​In previous posts, we have discussed the concept of Blended Learning and explained how to identify "Core Content."  For this post we will look at the basic structure of a Blended lesson.  For the purpose of this post, we will define a class as a 45-minute session of instruction.  Blended learning lessons follow a traditional instructional format.  The difference is where the instructor chooses to place technology elements.

Basic Elements

• Getting Started (5 Minutes)
• Core Content (20 Minutes)
• Reinforcement or Exploration (15 Minutes)
• Closure (5 Minutes)

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Please note, if you have older or younger students you can modify each individual element to fit your age group.  Upper high school and early college age could use core content sessions closer to 30 minutes, while younger middle school students may be closer to 10 to 15 minutes)

Following a basic lesson template helps automate the lesson planning process.  This means no more wondering what you are going to do daily.  This doesn’t mean you never deviate from this plan, it just gives you a starting point.  Special days that involve labs, project and long-term assessments may have individual schedules all their own.  The following describes the basic lesson format.  

Getting Started:  This is meant to engage your students when they walk into your classroom.  It answers the basics question “what are we going to do today?”  By providing a stimulating activity at the beginning of class, students become engaged in your content right away.  These activities can be a variety of different things, from questions to pictures, or videos to interactive websites.  The goal is to connect the content to the students.

Core Content:  This is the key instructional material you developed in step two.  Core content is the essential learning that will take place.  The easiest approach here is a standard presentation with a note taking outline.  However, with blended learning you have some options.  Aside from face to face lecture, you can “bend” these lessons.  Meaning you prerecord yourself giving the lecture, then have students watch on their devices.  We compare this to flipped learning where they watch videos at home, here, they watch the instruction in class.   In addition, readings with study guides can be used here also.  My personal favorite is face to face discussion.  This is my opportunity to share (briefly) my passion for a topic with my students. 

Reinforcement or extension:  The goal of this session is to allow students to extend what was discussed or learned in class.  Students need to be exposed to content multiple times to facilitate learning.  So immediately after learning a concept, ask them to do something with it.  Google Interactives are my favorite for this topic.  Interactives require students to sort, identify and understand new concepts.  Most importantly, while students are working, this provides important dialogue for the instructor to assess understanding.

Closure:  This is the last chance to review and reinforce core learning.  Students remember the first and last moments of class.  This provides a great opportunity to move new learning into long term storage.  The key to closure questions is that all students participate.  The instructor can decide if they are looking for simple recall or want to reach for a higher level of synthesis.

Keep in mind all of these areas are flexible.  The key is providing a structure that students can use technology with a purpose.  The teacher can help provide direction on a sliding scale.  Younger students will need more structure and goals while advanced older learners can work towards self direction.  In the coming weeks we will dig deeper into each lesson area in more detail, providing examples and best practices.

In previous posts we’ve defined blended learning in our previous post.  Now we will transition into the process of constructing blended learning lessons.  Before designing face to face or digital instruction components, you first have to identify core content for instruction.  For planning purposes I break this down into two groups:
     1. Core content objectives
     2. Core content vocabulary

Core content objectives are a written narrative of the essential learning in the lesson.  What should students know, be able to say and do.  Be sure to identify any key process in lesson content.  Also, be aware of any higher learning goals your students need to achieve.  For example, if a student needs to evaluate, synthesize or create, they must understand the underlying concrete concepts first.  This is a mistake educators often make, trying to reach a higher learning level without first establishing a solid core content base.  For example, you must understand the concept of atoms, to fully understand what H20 means.

The next component is to identify core vocabulary.  This is extremely important when students are reading about a topic and trying to learn new materials.  Aside from the obvious new words, be sure to include review vocabulary and materials students should have learned in previous courses.  For example, when teaching about Earthquakes, it would be natural to include faults and fault types as basic vocabulary.  However, underlying this concept would be the layers of the Earth, heat and movement of tectonic plates.  These interwoven concepts are where exceptional teachers make effective lessons.  Ensuring that students not only understand the basics of an idea but can confidently talk about all supporting concepts.

After identifying core content and vocabulary, it’s time to plan your assessments.  Objective tests come to mind at this phase.  Consider each important idea and be sure that several objective items address the concepts.  Projects and hands on activities are another way for students to demonstrate their grasp of new materials.   It is not necessary to have every question written at this step, but you should have an outline with some sample items to guide your instruction.

This part of the planning phase is often the most cumbersome.  Many educators want to jump into lesson and activity planning.  By taking the extra time to identify content, you will ensure that both your physical and digital content matches your assessments. 

In the next lesson we will be looking at structuring and constructing blended learning lessons. 

Teaching with technology presents a unique set of challenges for middle school teachers.  On one hand, kids love their devices, many become so engrossed in their digital activities that they forget what time it is.  On the other hand, leaning on a computer can be extremely distracting.  Ask any adult, how often do you sit without checking email, social media, Amazon or the latest sports score.  In 22 years of teaching, I have had the pleasure of teaching face to face in a public-school setting, earning a master’s degree at a distance online, teaching online courses in a virtual school and designing courses for online use.  Based on these experiences, I have seen the benefits of online learning, but also it’s drawbacks.  I believe the key to success in our schools is blended learning.  It provides the best of both worlds bridging face to face learning with online technology.
 
The virtual experience for middle school students.  Kids love the idea of being 1 to 1, learning from home.  I see the appeal.  The greatest challenge is the lack of working face to face with other students and teachers.  Unfortunately, a very few numbers of our mainstreamed middle school students have the organizational skills and discipline needed to succeed in a wholly online learning environment.  I have seen personally students not log in for days, do very little work.  When they return to a regular school setting, they have massive gaps in their education.  At one end, sitting a student down in front of a computer for the entire day is not an effective use of time.  On the flip side, we’ve all experienced that teacher that lectures 24/7.  Even the best students begin to drift off despite the best intentions.  Siting squarely between these two extremes is blended learning.  Here are the three basic components.

Component 1:  Part of the course is delivered through online instruction.  This could be through the use of websites like EdPuzzle, Readworks or and LMS like Google Classroom. Instruction could be recorded in a flipped lesson or read though sites like CK12.  The key is harnessing online tools and apps to reach desired learning goals.  These can be video, interactives, games or using productivity tools. 

Component 2:  Part of the course is delivered face to face.  Kids build a relationship with their instructor.  Kids need someone to model behaviors, check their understanding and interact with on the good and bad days.  The teacher provides enthusiasm, guidance and skill building for students.  This all works together to reach meaningful learning goals.
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Component 3: The interaction of the online and face to face components.  This is where the professional educator planning skills come into play.  The face to face lesson and the online components must be aligned.  At the most basic level, if you teach three new skills face to face, then students should apply those three new skills online.  For example:  Students are discussing the latest impact of a massive Earthquake as a class.  Looking at examples of destruction and empathizing with the families that have lost everything.  The effective blended learning experiences connects this discussion/learning event with an online component.  For example, kids can research what tectonic plates this occurred on.  Or they use a Google interactive to build fault models to apply to this situation.  The opportunities here are only limited by your imagination. 

In this series of post, we will be looking at the components of blended learning and how to develop effective teaching and learning moments.  Until them, here are some examples that take advantage of blended learning to teach science concepts.
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Google forms are a versatile tool for use in the classroom.  They allow you to collect information, quiz students and organize data.  Consider having students use Google Forms to collect information on class projects.  For example, in science we look at 24 different specimens of life.  Over the year’s students would create labels for each jar, then they could cut and organize them into different groups.  To improve this activity, I created a Google form that each student uses to collect information.  They fill out a form ticket for each jar and the ticket populates a spreadsheet they can use to analyze data after the activity.   The same method could be used for observations of daily events, daily writing prompts or even vocabulary tickets.  The best part is there are no lost notebooks and sorting data in a Google Spreadsheet is a snap.  The following are video instructions from my animal classification lab.  This lab requires students to collect data from 24 preserved specimens, then analyze it in Google Sheets

Looking for some extra funding in your classroom?  I always am.  DonorsChoose.org offers a CS first coding activity.  Any students in grades 3 to 8 can complete this.  Once complete, they will offer you a 100 dollar DonorsChoose.org gift card.  Not a bad deal for less than an hours work.  
Follow this link to learn more. 

https://help.donorschoose.org/hc/en-us/articles/360009486654-Classroom-Rewards-for-CS-First-Animate-a-Name-with-support-from-Google
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Google classroom provides a great way to share content with your classes.  Using Google Forms makes an easy way to create quizzes and ask questions.  In addition you can replace a variety of activities in your class with a Google Sort.  From simple labeling activities to vocabulary concepts, these sorts provide a student activity that is easy and effective for classroom use.  The following video details the steps in making a Google sort for your classroom.  Example product links are at the bottom of the page. 

​One of the challenges of managing 1 to 1 or hybrid classrooms is keeping track of all the different computer assignments students complete.  In my classroom alone, we use the following sites. . .​

• www.readworks.org Great online reading resources with questions.  Perfect to reinforce literacy skills in any classroom.
• Google Classroom I organize all my content here.  Google is masterful in how it lets you organize notes, projects and class resources.
• Quizizz:  This is the perfect site for game review and practicing concepts.  My students never tire of practicing lesson vocabulary here.
• Canvas:   This is our learning management system.  We use it for all our assessments.  The testing tool here blows Google Classroom out of the water.  Canvas also integrates with our grading programs, one click and all assignments are graded and uploaded into our district gradebook.

​One of the simple tools I use in my classroom is digital make up slips.  This is for any make up assignment that students do after the class has moved on.  This gives me a physical reminder to go into a specific learning website and check their work.  It also provides uniform documentation for parents.  This can be sent home, emailed or texted to parents when they ask about make up work.  Click the link below for a free copy of this resource.