All In

A year ago, I was feverishly planning for Blended Pilot 1.0. I had four sub days to figure out attendance schedules, workloads, safeguards, rationales, tech tools, and communications strategies. I'd never logged onto Moodle. I was totally overwhelmed. Excited, but overwhelmed.

Now (and I can't believe I'm going to type this out loud - surely I'm tempting some kind of nasty classroom fate), things are totally under control. I feel like I know what I'm doing.

Here are some recent highlights:

I have a new way of grading papers that's both saved me a lot of time, and I think provided better feedback to kids. Because they hand their papers in online, I read them online. I keep a notepad by me while I read and jot comments in shorthand. When I'm finished with the paper, I write five-six complete sentences about their work. I type this text directly into the space for comments on our online gradebook. My compliments and criticisms are clear, and the kids and I have access to them forever. My son's first-grade teacher told me that she learned in a professional development seminar that the first thing a teacher says in the writing conference is the one the kid remembers most. So, I always begin with a compliment or a statement of confidence in the student's potential.

My colleague Elizabeth Barniskis and I gave a well-received presentation to the teaching staff about blended learning.

Copy of Copy of Copy of Parent night! on Prezi

Here's what I thought was cool: we know WHY we're doing what we're doing. Besides the logistical and scheduling benefits, and of course the novelty of "not having to come to class," we can explain why and how blended learning addresses 21st century skills. I also like that Elizabeth put "Teaching in a Participatory Culture" in the center of our skills circle, because developing and nurturing an environment of respect, sincerity, and scholarship is so vital to what we're doing. Henry Jenkins says that a participatory culture (in this case, English Class), has low barriers to expression, utilizes informal mentorship, and makes people feel like their contributions matter to the group. I think the projects we engage in and the work we do really does foster that, especially because kids are making and sharing media with each other and the world.

Mass Media is better and smoother than last semester. In the fall, I was (mostly) keeping my head afloat teaching a senior elective. I'd never taught seniors AND never taught an elective. I LOVED starting over at the semester with a new group of kids. And this is where Moodle has saved my life - I really like being able to reuse the modules that worked well and easily hide or edit those that didn't. I've heard a few complaints that my project-based class is "harder" than the traditional version of Mass Media; however, I think the attendance schedule (F2F Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; online Tuesday and Friday), still makes the course appealing. Next year, all of the sections of Mass Media will be taught in this format - no more comparing the formats in terms of perceived difficulty.

So, all in all, I'm happy and the kids are happy. Bring on 4th Quarter!

An Overdue Update

I just tweeted my link, and it's inspired me to put in some latest reflections on my first full year of blended.

Here are the highlights as we move into the last part of the semester:

1. Leaders from the National Urban Alliance Came to Visit

I was thrilled to have a chance to talk with Yvette Jackson, Luverne Flowers, and Mary Oberg about blended learning and the implications for black and brown students. I have noticed that my work as an anti-racist teacher has progressed along with my work as a blended teacher. My hypothesis about why this has happened has to do with the fact that blended teaching means working with individuals, rather than planning for the whole group.

The NUA visitors thought that blended learning was a great model for fostering high intellectual performance (HIP) for students of color because teachers show they trust kids, kids make meaningful decisions, instruction is tailored to individuals, and kids can mediate. I'm not sure what they meant by mediate, now that I'm trying to explain it here. I'll have to ask my NUA coach, Jackie Roehl, to explain that to me next week.

2. Most parents at conferences were happy and curious about blended pedagogy

It was hard to explain the what and why of blended learning for each set of parents in 90 seconds or less. I ended up wishing that I had thought in advance to ask an administrator to come and hang out by my line from time to time to handle some of those basic questions while people were waiting to talk to me.

Only two parents had serious concerns about blended, and most parents were very happy with how things are going.

3. Mass Media kids continue to make media

Mass Media class is an interesting situation and probably deserves its own post. It's a new population for me (seniors in an elective), a totally new curriculum, and all new projects.

The one thing I'm happy about in Mass Media is that the kids make media. I learned at this year's NCTE conference that scholars believe that the heart of any critical media class has to be production. This makes a lot of sense, and playing with a new tool to produce something meaningful... that's what I think it's all about.

So far, Mass Media kids have made Prezis, Xtranormals, Vokis, Aviary podcasts, and VuVoxes. Next week, they'll work on Weebly sites with some of the above tools embedded.

Still, the class needs a lot of work, and I'm very pleased that I'll be repeating it come Feburary.

A month later...

...and things are finally calming down. In the last couple of weeks, I've realized I don't feel as frantic. Last weekend, I didn't even come into work! Students seem happy and productive, and I'm getting happier because my daily life isn't as frenetic. Grades are pretty good overall, despite some problems with project completion, mostly with my seniors.

A few interesting things have happened this month. First, I got sick. I had to leave school on a moment's notice. The next day, I was still down for the count and had to miss a planned visit from the School Board.

And what happened? Nothing, really!

The kids, as it turns out, don't need me on a daily basis to continue their learning. I'm so happy they've adjusted to this reality within the first six weeks of school. During the Board visit, a couple other staff came in to support my substitute and students, but the teachers said they didn't need to say anything. The kids did an amazing job of explaining the benefits of blended learning all on their own.

More on the benefits to come in this entry and later ones.

A second happening this month was that new course proposals were due at school. My department chair and I proposed Blended American Literature - we'd like to move out of the pilot phase. We also changed the description of Mass Media to indicate that the class will always be taught in a blended format.

Another department in our school also considered petitioning to offer a blended course. Their discussion process, as well as our English proposals, gave me many opportunities to talk about the benefits of blended learning. A question that always raises my hackles is one that's often not posed as a question: Teachers say to me, "Well, kids say they love your class because they don't have to come to it."

I've been trying not to react defensively to this comment, and rather ask people to consider what kids are really saying when they report this benefit of being a blended learner. Sure, kids like the freedom not to come to class. That's okay with me because I don't want to be a child's last choice of how to spend their time. I want to offer activities and content that draw learners in! I want them to WANT it!

What I choose to believe kids are saying when they report that they like the attendance schedule is this: "I like the fact that my teacher trusts me take charge of my own learning."

Choice and freedom are good for relationships and good for learning.

A New Year, Week 2

It's been an exciting and exhausting back-to-school, perhaps more than any of my other ten Septembers in this great profession. A lot of the extra energy and stress is due to my new assignment: I'm teaching in a blended format full-time.

Isn't that exciting?! I was so energized by the blended experience in our Pilot 1.0 last spring that I couldn't really imagine going back to "the old way"; however, the reality of managing what amounts to not only two new preps, but an entirely different way of managing content, assessment, and community... It's A LOT! A whole big pile of exciting LOT.

As an English department and a district, we found enough GOOD in our pilot last spring to expand from 79 participant students to about 250 this fall. We're adding a teacher, too, so I'm not alone in this blended boat. I'm also about a hundred times more prepared to tackle this challenge because of some work and learning I did over the summer with an Ed Tech/ARRA grant project. I feel like I'm finally making the cognitive switch to truly teaching online, rather than just adapting my existing assignments and activities to be accessible online.

Here are some of my observations from our first two weeks:

1. It's really hard to explain a blended course, especially on day one when at least half of my population didn't realize they'd opted IN to our Pilot 2.0. It takes a few days of thinking and talking, and then a few days of actually practicing the flexible attendance schedule, to understand what it means to be in this type of course. Right now, we're still in the stage where some think that they'll have less work, or that they can afford to wait until the last minute to do their English assignments because they're only "due" once per week. The students that I have for a second year - the ones that were in Pilot 1.0 - have a better sense of things. And I'm really relying on their leadership.

2. I can already see the benefits of having the time and flexibility to meet with kids in small groups and one-on-one. In last year's pilot, I had kids write weekly reflections about how things were going. This year, I replaced the weekly reflections with one-on-one meetings that kids will have with me once every three weeks. I had my first set of meetings today, and it was SO NICE to be able to sit with those 30 kids to talk about initial impressions, questions, goals, and dispositions. I love the way a blended class offers me the luxury of building more meaningful working relationships with my students. It fits directly into one of the most exciting parts about blended learning for me: teaching is finally collaborative. I'm finally allowed to share power with my students. Their experiences and suggestions and questions shape my content design more directly than they did when I had the added pressure of managing a room full of 30+ kids.

So, I guess that's where I'll start! I'm happy and excited! I'm busy and stressed! And I'm also looking forward to using this blog as a space to reflect on and share my practice!

Finishing Up!

Thank you everyone - parents, guardians, and students - for your participation in our blended pilot! Overall,the experience has been extrememly positive. It's also been professionally challenging and exciting for me. Our school will be expanding the pilot next year with junior and senior students.

Today, I sent an email to parents and guardians via Edline asking for feedback about the pilot. If you didn't get the email, you can access the survey by clicking here: survey

While this survey is for parents and guardians, I did collect feedback from students during class. Those who wanted to contributed to this video, which I shared with a large committee of interesed teachers and administrators at a pilot-evaluation meeting in May:



Thanks again for a fantastic year! This has truly been one of the best years of my career, mostly because of YOU, the wonderful students and families.

Rounding the Bend!

This is our last full week of blended learning! In fact, the last optional day will be next Tuesday. For our last unit, Persepolis, we'll be using a class set of books, so you'll need to come every day in order to do your work. You will be working independently, however, so it'll still feel a little bit "blended."

In your reflections this week, most people sounded happy and adjusted to this style of learning. I feel happy and adjusted, too. I am a blended believer at this point, and I'm glad I'll get to continue this type of instruction next school year.

Something I want to get your feedback on, and I might pose this question on this week's End-of-Week Reflection is how you think blended learning could best be introduced at the beginning of the year. What would your ideal blended course look like in terms of schedule, workload, relationships, etc.? Think about this and add your thoughts to this week's end-of-week reflection forums.

Something else that's been happening lately is an erosion of the typical divide between students and teacher. On the one hand, I'm elated about this development! I've spent most of my career trying to find ways to authentically learn WITH students, instead of being just an authority figure and the dominant force in the classroom. On the other hand, some aspects of the walls coming down are making me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I'll probably talk more about this in class; although the idea of talking about it in class makes me feel uncomfortable, too. Oh, teaching. Such a complex and wonderful profession.

Have a great week!

Moodle!

Thanks for your emails about Moodle being down. I also can't sign in. I'm sure the school is working on it, and we'll just have to see what happens.

I'll update you in class today.

We'll adjust the due date of the letters.

My Own Weekly Reflection - Week 4

Last week was a great week for blended. Many commented that class went smoothly. Most of those who'd expressed skepticism in the opening weeks found that they enjoyed last week. It seems we're getting into the rhythm of blended learning!

Of course, this week we're thrown off by AP exams and the media center closings due to GRAD test re-takes. Many of you expressed a high level of stress and anxiety regarding AP testing. I understand that these feelings are real, and that they affect your performance in other areas.

I decided to push back the due date for the research letter to 8:30 Monday morning in response to your reflections. Realistically, I wouldn't have had time to read these over the weekend, anyway. I do want you to have time to comment on each other's drafts, however. You'll now have Monday night and Tuesday to accomplish this. The final letters are due on Wednesday evening, 11:59pm. You'll hand in everything via the Google site. This is a paper-free assignment! A first for me!

This week, we'll be playing with Ning instead of our usual Moodle forums. The Ning is a simulation we're using to address the 21st century skills of play, performance, and networking. Engage fully in the simulation! Your final product for this assignment will be a reflection paper to be handed in the week after next.

One of the things I love about blended is the many types of writing that become relevant and possible. I've often felt that we privilege the literary analysis paper in our department, and I love the opportunity this class affords me to teach about and encourage other genres of academic writing.

I think that's it for this week! Thank you so much for your thoughtful participation in this pilot. I'm having such a good and intellectually stimulating time.

Week 4 Is Here

We're beginning week four of our course! I just finished reading your reflections and Moodle posts, and once again, you have some wonderful insights into what's happening.

Many of you highlighted the part of Blended English that I most enjoy - the smaller class discussions. I predicted this would be a benefit of blended learning, but I did not realize what a difference the smaller class sizes would make in terms of the quality of discussions and my own enjoyment of them. I was very gratified to read that others feel the same way.

I also enjoyed the discussion on busy work in the open forum on Moodle. Many people pointed out examples of what they perceive to be "busy work." The most common alternative people suggested was more discussion. I agree that discussions can be fruitful. However, I often find the students benefit from scaffolding activities (taxonomies, maps, paraphrasing) that prepare them to more thoughtfully discuss. I also have trouble with assessing discussion. Sometimes I need an assignment, besides a test or a paper, that I can put into the grade book.

While we may not totally agree on what constitutes busy work, I hope we can agree that the collaborative nature of the blended course is positive. I have never had a teaching experience quite like this one - where the input and reactions from students are so instrumental in the creation of the course content and instructional methods. I love hearing your opinions!

Per your suggestions this week, we'll discuss clearer grading criteria on Wednesday. There will also be an open-forum again on Moodle. And Michael, my email address, which is available both on Edline and on the Edina High School homepage is katwest@edina.k12.mn.us.

Have a great week!

Heading Into Week Three

Today for the F2F (that's how I'm writing face-to-face now - cool, right?!) session, we had a seminar about gender roles in Ibo culture. Many people had interesting thoughts on this. During the discussions, I kept track of who was participating. I was pleased to note that we were able to get 100% participation in each class, and I want to continue to find ways to do this. Tyler suggested in his weekly reflection that I continue to use the "Wednesday Friends" technique, and maybe incorporate something similar on optional days. I do feel a responsibility to build community, and things like Wednesday Friends kind of help, I think.

During one of the seminars (4th hour, I think), people had questions about the clothing of the Ibo people. I found this great link, but we didn't have time to discuss it.

Many people noted in their weekly reflections that they enjoyed recording their podcasts on Audacity. Today, Mr. Walker and I got together to publish the final products. He and I had a misunderstanding about the format of the segments - I thought we were putting them together in one file, and he thought I wanted to publish them individually as episodes. In the end, I think having them individually is kind of nice, and I think the third graders might enjoy clicking on them one-by-one. There are a few groups that need to publish, still - another benefit of this format is that I can just add them to the feed and they'll appear.

Click here for Fresh Press segments. Click here for iMPRESS. And click here for Hot Paper.

I'm excited about tomorrow's optional session on folktales. I disagreed with Erik's thought (which he posted on Moodle) that Achebe's novel lacks deep meaning. I think the character of Okonkwo is very well developed and extremely complex. I also really like the dispassionate tone and how the impacts of colonialism are left to the reader to "judge." I'm interested to hear people's final opinions on Thursday and Friday.

Another idea I'm thinking through is the concept of "busy work." I always try to avoid what I think of as "busy work" in my classes, blended or not. To me, busy work is work that doesn't require any thought or that is redundant. Brainstorming topics and themes, writing PIEs about complex questions, and responding thoughtfully to others' comments would not qualify as busy work in my mind. Michael, Max, and Alma (and I think one other person in 5th hour?) suggested that they're doing too much busy work. What does busy work mean to you guys? What could you do instead of the things I've assigned to show your deep thinking and understanding about course content? I'm really curious to get more feedback on this.

I also heard from Justin and Erik that they wanted the forums un-grouped so they could interact with other classes. Noted! And fixed for this week!

Wednesday Friends!

Today, during our whole-class discussion I tried to counteract the isolation that can occur in a blended environment by assigning "Wednesday Friends." Together, Wednesday friends worked on vocabulary, discussed the text, and brainstormed topics and ideas in Things Fall Apart in an A to Z taxonomy.

Later, I'll add photos of the taxonomy to this post.

This morning, ER brought me a copy of an interview with Chinua Achebe in the NYT Sunday Magazine. I found the article online here. Check it out! I thought it was interesting how Achebe's voice in the interview is similar to the narrator's voice in the novel.

What did you think about that?

Grades Posted for Week 1

Well, our first week is behind us, and this morning I uploaded grade reports to Edline. I'm happy to report that the vast majority of students have As and Bs at this point. If you are earning less than 70% for any reason, however, please plan to attend both Thursday and Friday this week. This will give us a chance to talk privately about what's happening.

In the reflections, many people had great suggestions. Based on these suggestions, I've added a forum to Moodle for student-led discussion about the text, posted a link to Moodle on Edline, and figured out how to make the weekly schedule more prominent on the Moodle page (although I haven't yet had time implement that last change).

Fresa brought up an interesting concern about not branching out or socializing with new groups in a blended format. I think we'll have to be mindful of this, especially on our whole-group days. Another interesting concern was Anne's. She wonders if some of the "busy work" (I hate that term becuase I feel it's overused and oftentimes the work is misunderstood, but still...) will get transferred to the online environment. She cited the commenting requirement as an example of busy work.

My favorite thing so far about the blended format is the quality and interactivity in literature discussions. I think 10-15 is a much more manageable size for a literature discussion than 25-30. Most people agreed with this; however, Tyler said he missed hearing more opinions in the small group sessions.

The quiz scores were pretty high, with an average of about 13.5/16, which I thought was great.

Study Tip

We had a great 2nd half discussion today with those who stayed. Our focus was characters. We made a tree map of Okonkwo's immediate family and also reviewed the minor characters. Then, we divided up and made bubble maps for major characters. These are posted outside the room for all to see.

Jeff and Danielle made a great point about the character of Nwoye during 5rd hour, which was that they didn't know if we could trust the decriptions of Nwoye in the text because they were all given from Okonkwo's perspective.

Many students talked about how much they disliked Okonkwo. In 6th hour, Kari said it was hard for her to even read the book because she was so angry with him. Thomas suggested it might be easier for guys to read the character. My opinion is that Achebe wants us to understand Okonkwo's motivations, even if we don't like him.

I'm finding that I really like the smaller groups for discussions. I'm interested to see how the mandatory discussion will go tomorrow. I have some ideas to keep things flowing.

A study tip for Thursday/Friday's quiz: Make bubble maps for the major characters if you weren't here for the optional session on Wed. You may also consider flow-mapping the major events in each chapter. People who were here may want to make a bubble map for Unoka, in addition to the characters we covered in class.

3rd Podcast Topic

This time our topic is related to the other two, and in fact, kind of combines the other two.

We're going to explore the "right to read around the world." Here's my rationale: First, our focus is on world cultures this quarter. We begin with what is now Nigeria. Next, we'll read about an Indian family that has recently immigrated to the United States. After that, you'll have a choice of novels to read. And finally, we'll finish with a text about the Iranian Revolution. My second reason for choosing this podcast topic is that the third graders are thinking about what it means to have a "right" to read, and issues regarding literacy and the law.

Our common text will be Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson.

By Friday, you'll need to post an idea for your podcast script and citations for the sources you're using on Moodle. I'll demonstrate in class how we're going to use SIRS as a jumping off point for our research this time.

Day One!

We're here at kick-off. Today in class we took care of the nitty gritty details - lanyards, hole punches in ID cards, and looking at the Moodle.

You should log into Moodle ASAP. To get in, go here. Sign in with the username and password you use in the EHS computer labs. Your access code is based on your class. If you can't remember your access code, send me a quick email and I'll give it to you. (I don't want to post them here where everyone in the universe can see them.)

Be sure to review the weekly schedule and check in at the beginning of each class period, regardless of whether you'll be attending class that day.

Break is Looming

Spring break is just around the corner. That means a couple of things:

First, our blended course begins very, very soon! I'm taking care of a lot of details and planning. I even ordered us lanyards at a deep discount! Tomorrow night (Thursday), I'm holding an information session for parents about the blended pilot. Your family is welcome to come! You can come too if you really want to, but I'll pretty much be saying the same things I said in class.

Second, the MCA reading exam is coming up. You will take this exam. It tests your reading comprehension on different types of texts. I'm going to hand out a practice exam for you to review over break.

Last, SPRING BREAK IS COMING! Let's all give a big cheer.

Closing in on a Blended Course!

I haven't been with you for the last couple of days because I've been hard at work on our blended course. Thanks to some awesome collaborators (Mr. Nelson, Ms. Swenson, Mr. Walker, and Doc Lock), I'm ready to roll out some specifics! We'll talk all about it on Monday.

Also on Monday, we'll talk about the first 45 pages of Night by Elie Weisel. This is an easy, but moving and important read. There's a lot to discuss.

A few reminders for next week in general: Your creative writing is due on Wednesday. Your piece should reflect about four hours of good, hard work. Be sure that it does! Also, you'll have a final vocab test on Thursday. The full set is in Quizlet. We'll talk Monday about specifics.

I'm uploading grades to Edline again today, as I have been more regularly this quarter. Third quarter is typically difficult for students for a variety of reasons. Be sure to talk with me if you have concerns about your grade.

Quick Overview of Next Week

Today in class, you took a quiz on Chapters 10 and 11, and then you worked in class on the Epilogue of In the Time of the Butterflies. Next week, we'll be finishing up the text!

Here's a brief overview of what will happen:

On Monday and Tuesday, we'll discuss the text as a whole. We'll use a taxonomy to brainstorm topics and themes. We'll also go back to the anticipation guide we used at the beginning of this unit, as well as the word inquisition. How did our study enhance your understanding of solidarity? Of subversives? Of bigotry? Of torture? What does Alvarez's text say about these topics?

In the back half of Tuesday's class, I'll divide you into groups to plan your essays on the text. I'll also provide an example of how to generate a theme statement.

On Wednesday, you'll complete your essays.

Thursday and Friday, we're on to a new unit! Stay tuned!

Speech Grading Criteria

Here's the grading criteria for the speech:

Informative Speech Assessment
____ Riveting opening
____ Facts/ideas supported with the following two research sources:

____ Topic fits the time scale of one to two minutes. Time: __________
____ Humor or other entertaining techniques employed
____ Speech ends with a summary
____ Professional speaking style employed. No hats, hoods, gum, ah’s, um’s, etc.
____ Made eye contact with audience

I'm looking forward to these! I'm planning to learn a lot.

Speech Assignment

I'm borrowing this great idea directly from Ms. Roehl, one of my favorite partners in crime. We're giving informative speeches on the questions you brainstormed during the Images Part I activity.

Check out her description of the assignment here.

You'll give your speech tomorrow during class! This will be fun!