidance, coaching , and extending student learning” (151).
My initial thought on the FLEX Academy is that it would take a great deal of administrative organization, but I like any program that allows for students to take ownership and control over their education. I wonder how much this sort of academy would open up the push for some students to use it to graduate early. I have noticed more and more IDLA students using FLEX courses to get ahead on credits. This sort of academy might end up leading to the deconstruction of the typical “four year” approach to high school.
Thanks for reading. Travis
Chapter 10 – Digital content should be used to help students acquire and master course competencies (ideally an adaptive diagnostic program should be used – page 135). While I agree that teachers should use data to drive instruction and learning, finding and/or creating comprehensive diagnostic tools is not easy.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 - I agree with the author regarding the use of blended learning to help students reach higher levels of understanding. However, in order for this to happen blended teachers must be open to the idea of “stepping off the stage” as Loomis mentions on page 143. Teachers have to be willing to use digital content as a teacher aide to deliver instruction, while creating a balanced approach that ensures students are engaged in the process.
Chapter 12 – My biggest takeaway in this chapter is that teachers must take an active role in “helping” students. Even though much of the online work (is designed like an independent study) the role of the teacher is much more like that of an advisor/mentor. Like most online learning, students will need help managing their time.
I think that as much as blended curriculum may use digital content in lieu of a teacher speaking, there will always be a need of clarification or a reteaching moment. Having the teacher in the classroom is such a bonus.
DeleteHi Jo, I think most students also agree that having a teacher in the classroom is a real bonus.
DeleteCh 10-Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement
ReplyDeleteUnit recovery sounds like a great idea, though not new. What may be new is using digital courseware to help students with their remediation. I would hope that the f2f teacher would have professional development that allowed time to create the content or at least experience the content so that he/she would know what students would be asked to do. I have lots of questions, such as who monitors the student’s understanding? Are there assignments and reviews and games that are computer graded? How would the f2f teacher know if the student is ready for retesting?
I do like the idea of setting a time limit and I think that parents need to be informed about their student’s remediation.
Ch 11-Blended Classrooms or Academy
I think that this is a great strategy. Having digital courseware used for level one and two depth of knowledge would provide the teacher time for creative classroom time for deeper understanding. I would jump right on the bandwagon and work with teachers to plan lab or station rotation models for our units. I guess this would also be helpful for teachers who are uncomfortable with certain topics or perhaps ensure students are learning the expected curriculum.
Ch 12-Graduation Flex Academy
I think that given an opportunity to have a mixed class schedule with recovery and original courses is terrific. Having their advisory teacher monitor their progress in their courses makes sense. I assume that when K. Loomis writes that the courseware data will alert teachers when to step in and help students, that the content teachers must be able to access student data even as the students are working. The content teacher could create a mini lesson for students when a problem arises and not have time wasted.
There seems to be an opinion that small schools do not have the funding or need for a Graduation Academy. I don't see it being feasible in a large school either. I work in a large school, and while numbers might not be as large of an issue, funding sure is just like any size of school district. Loomis has some good ideas and concepts, but some will remain ideas form many if not most school districts. I am all for credit recovery, but it seems online courses and courseware might be the best option for most schools.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing with a lot of these ideas...the software and hardware costs are prohibitive to many districts. I guess you need buy-in from the school board and the superintendent to get these programs started.
DeleteChapter 10:
ReplyDeleteAs I’m reading Chapter 10, I agree with this concept. And as far as mindsets, I do think they are changing. I see our education society wanting students to pass the unit material before going on to the next unit. I do wonder if there are statistics for the success of doing this unit recovery.
I taught middle school computers for years and when the band teacher needed students for private lessons, they would come out of computers, art, and study skills classes (encore classes). I didn’t mind this, but I did not like to reteach the lesson to the students who missed. I had always thought of video taping my lecture for these students (but I never did). So I understand this concept.
My school also used RTI (Response to Intervention) where they tested students and used computer lessons for further instructions so students could succeed in the classroom.
What I like about this chapter and suggestions, is that it can start with the teacher.
Chapter 11:
When I first started reading this chapter, I thought how can a teacher know what all the students need and to personalize their learning. But as I continued to read, I realized digital learning is part of the course work. There was even a couple of pacing examples.
I think a teacher will not feel threatened if it is their idea, but in the reading the example was digital coursework was brought in because of the teacher. If this happens when it is not the teacher’s idea, a lot of communication and understanding objectives need to be met.
I agree with having digital content is step number 1. Often an administrator will go to a summer class and come back with “here is what we are going to do.” The mindset section was key in this chapter. Start small, use high-quality digital content, and find balance.
Chapter 12:
I know this chapter started off with talking about upperclassmen needing credit, but as some of these digital learning systems are used in all grade levels, the push for credit in the end should be less.
As much as I think this is great, a kind of no child left behind, I’m not sure smaller schools can set aside space and extra teachers for this School within a School. The High School in my former district would bus students to the next town for this. I’m sure it was less costly than doing it themselves.
If students need credit because they are truant, would they be able to access the digital material at home and work on it there? Only showing up occasionally?
And once students are successful in a graduation flex academy, does that give them the confidence of succeeding in their next life step? Job? College? Or will they still need someone to really stand over their shoulder helping them to succeed? Any statistics on this?
ReplyDeleteCh 10
It mentions that when students fail they can be assigned digital content - in hopes they get it and then retake the assessment. My question is when are these students accessing this content? During the class, in which they will fall behind? Is it outside of classtime - we hope they do the work? Is it before school, after school? The notion is great - but the logistics seem too vague.
Ch 11 For the blended classroom we need to ensure we teach students how to learn online - not how to just use the technology, but the learning as well. I know I get much more accomplished in 15 minutes when I put my headphones on (no music), just to block all sound, and lock my office door so I am not interrupted by the kids, doorbell, phone, etc., than I would if I spend 30 minutes - but with all the external noise. The online learner needs to learn: self-discipline, self-motivation, and peer collaboration.
Ch 12 I like the mention of flexibility within parameters. Too often we give students too much freedom and forget that they do well with structure and a routine. Giving a student an online class, and a deadline of when you need to be done but you have all year - sets 99% of the student up for some serious procrastination and not deeper level learning, as they cram it all in. Once students have experienced and been successful in the online learning environment, then we can give them more and more freedom within the course.
I understand that there are teachers out there who are fine giving a failing grade to a student in hopes of the student becoming more motivated for the next unit. That’s something I have never done and never plan to do. I will only give a failing grade if a student put in a good effort, but ultimately didn’t understand the concepts by the end of the unit. Unit recovery is a better approach. As teachers, it really is up to us to assess the needs of students. If a student is having a difficult time with the unit, then unit recovery might be a viable option for them in order to assist them in meeting a benchmark. It’s also important that unit recovery not appear punitive as this would severely decrease motivation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to blended classrooms, I fully support the idea of allowing more opportunities for small group instruction. Working with small groups is something I have favored more and more in recent years. It is most effective when I’m able to assess the needs of students and assign instruction based on need. Having programs and apps that help identify areas of need for students will help me plan small group instruction faster and, in theory, allow for more small group instructional time.
"Unit recovery, or grade improvement, is a way to help students understand actions have consequences, yet can overcome unfavorable circumstances." I really liked this statement. It gives students hope that even if they screw up they can, through individual effort, demonstrate mastery. I would really like to incorporate this digitally into my classroom. If anyone does this digitally, what program(s) do you use? Has it been effective?
ReplyDeleteChapter 12 seems to be a repeat of chapter 7.
Chapter 10 had a lot of good information...things that will resonate with many in the profession. The concept of unit recovery/grade improvement is something that so many teachers struggle with. We, as classroom teachers, are often forced to stroll through the standards, regardless of student mastery of each skill. For some teachers, this is just the way that it is and they continue without looking back. For others, we are constantly asking ourselves ‘how are we meeting the needs of our students when we continue without mastery?’ One important thing to remember is that many schools don’t have access to a classroom aide to pull aside only a few students, however, if we have access to digital courseware then the students’ needs may be met by helping to fill the gaps and reinforce concepts that weren’t fully grasped before we were forced to move on.
ReplyDeleteA good point that Loomis makes (p.137-138) is that having policies in place is essential for helping students when they are working on recovery and grade improvement. When we set clear rules for our students on what our expectations are, we must stick to them. Some students will genuinely need these opportunities while others may abuse the system. Being sure that the students understand that their actions have consequences is crucial. There is a fine line between being unprepared (not studying, etc.) and taking initiative and utilizing a second chance for grade improvement because of unmastered skills.
I appreciate that the author points out that a blended classroom is not the same thing as a flipped classroom (p. 144). As teachers, it is crucial to remember that technology cannot take the place of a human educator. While some students may really prosper on their own, many kids still need that one on one interaction with a physical teacher. Being sure that we are meeting the needs of all students (p. 156) and knowing when to step in and help is a huge part of ensuring student success.
ch. 10
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using this as a reteaching/review. It also holds students accountable for the learning and that they can't just skip it.
ch. 11
The blended learning environment is useful because you can work with smaller groups and it allows student to work more at their own pace.
Ch.12
Graduation Flex academy. We use this in my district and I taught at this school for 4 years. It works well for motivated students but it does require good ready and study skills. Classes were taught in 7 weeks and it allowed students to complete 5 semesters in a single school year. Students took only 3-4 classes at a time to concentrate on those so they were not overwhelmed.
The two chapters that I really focused on was Chapter 10 (Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement) and Chapter 12 (Graduation Academy), in part due to the students I teach, who tend to be a large number if IEP, 504 and At-Risk students. As my district works towards Common Core standards and common assessments, there seems to be more focus on writing and revising exams than on the actual curriculum we teach the students. As with all schools, we have deadlines and pacing that must be adhered to in order to get through all the curriculum, but this can be a disadvantage for students that do not always learn the material at the teacher’s pace. Add to this my district’s “No Homework” policy and “Exam Retake” policy and we have created a nightmare for my students. Many of my students who fail an exam in Biology have a two week window to relearn the material and retake the exam. The curriculum does not stop while they try to recover their grade, so they must divide their time between relearning old material and learning new. Typically students who have failed a Biology exam are also likely to have failed a math, English, or history exam as well. The Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement could be a possible solution to this dilemma. This chapter has supported my claim that we should be helping students relearn standards or components that they struggle with based on quiz grades rather than waiting for the Outcome exam to really work on the interventions. After reading this chapter, I did approach my principal and explained how this could be something our district should look into or have some teachers pilot this approach. I was encouraged to give it a try, but sadly there does not seem to be a good deal of support at this time.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12 also hit a nerve with me as the students I see really struggling in their freshman year are the ones that are told they need to pass every class their senior year if they intend to graduate. These students have struggled for three years and are now expected to suddenly become better students and pass all of their classes. I understand that multiple failures in their coursework can stem from a varied and wide range of reasons, but we as a district expect something “magical” to happen their senior year. I love the idea of the “Graduation Academy” and its flex schedule. This approach can help the students be successful and allow it to happen in a more positive environment. I never saw the “Look a senior trying to pass a sophomore class” approach as being the best way to help a struggling student succeed. This chapter did pose a few questions:
How difficult is it for administration and guidance counselors to create a flex schedule for grade deficient students in an 8 period school day?
Can or has a school district employed a Graduation Academy as part of a summer school or extended school year program?
Considering that we as teachers tend to base our success off our students’ success, how do you recruit or find the right teachers to make a Graduation Academy really be successful and thrive?
When broken down to the unit level, the concept of using digital instruction is very promising. I am hoping to identify a way to produce this with our middle school standards based curriculum. Too often the system for reteaching becomes cumbersome and it may not always be done with integrity. The focus of students held accountable and with the responsibility of their own learning is a culture that must be created for this to work effectively.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take the modes in Chapter 11 and see how they can be used in some of my classrooms. The concept is simple but I think that too often the idea is that the digital curriculum is going to perfectly fit the need and that we are just teaching from the tech vs the text. When this doesn’t work, the feeling is that the curriculum is flawed when perhaps it is more on how it is utilized. Blended learning would allow more flexibility in how the digital curriculum is used.
The Graduation Academy model can only survive with having more that just the technology. In the previous chapter, I mentioned how some of these seem assembly line style and the same is true here. The need for teachers, mentors, counselors to support these students is obvious. I am curious as to how these are put in place and more specifically the feedback from those they have worked in this model both students and teachers.
I think it is a good idea to offer students an opportunity to show proficiency for a unit they struggled with while they are still enrolled in the class. Digital instruction can provide a way for students to study a topic more and prepare for a retest. That can allow students to improve test scores and learn material after scoring low on a unit test.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of using digital content in a blended classroom along with face-to-face instruction. This can help students learn material in a variety of ways. Teachers can use the data from digital coursework to determine student proficiency.
A Flex Academy seems like it can be helpful to students who need to recover many credits. It can offer students the ability to take the classes they need with the support of content area teachers.
Cathy Howlett
Chapter 10
ReplyDeleteI have found more often than not, students who fail a unit exam do so because they fail to put the initial work, to be accountable for their assignments, and do not engage in participation of lessons. So yes, for unit recovery, the mindset is important for the student to get in the driver's seat and be be responsible for mastering the content. If students had this mindset in the first place then would credit recovery programs even be a topic? I realize that in the real world this mindset is every teacher's fantasy. For whatever reason there will always be something preventing some students from being accountable and taking responsibilty for their education. Students will cheat on assignments and copy other's work because, let's face it, it's much easier that way. And those students will continue to fail exams because they never took responsibility for their own work and success. I do agree that it will be an "uphill battle" to get those students to be accountable for their own success in recovery programs. With that said, I am all for unit recovery programs. Children deserve a second chance and they derserve an opportunity to learn. But, who is developing the recovery programs? Is this on the teacher to develope? Mastery of different concepts differ from student to student. Should these programs be indiviualized according to the individual student?
Chapter 11
This chapter reminded me that I have a lot of work to do to create my digital classroom, purchasing a program is not exactly in my department's budget. I am encourage by the question posed on page 151, "Would you rather have teachers spend time looking and searching the Web for open educational resources, and apps, or building quality thought provoking students learning projects, seminars, and real world application?" In my own experience I have found students gain so much more through projects and real-world applications. They are able to apply what they have learned to the project, trouble shoot, and explain successes and failures in projects. This helps students to self reflect on knowledge (past and newly gained) and can also show where they have weaknesses.
Chapter 12
Teaching at a private school we rarely have students who do not graduate. (Granted there is always 1 or 2 who are in danger of not grauating because they fall short of a credit due to failing a course) On the occassion when one does not graduate there is a less than ideal credit recovery program that the students take to receive their diploma at a later date. Being a small enrollment private school, studetns who fail courses early on usually do not enroll for the next year and will attend the public school instead or an alternative school. I definitely see this being a program for our local public schools that have a much larger enrollment and a much higher rate of students not graduating. I think a program like this is much better than the alternative...dropping out, retaking an entire year over, paying for courses later on, etc.
I found chapter 10 to be very insightful. Using digital content to help students who fall behind when the teacher needs to continue with the normal curriculum for course expectations is honestly a simple solution to a common problem. I think all f2f teachers have come across this problem: a student who need extra time that the teacher just doesn't have time to give due to course limitation. The more I read Think Outside the Box the more I feel like I've been viewing the possibilities of reaching students through a straw! Not only is it possible to use digital content to help a student relearn a concept (and for a teacher to reteach it), but it could all be done without disrupting the normal pace for the remainder of the class. There is only one teacher in front of the class needing to reach 30+ students; digital content in this way could provide the type of individualization the teacher is unable to always provide. I wonder, though, is anyone has surmounted the hurdle of funding and how they got their admin on board?
ReplyDeleteI believe that funding is a big issue. My district would love the idea, but not be able to purchase the digital courseware. I believe there is a lot of open source (free) content for many subjects, but I have not looked into it much.
DeleteI agree that looking for free digital courseware is an option. I wonder if anyone has found much success? This is why I liked how the author early on addressed the issue that relying on teachers to come up with the digital content is far less preferable to already complete courseware provided by digital courseware professionals.
Delete"A school-within-a-school" Chapter 11. I found this chapter to be interesting in that it makes you reimagine the role a teacher COULD have in the classroom setting. As the author points out, f2f teachers are reduced to teaching to the middle of the way student: the one who gets it, not brilliantly, not substandardly (not a word, true), but knows how to study and do the work adequately. Blended learning with digital content would provide f2f teachers, like myself, the opportunity to reach ALL students. I wonder: how would this affect our students? I keep thinking how it would affect me, as the teacher, but how would it affect my students? Would more students feel successful? Would it broaden the teaching styles students are subjected to, and therefore reach more students? Would it inspire students who otherwise felt uninspired by the traditional textbook/lecture classroom?
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I liked how the author pointed out that it's important to find a "balance" and that in these classrooms we don't want "for students to feel isolated sitting behind a computer each and every day when a high qualified teacher is in the classroom" (pg. 145).
I like how in chapter 12 the author addresses that not all students want to leave their traditional school for online courses. And can you blame them? Their friends and their lives away from home are at said traditional school! I think we should do whatever we can to keep kids motivated to graduate and the finish (strong!) what they started. "Instill pride in your students, your staff, and your school community with thinking outside the box" (pg. 154). And by allowing them to work on their recovery credits at their traditional school, I believe we will be doing just that: instilling pride and creating motivation. We did discuss this already in another chapter, but I agree with the author that it's so important it requires a double take! The one part she didn't mention before, however, that I thought was great: creating a mentorship program. When a student knows someone cares, they start to care. This is something I would definitely be on board for!
ReplyDeleteI have mentioned in earlier discussions that my district is in the early stages of implementing mastery learning (or standards based grading), and these chapters really described the vision that my district has. They want students to be able to move at their own pace or be able to recover standards that they struggle with, change the role of the teacher to more of a facilitator than direct instruction, and give students some freedom in their education. The teachers are having a hard time figuring out how to do this when you have 140+ students that you are working with. Having remediation or enrichment opportunities in a digital format would make this more achievable, but that is a huge cost for the district, unless the teachers donate their time to create the material, or are able to find open source courses.
ReplyDeleteChapter 10 really resonated with me. My f2f school has allowed students to re-quiz and re-test as long as all homework/classwork has been completed. We had hoped this would help the lower level students. However, it just seemed to help the upper level students. They learned very quickly how to play the "re-test game" to improve their grades. It was not about the learning for them...it was only about the grade. I really like this idea of using digital content for independent study and review. I am going to try to incorporate this idea in my Geometry classes and see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit envious of those of you finding so much to take from this book. I feel everything is extremely repetitive in explaining what blended learning is and what the teacher's role is, but never suggesting much for how teachers can implement more on their own within their own classrooms (at least at the elementary/middle levels) without everything relying on administration implementing it first. Chapter 10 started off blaming teachers in two places on pages 135: "...teachers are allowing students to fail to demonstrate competency..." and "We are failing our students. They are not failing our classes." I think the whole of educators are failing students - but most teachers I know are following expectations placed upon them from those higher up - coaches, curriculum directors, administration. They are not failing students in terms of what they can do on their own in most cases - students are failing because the entire system is failing them, not simply just their teacher(s).
ReplyDeleteChapter 11 was the most beneficial one I have read so far - and what I would like to hear more about, but I felt it was filled with much of the same as every other chapter. No specifics for how to implement this in my own classroom.
To be honest, I briefly skimmed Chapter 12, but at the level I teach, it really was not applicable to me.
I think the most interesting part for me was the idea of unit recovery. I have gone to several trainings for Teaching for Excellence/PEAK by Spence Rodgers and one of his core ideas is to be able to redo assessments to allow for concepts to be retaught. I did this for a while, forcing students to watch a video on the concept before retesting. I stopped doing it because many times the kids wouldn't study because they could just redo it. I like the idea of a whole unit to recover though, it puts more on the student to relearn the concept not spend 15 min watching a quick video. But again, being from a small school, who has the time to create another units worth of material? I'm not sure if that is something that we can source out or not?
ReplyDeleteChapter 10- I like the idea of allowing students who have failed to use the digital curriculum to learn again. My concern though, is what do you do then when the students chooses not to take this opportunity. I find in my own classes, the students who are failing really don't seem to care. How do I get them to care? How do I get them motivated to do extra work when they never did the work the first time? If the student wants to do better, I see this being a great idea, but if they don't want to then what?
ReplyDeleteChapter 11-I like the idea of the two groups in the classroom where one day they work on digital work, then the next day they work with the teacher. I think that this would definitely change up the classroom and make things more interesting for the students. I think that as a teacher, I would learn more of my students strengths and weaknesses and could help them have a more successful year.
Chapter 12-The academy is a nice idea. In my school we don't have credits that the students have to meet each year. It would be nice though if a student is failing or really falling behind to have a nicer smaller setting for them to go to "catch up" and be where they need to be!
Chapter 10: I admit that I am one of those teachers that struggle with allowing kids to re-test. Our math teacher at our school uses digital content as a supplement. If students complete a certain number of modules that pertain to the content she is teaching, she will give the students a 100% test grade, which can be averaged into their test score averages. I like this, because it helps students not fail, but doesn't give them the crutch or advantage to be competitive with those students who learned the content the first time.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11: I use virtual labs as a way to supplement or replace a lab if I either don't have the materials or the actual lab isn't feasible. To be honest, they're also great activities for days when a substitute is in the classroom. Students are still learning the content, they usually enjoy their lesson and it makes classroom management for a sub a breeze.
Chapter 12: I like the flex academy idea, but I don't see it being a feasible option in my school. We can barely hire the staff needed for traditional classrooms and if this book has taught us anything, it's that you can't just put a warm body in a digital classroom and expect good results. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of need for credit recovery.
In the last few years I have tried the flipped classroom approach, the station rotation idea, and the digital unit recovery/grade improvement idea but it is hard to get students (and parents) to change their mindset. They seem to think that students can only learn if a teacher is lecturing and then the teacher is there to guide them one-on-one through the practice problems,and once they leave school they are done learning until the next day. Also, students are often busy outside of school with extra curricular activities, jobs, and home responsibilities and seem to have not time to work on unit recovery, or grade improvement, or digital instruction for the following class period. How do you convince students (and parents) that sometimes it is necessary for students to learn and work outside of class? Or is there a way for students to learn the required standards without doing any outside studying, practice, or school work?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the video on authentic assessment in the middle school algebra class. I could see this being a great way to get students connecting math to real world problems . I have always loved the idea of having the emphasis on the “how” of learning, not just on getting the answer. I have not yet found a way to change the emphasis to “how did you get this answer”. Whenever I try this I get a lot of push-back from the students , the parents, and eventually the administrators as the parents complain that students should only be graded on having the correct answer regardless of how they got to the answer. And my other question is how are the students graded on these authentic assessments. I hate to bring it up as the focus should be on the learning and not on the grade, but how do we go about saying yes, this standard was met , without giving it a number, letter, or other symbol showing whether the student has a small idea of what is going on, or has a good grasp and can get the answer but can’t apply it to other types of problems, or that student has mastered the concept and could teach it to someone else?
In my brick and mortar school we do have a school-within-a -school or flex academy for some students. They take online courses but they do those courses in a computer lab with a teacher present. The students still are responsible for learning the material and demonstrating that knowledge but the classroom teacher is there to keep them on task and on track by setting deadlines and doing frequent checks. It works well for some students, not as well for others. We use this as credit recovery mainly but I do like the alternate name “Graduation Academy”! In the computer lab where this takes place we also do have some students taking AP or advanced courses in there as well as students taking courses that are not offered on our campus. The downfall to our system is that the teacher we have in the computer lab is not a math, english, science, or social studies teacher and when students have questions she can’t answer she does have to send them to one of the content teachers for help. It would be great to have core teachers available in the computer lab for students to ask questions and get help but not all schools have resources available to fund that.
In chapter 12, I was struck by the importance of selection of staff for innovative programs and the comment about professional development. Kim Loomis indicates on page 156 that "most teachers are ill prepared to strike the fine balance needed for a digital learning environment where courseware delivers the vast majority of content instruction."
ReplyDeleteIn my teacher pre-professional education in the last century I was taught how to build courses, units, and daily lesson plans. Curating online resources let alone building online delivery of content and building assessments was not an option - pre-Google.
Yet, all of us in this VLLA Book study now utilize digital resources and build content as the norm. Staffing selections for this digital environment seem to take the required the general teacher skillset and merge with digital tools. This leads to a need for a growth mindset.
The flexible growth mindset that staff ought to demonstrate will pay dividends to student success. A previous chapter talked about high teacher expectations. If the teacher does not have the high expectations that demonstrates flexibility of content delivery and a growth mindset, the student will follow.
Over the years I have been fortunate to be able to have facilitated different types of staff PD courses through different companies. The common thread that ties in with Kim's quote from page 156 (i.e, "without proper professional development, most teachers are ill prepared ...") is that in this type of learning environment we seem to need to demonstrate flexibility with digital tools in our growth mindset. The best part of facilitating staff PD is to see all the different tools that folks use to connect with students over time and space.
Living in Wisconsin many areas are rural. As a result bandwidth and internet connection is a challenge for many learners. Local districts offer work -arounds to these connectedness issues.
Question: In your part of the country what are the main connectedness/access issues and how does your PD suggest to manage connectedness/access issues?
Thank you for your suggestions,
Jon
For these chapters what I brought away was having students work on material that they did poorly with. I like this idea of giving them work and then allowing to retest. The hurdles I see with this is them falling behind on new content because they are focusing on the old. I have also seen that it is hard for students to move forward because they do not have the foundation they need.
ReplyDeleteI agree I like the idea for students to have an opportunity to redo work for improved understanding and to have an opportunity to retest which I allow, but at the same time they are falling behind while the rest of the class moves forward. I primarily teach in the middle school in a rural town so staying after school for extra help is near to impossible.
DeleteWith regards to the emphasis these chapters promoted, I agree with the idea of re-teaching/learning material. As stated, it quality is better than quantity. The issue I see is the lack of accountability/commitment by certain parties.
ReplyDeleteYes, access may hinder the process, but it seems to be getting better with the technological push.
I think a lot of the options discussed in these chapters truly do depend on the size of the school, connectivity options, availability of staff and above all else, funding available. Although our school is larger compared to most Montana high schools (1300+ students), we are still considered quite rural. Our access to internet comes and goes and we definitely do not have the staff to run these types of programs. I also don't think that throwing money at the problem is the correct answer too. A complete education paradigm shift might be necessary in order to get buy in from all the key players.
ReplyDeleteChapter 10: Unit Recovery/Grade Improvement:
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we have students who are not successful in the traditional classroom...These ideas of offering instruction with digital concepts is a great alternative/addition. "Competency -based education requires students to demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills they were expected to master." (page 135). Offering additional resources to help students reach this claim is Unit recovery. This helps re-teach, or teach if a student has excessive absences, continues to offer the student the opportunity to learn what is missed without disrupting the whole class schedule. I also think that if they realize that they cannot just go on without completing successfully, that we hold them accountable for them to be the driver in their education, then maybe they might just take it more seriously on the first go around. My college institutions do not allow me to re-test when I offer dual credits....but for now, I can at lease require them to work independently through the assignment content that they misses, and do quizzes for an improvement grade. I liked reading the Policies and procedures and believe I can use some of these ideas.
Chapter 11: Blended Classrooms or Academy:
It was stated that students enjoy using technology....it is important to offer technology to prepare them for a future as well as high school.
A new thought for me was that we have been using a blended classroom since we use textbooks activities, videos etc - so why is the thought of a blended classroom seem so new? The technology portion - and finding the right balance. I was encouraged with the ideas of using a rotation model and starting out slow. I am in this situation to add more of a blended learning experience to my students this fall....this book is showing me some good ideas....now to put together the content. This is the hard part - from a teacher's view - this means a lot of prep and planning. I wish there were great options already for me to implement, but in my content it is very limited. I know that this summer, my online courses are using an e-book with great labs and assignments. The students are really enjoying all they are participating in and are doing very well academically. The disadvantage is, for my f2f classes, I cannot require that students purchase their books at about @100.00 each. So, I am on the outlook to find something comparable. I do a lot of hands on skills, and I like the idea of stations rotations and lab rotations - much better than trying the flipped classroom idea. I am confident that my students will step up and develop the skills needed- as on page 152 - self-discipline, self-motivation, peer collaboration, and communication - which they will need in my classes and in college, career and citizenship.
Chapter 12: Graduation Flex Academy:
The school in a school idea for this topic is a good way to address this Problem/opportunity. I know that our school district does have alternative educational settings - I have heard they are way different that traditional schools. I am not sure of the success rates or the statistics they can show, but when it comes down to sending students away from their home school it can get a little messy. However, that being said, our school district transfers students back and forth between 3 schools on a daily basis - several times a day. It works for us, but the idea of having it at the home school set apart on their own schedule - I can see the benefits. The most important takeaway from this chapter to me was stated on page 157 - the kind and caring gesture can also build student-teacher rapport, demonstrating that teachers truly care about student success - this needs to be celebrated.
I liked the idea of unit recovery, how ever I do not see it going over well at my school. It does make a lot of sense and could help student by preventing them from failing. If they can recover the knowledge from a unit they do not understand it could prevent them from slipping behind and needing to have credit recovery for the whole course. In a lot of courses each unit builds on the knowledge of the unit before.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned above I have used blended learning for quite a few years. They funny part was they expected e to teach any where from 3 to 5 classes in the same class period but at first they had a problem with some of the content being taught digitally. It was a struggle at first but after they administration saw how well in was working the kind of embraced the idea for my classes. Now we do have other subject areas using blended learning.
I like the idea of a school within a school. We do have an alternative high school and there is the problem of student intentionally failing so they can attend school at the alternative. They are under the misguided belief that it will be easier. In some ways it is because they have 3 2 hour blocks during the day instead of 6 class periods. So, at the end of a quarter they have the 3 credits. But the part they are missing is the fact they still have due dates and there is a strict attendance policy. Eventually some of the student end up back at the regular high school and have a 5th year of high school to graduate, unfortunately some do drop out. I can see a lot of value of keeping the students in their high school with their friends and everyone they know.
I teach math and in my f2f school we offer a "math lab" for Unit Recovery in place an elective course. I use Khan Academy, Accelerated Math, and Prodigy. I would like courseware that offers analytics to support their learning path. I know that Khan and Accel. Math have testing for placement and have improved resources for lesson support but I still find them lacking.
DeleteI agree - this is a good starting point. If teachers can be fully supported on this then I think it could be very successful.
ReplyDeleteCh 10 The author's comments on p. 139. "Remind students that they are responsible for their own success and unit recovery is an avenue to timely high school graduation." She adds later, "hope is not a strategy." I like the idea of unit recovery especially for students that score less than 75% in a course. As mentioned often in this book personnel is essential for student success. As a math teacher I see many students close to getting a concept and with some additional practice they would have success.
ReplyDeleteCh 11 Blended classrooms would be the best of both worlds. Allowing the students that need to be challenged be challenged and students that need some remedial lessons or additional time to receive it. The correct courseware and a management plan are essential, rotating groups could work, but there needs to be a plan for student accountability as well. But knowing that they will be in the spotlight to show they are ready to move forward every other day may be just what is needed.
Ch 12 I primarily teach Flex math courses. About 85% of my students complete their course and many finish early. However about 10% need an extension as well. I feel that Flex courses are not for everyone too often we give students too much freedom for students that need structure and a routine. Flex classes are great for students that transfer from one state to another and find they are in need of a course for credit, or need (desire) a course by have scheduling conflicts. I feel there needs to be completion benchmarks throughout the course for students that take the whole semester to complete a course.
Teresa Dodge
I love the concept of students being held accountable for their learning. I think that when they really take ownership of what they're learning, they will be able to go so much further with it.
ReplyDeleteCh. 12 was the most exciting of these three chapter to me in terms of genuine possibilities for ALL students, not just the credit recovery student. I am speaking and thinking as an online teacher. More and more, students are enrolled in my classes because they want to graduate early. The really motivated and focused students are able to move through a full semester's work in half that time (or in exceptional cases, even less time). Why should they be held back to an archaic calendar and generally accepted length of time tradition says they need to learn?
ReplyDeleteI understand that not all students can move through content and practice and assessment at warp speed. However, some can. These are the students who often claim to be "bored" in traditional classrooms. Another target group would be those students electing to take electives that target their learning passions. This is a group that may want to push through a course more quickly than the average student. The flexible approach of the GRADUATION FLEX ACADEMY would meet their needs.
All graduation requirement courses should be offered in this format. Consumer Economics, US Government -- and maybe a constitution exam prep module, etc. should be among the core content for the digital academy.