What a Blended Learning Classroom Really Looks Like: An Urban Teacher’s Reboot
This opinion piece was originally written for The Hechinger Report, June 2, 2016 Can we teach all students? In an increasingly diverse nation, I want you to consider the question. If you are not sure, it’s o.k. Now I want you to imagine a world where you would not have to do this —… Read More ›
Students Take Charge
This article takes a look at two models of assessment in student-centered classrooms to find out what’s working. There are now hundreds of schools, dozens of districts, and at least 15 states actively striving for a student-centered learning system, but if kids are in charge, how do you know they’re learning? Since assessments can factor in… Read More ›
College, Career, and Civic Readiness: The Case of the Missing ‘C’
This article by Stephen Hamilton, Dean of the High Tech High Graduate School of Education, discusses his observation of the neglect of the idea of “civic readiness” in conversations about preparing students to succeed. He asserts that if career readiness is often neglected, civic readiness is all but forgotten. He also asserts that civic readiness somehow seems… Read More ›
Defining and Visioning Blended Learning: The Learning Accelerator Goes Deeper
This article published by The Learning Accelerator (TLA), a national nonprofit organization that is, in their words, “seeking to transform K-12 education by accelerating the implementation of high-quality blended learning in school districts across the US through cultivating and funding the supporting ecosystem,” is an expansive, experience-informed vision for blended learning. Source Organization: Blended Learning Facts … Read More ›
How to Plan and Create True Flexible Learning Spaces
This article is part of a series on flexible learning spaces. Teachers who are moving to a blended learning paradigm soon realize that their traditional physical “classrooms” need modification. In most cases, traditional furniture in a traditional room with a whiteboard at the front doesn’t support any of the blended learning models. Thus, an organization that… Read More ›
When Kids Lead Their Parent-Teacher Conferences
This article is on the student-led parent-teacher conferences at Pittsfield Middle High School.Student-led parent-teacher conferences happen twice a year and have replaced the old format of parent-teacher conferences at Pittsfield Middle High School, a rural New Hampshire campus that takes a “student-centered learning” approach to schooling. With this model, students are given more freedom to… Read More ›
Let Teachers Design Better Ways to Use School Time
This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post Education Blog. In the past three years, more than a million students have experienced Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiatives granting at least 30 additional minutes per day (and/or 10 days per year) at school. Where ELT is being implemented thoughtfully, there is outstanding potential to improve student achievement.… Read More ›
Getting Creative About Credit: Expanding Opportunities With and For Urban High School Students
This post originally appeared on the New England Secondary School Consortium on behalf of Great Schools Partnership. In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the Blackstone River runs deep. If you visit the city’s downtown, you can’t help but drive alongside the waterway or crisscross it via a bridge or two. It’s everywhere. But as with anything you… Read More ›
Five Things for Big Districts to Think About
This post shares a few thoughts the author has developed on how big districts can make the transition to competency-based education. Much of the first wave of districts making the transition to competency-based education have been small districts. They’ve been able to engage their communities at the district level. They often asked teachers to vote before they… Read More ›
Charleston County School District: Breaking Ground for Personalized Learning in Big Districts
This post, which is a part of a series based on Chris Sturgis’s two days with Dr. Kristen Brittingham, Director of Personalized Learning; Sherry Kirkland, Personalized Learning Professional Development Administrator; and a team of personalized learning coaches, principals, and teachers, shares some of the most important things she’s learned. These professionals are a part of the Charleston… Read More ›
Social Learning Vs. Informal Learning: Can You Tell The Difference?
In this article, Christopher Pappas delves into the differences between social learning and informal learning, and share tips on how to use both in eLearning. Learning can happen anytime, anywhere, with those around us serving as invaluable sources of inspiration, experience, and knowledge. In many respects, the world is our teacher, but we must be… Read More ›
The Benefits and Challenges of Student-Designed Learning
Science Leadership Academy students have many opportunities throughout their four years to choose how and what they investigate in their classes, and by senior year they are adept at choosing their own essay topics, meeting deadlines, staying focused while working online, and coming up with creative projects that matter to them personally. But when a… Read More ›