Reflections on Blended Learning: Practitioner Perspectives

This week’s blog post is reflective and, I hope, collaborative. I would like to get some feedback from the teachers to give some insight to how the blended approach is working for them and their students after nearly 3 months into the implementation.

Let me kick this off with my own reflection.

I am in awe with the commitment and perseverance of the teachers in our blended learning cohort. They truly embody a growth mindset and are willing to try new things; even when it makes them uncomfortable. They never grumble about the extra work or the times I ask to meet with them. This group of teachers actively pursues new knowledge through reading, webinars, twitter, blogs and they share what they are doing with their peers. Since starting this year’s implementation, I have had at least 5 additional teachers and a couple of principals ask about blended and learn how they can try the model with their students. This is a direct result of the great work and sharing by our cohort teachers.

Every week I question my work. Am I giving teachers enough support or am I overwhelming them? Am I collecting enough data or am I even looking at the data I should be? Am I advising teachers correctly regarding their content delivery? I feel like teachers are looking to me as the expert but the truth is, I’m learning too. It’s one thing to read the books and the blogs and attend conferences but when the rubber meets the road, it doesn’t always look the way you pictured it in your head. What works with one group may be a struggle with another. I am so thankful for such a professional group of educators who have volunteered to go with me on this journey. I don’t know that we will find evidence via test scores to demonstrate success this first year of blending but I’m already seeing anecdotal evidence that students are developing independent learning skills, technology literacy skills and are receiving differentiated instruction to target their learning needs. It may take several years of work but I feel strongly that blended learning models will improve how we serve students.

I now ask for reflection from our blended learning cohort teachers.

What have been your challenges in implementing a blended learning model? What benefits are you seeing with students? What do you want to improve or implement in your model in the coming months? 

Post your reflection in the Reply box below!