Let’s just agree on one thing: There is no way to create a classroom in which students
will ALWAYS be on task, behave perfectly, and follow the rules. What can we do then,
to foster the best outcomes? How can we generate a culture where ‘Behaving Blended’ is
synonymous with AWESOME?
Here are 3 ways that behavior gets better when it’s blended.
Evaluation systems aren’t going anywhere, but the most savvy school leaders know how
to capitalize on the opportunity to model a growth mindset.
Often my team will have conversations with school administrators that circle around
the ‘elephant’ of teacher evaluation. They want to know what a successful blended/personalized
classroom should look like, and what teachers should be doing. I really like the TIMS Teacher and Environment Indicators to help with this conversation. More than a checklist of desired behaviors, indicators
and evaluations are an amazing opportunity to co-author an innovation plan. If a teacher
traditionally struggles with redirecting off-task learners, instead of viewing the
technology as another distractor, showcase how to harness it’s capabilities to engage
learners!
The power of Student Voice and Choice is un-deniable.
Allowing students to co-plan their learning pathway, or to provide evidence of mastery
in a variety of ways will produce behavior returns like you’ve never seen before.
I’ll use myself as an example…when I am told not only WHAT to do, but also HOW to
do it, and WHEN to do it…I feel really undermined. Honestly, it makes me a touch volatile.
You’ve never taught a student like that, have you?? Technology allows for such great
options when it comes to student workflow, and teacher productivity. For many students,
having the opportunity to set learning targets collaboratively with their teacher
would inherently mean they had some control. Having a series of student-led conferences
or checkpoints means that the good, the bad, and the ugly are valued as a part of
the learning process. There’s no ‘GOTCHA’, just an opportunity to help steer the student
back to a better learning progression.
D is for Data, it’s good enough for me!
At some point in recent EDU history, DATA became a four-letter word. Well, it’s always
had four letters, but now it’s spelled D***. Teachers are asked to collect data, analyze
data, share data, and use data to inform instruction. That’s a TON of work. Personalized
Learning is in large part dependent on technology to automate the data process, and
when that happens, it means instruction can be customized to student’s specific knowledge,
skills, interests and preferred pace. Valuing student data is one of the best ways
for teachers to show that they are thoughtful planners and skilled pedagogically. Technology
helps to make data transparent, and to provide real-time analytics to a teacher, which
can help to speed up or slow down class as needed.