5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Blastoff!  For many of us we are just weeks or even days away from the 1st day of school.  We've talked about what blended learning is, but now you might be thinking, "That's all great information, but just tell me what to do during the first week of school." Let's take a look at 4 things you can do during the first week of school to get your students ready for blended learning.

1. Teach your students how to log in.  Then practice, practice, practice!  I know this sounds so basic, but often times there is not enough time devoted to this.  When I say this, I'm not just talking about elementary kids.  I'm talking everyone from K to 12.  You might be wondering why I think high school kids need time to practice getting logged in.  Let me tell you what happened one year when my son was in high school.  We were using Edmodo for the first year.  A few of his teachers were trying it out and had their students create accounts to join their class.  My son got home from school and needed to access something in his Edmodo account for homework.  Guess what???  He didn't remember his password.  I was in shock.  How could a high school student not remember their password.  I told him to hold on and I would log into the admin console and reset his password for him.  I went to get my computer and by the time I got back, he was in his account.  I said, "Oh good!  How did you get in?"  He responded, "Oh, I just created a new account."  The part of me that was rolling out this software in our district wanted to shout, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"  But the mom part of me completely understood that since no one had taught him otherwise then this was a pretty good way to solve a problem.  Let me just say - my son was not the only high school student who just created a new account every time they forgot their password.  It happened over and over and over.  How do I know?  Because I could see all of the duplicate accounts in our admin console.  So, please, please, please teach the high school students how to problem solve and recover their passwords rather than creating new accounts.  Even better, help all students come up with ways to keep their passwords safe but accessible for times when they forget them.

2. Get students acquainted with your devices.  We often assume that since our students were born into the digital age that they know how to use the devices in our classrooms.  This is often a false assumption.  Our students are good at using the most accessible devices in their homes which is usually a phone, but if you throw out a chromebook, macbook or other type of device students may not be familiar with all the nuances of using that device.  It never hurts to spend some time showing them not only how to use the device, but also some of the programs that you plan to use with the students most often.  One time Charles and I went out to a middle school to model a lesson.  We decided to have the students post to a Padlet as part of the lesson because everyone knows how to use Padlet, right?  Wrong!  We soon discovered once we started into the lesson, that the students had never even seen Padlet and didn't know how to post to the board, upload an image or record a video, so we had to modify the lesson in order to accommodate the technology.  This defeated the purpose of having technology to make things easier.

3. Start teaching students about digital citizenship from day 1. Again, this is one of those things that we assume students know or that their parents teach them, but in reality this is something really important that students need to be learning on a daily basis throughout every grade level.  There are different types of issues that are important and appropriate at different ages.  For example, in

elementary school I might be talking to my students about how to log in, choosing a good password and keeping your password safe.  In high school you might have to have more delicate discussions such as making sure what you do online is appropriate because once something is out there on the web, chances are it's out there forever.  I know what you are thinking... Now I have one more thing to plan and no extra time to plan it.  Let me help you by taking that off of your plate. Check out Common Sense Media.  They have amazing resources and already created lessons for all grade levels.

4. Establish a home base to use as a one-stop-shop for all of your online needs.  When I was a kid, I was living up north.  I can remember what a Saturday morning was like with my mom.  First we had to do our chores, but after that it was errand after errand.  We went to K-Mart (there was no Walmart back then) to buy any random home stuff we needed like towels, sheets, storage containers, etc.  Then we made our way over to the grocery store.  No, K-Mart didn't have groceries back then.  We bought all of our groceries except the meat.  Then we had to drive home and put the groceries away before loading back up into the car to head to the meat market.  I LOVED going to the meat market.  It seems weird now, but the floor was covered in sawdust so it was like playing in the sand and my mom always bought me one of those small, single serving size bags of BBQ chips. Yum, Yum!!  That might have been the end of the errands for Saturday, but there was also other trips to the pharmacy to get my sister's medicine (ear infections).  There wasn't a pharmacy in the grocery store.  I guess by now you are wondering why I'm telling you about my Saturday morning shopping

excursions in the 1980s.  Well, sometimes this is how kids feel when we throw about a bunch of tech tools and websites to them.  It gets confusing and tiring.  Think about how our modern day shopping experience works.  Charles talked about Target runs in the last post.  In this day and age, I can go to Target and get all the same things that it took 4 or more stores to supply in the 1980s.  Think of a home base like a Target store.  You always go to the same place, but once you are inside there are tons of options available.  So, to be clear.  I'm not saying don't ever use any other online tools except for your home base, but make it a convenient and easy place for you students to find everything they need as it pertains to your class.  For example, I might want to use a Padlet in class one day.  That is perfectly fine, but I need to make sure that I post the Padlet link to my home base (my Target stroe) so kids can find it when they log in to "shop."  There are so many different tools that you can use as your home base.  If your district has an LMS such as Canvas, then I would definitely use that as it has so many options and so much flexibility to make it look the way you want.  There are also lots of free choices available such as Google Classroom.  If you are teaching elementary, I highly recommend using Seesaw for your home base.  Check out this recent post for elementary teachers where I shared reasons why Seesaw was a top choice for elementary classrooms.

This is an exciting time of year.  Let's make the most of those first days of school to set our students up for a successful year of blended learning.  Post a comment below sharing any tips that you have for getting off to a great start with blended learning.

Target Runs & Blended Learning Pathways

The Target Effect

My wonderful wife once got lost in Target.  Like... for real for real lost.

She innocently went in to get some gum.

Gum, as most of us know, can be found in the checkout lines at most grocery stores for your convenience.  As in,  it should have been a quick in-and-out operation.

Because of this fact, I offered to stay in the car and wait for her while I totally dominated level 894 of Candy Crush.  After my five lives were up and I asked my FaceBook friends for help I looked up.  What seemed to be about 4 hours had passed, but there was no wife.  I started wondering if I should call the police and file a missing person's report.

Soon thereafter, my wife came out with half a shopping cart full of "stuff" with a "I dare you to say something" look on her face.  I did not say a word.


Because of this event (and many like it), I got curious and searched the Google-inter-webs to see if this occurrence was a nationwide spousal issue, a genius marketing hypnosis ploy, or just my wife's very cute but very real DTMATS (Decreased Time and Money Awareness at Target Syndrome).

You see... Just like how grocery stores place those impulse-buy products near the register in order for you to see them at the last second and think "I need and can afford this $2 (candy, lighter, soda pop, etc)", Target has a hyper-focus on it's adult consumer experience.  Their stores are tech centered, bright, clean, organized, and well stocked.

So getting hypnotized and distracted is understandable and almost fated no matter how strong willed you are!

To get through a Target store and reach your GOAL without giving into distractions takes strength of character, skills, and a plan. But fret not, Target is organized in such a way that you can use their subversive powers AGAINST them.

The key to getting into and out of a Target in a timely manner is creating a PATHWAY map, at least mentally.

I know... keep laughing.

Creating a map with a pathway to get you into and out of that place while reaching your purchasing goal helps save time, money, and something I like to call marital energy.

Constructing pathways in a Blended Learning lesson is much like constructing a strategy for a Target "run".  In both cases, you must organize experiences so no one gets "LOST" in sections they don't need to be in.


Getting Started With Pathways:

A great first step is to pull out a trusted and loved lesson plan and actually make a physical flowchart.  What happens first? What is the teacher doing? What are the standards? Which question stems are being used?  But most importantly, is every student doing the same thing at the same time?

If your lesson is too linear (ie. only a single pathway for your students to follow & they're all doing the same thing at the same time), try to find a spot in your lesson where you can offer students a choice in how they do the work, learn the content, or express their learning.  Voila!  Just with these additions you have created three different pathways!  Next,  add those different paths to your drawn out flow chart.  If need be, use a game like Chutes and Ladders or Life as your mental (or actual) template.  Whatever you do, create multiple paths for your students as they make their way through the content.  Don't let them suffer from the Target Effect.  Don't let them get distracted by unnecessary facts, activities, lectures, etc. if they don't actually NEED them.

How?


Consider the following:

• Your higher level kids may already know much of the information in a lesson so don't let them get lost in a pointless lecture... give them something else to build upon.  Challenge them either with differentiation in CONTENT, PRODUCT, or PROCESS.  Not all three, necessarily. Heck, let them choose which one to differentiate!
• Your low or ESL students may need more videos and images to more easily fill in their gaps in knowledge. So give them teacher made or Khan Academy made videos.  Expose these students  to images or visuals.  Maybe even have these students express themselves in a medium that speaks to them.
• Your GT kids may need and want more challenging tasks or more open ended tasks.  They'll certainly get distracted by low level expectations, so don't be afraid to raise the bar using tools like Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity sheet. 

Construct the learning experiences for each of the groups in a way that they won't want to wonder away from their sections.  You could begin constructing pathways by surveying your students past experiences with that particular content.  Make those gaps visible somehow and then build around them.  Further, get to know their learning styles, not just their favorite summer memory.  Get to know them as learners and you will, in fact, get to know them in a deep way.

Your role, after your pathways are constructed, will be to facilitate the learning instead of pushing the kids to learn.

If your students only need to get "gum" in an upcoming lesson, don't make them go through the clothing and house keeping sections.  They'll get bored, pull out their phones, and become discipline issues. 

Fight the Target Effect in the classroom. 

And pray for me and my wife the next time we go to Target.  We usually go in for one thing and end up in a situation that looks a lot like the following video...

Don't let your lessons be like this... add pathways!