After meeting with Paul and discussing my plan for implementation, I was able to spend some time researching potential software that I could use in my blended classroom. I definitely feel like this exploration is a work in progress, and that I will continue to seek out and utilize additional programs throughout the year, but here is a list of what I am planning to launch (or continue to use) in my classroom when school begins:

1. Edmodo
2. Listen Current
3. Gooru
4. Google Drive
5. americanrhetoric.com... This is a website that I have used for years in the AP Language course.  It is a great resource to use in the Research Techniques and Public Speaking courses also.

After reading all your blogposts, doing endless amounts of research and meeting with Paul I am equal parts excited and overwhelmed. However, I feel we have all echoed that sentiment and have come up with a variety of ways to combat overwhelming ourselves and (even worse possibility) the students.

I am in the same boat as Kaitlin Sullivan and I plan to start from day one in a station rotation model. Even without the technology present yet I want to make this the norm for the class room. One station will be individual practice or perhaps partner practice. I also had a similar idea as Kaitlin in that I want to eventually have this station be the project station for the unit. The other station will be small group instruction. I voiced my concerns to Paul Griswold in our meeting that it is hard to figure out each day who should start in what station and how to break up the day for the students, especially in foreign language where many times prerequisite skills must be explicitly taught before students can learn through applying these skills. This lead me to think that maybe I will break up the week with one day being whole class instruction then the other days will be that authentic practice the students need to develop their language abilities in all four modalities. I have not quite figured out how I want to go about doing this. Paul gave good advice about making it a norm to project the two groups on the smart board so they know where to go each day.  In the first couple weeks of school once things settle down we will make expectations as a class on how to get the best learning out of the rotation schedule and practice these expectations regularly.

I've been reading a lot about once the chrome books  are in the classroom how to go about introducing all the new technology features I hope my students will come to utilize effectively. I would like to have an initial "launch day" once everything is in place. Danielle and Diana mentioned the organization of passwords and I found similar ideas on Pinterest that I plan to implement so there are no excuses.

I want to use either Edmodo or Google Classroom as my home base for the students. I don't really like Edmodo but I know how to use it and I know other teachers are using it more often so I feel the students will have a better grasp on it. I am still new to and learning about Google Classroom but from my research I feel it has more to offer. I am also hoping to have my students throughout the year developing a portfolio and I feel Google Classroom has more opportunity to do this.

I also plan on using Class Dojo which can be utilized through cell phones on an app. I really like this app because it allows you to real time (quickly and easily) keep a running record of students behavior in  class as well as tardies / absences. Once you create your class each student has a code and a parent code so everyone can be on the same page in monitoring that students progress. It also allows you to customize your feedback to the students. It's a little goofy in appearance but I think it offers a valuable tracking system that is easy to use and can be referred to at any time to help students reflect.

As far as how the stations will play out each day I have almost too many ideas and possible tools I want to use but the general idea is to get the students to be engaged and creatively demonstrate their knowledge through reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Engaging students

I hope I am not the only one feeling slightly (ok, more than slightly), overwhelmed with all the wonderful ideas whirling around about blended learning. I know this is not a magical process and it will not all come together without a hitch on the first day of school. But I really want to be an expert. I want to provide the best learning environment for my students and have a highly engaged classroom that hums and buzzes with positive energy and experiences.

After reading many of the posts here on the blog, I have some renewed hope in accomplishing my goals for this year. However, my main concern is how will students receive all of this? All too often we, as educators, determine what the next best thing is and then impart it on our students expecting miraculous results and engagement. The students are usually less than enthusiastic.

I have found two great articles from Nellie Mae that have helped me to process and consider how I might go about incorporating blended learning WITH my students this year. As this will be my first year at JMA I really want to revamp my teaching style and allow my students to truly own their own learning. However, in order for them to own it, they have to help create it. First, I will be utilizing this resource, http://www.whatkidscando.org/pdf/FirstAsk,ThenListen.pdf, to LISTEN to what my students have to say about their past learning experiences and what they would like to see and learn this year and moving forward. In conjunction, there was another article from Nellie Mae that provided seven activities to help engage students in preparing for a blended learning environment. I plan to use these activities as well. http://www.flippedclassroomworkshop.com/7-activities-to-develop-self-directed-learning/.

My understanding is that at JMA we will be preparing for implementation during the first quarter of the year and these tools will be helpful as a way to involve our students in this process. I will also use this first quarter of the year to test out some of the great tools I have learned about through our meetings and the great posts you have all shared.

Susan Johnston

Getting ready!!!

My objectives for this year, 

After doing my reading I am completely sure that I will continue working as I have been doing, the key difference now is the pace and time dedicated to my lesson plans and class development. 

The lab rotation model is most suitable for me since I am teaching a foreign language and all tools online are my allies.

I expect my students develop self-direction motivated by the different ways to achieve their goals. That is why I am sure the blended learning strategies will challenge them to use their skills in order to increase and improve their knowledge.  Some videos examples watched about Lab rotation model showed me that I could implement this step-by-step in my classroom.

 For example, while some students practice the listening or speaking ability in the computer lab, some others have face-to-face instruction in the next room.

Setting up lab rotation model of blended learning will challenge my students to achieve new ways about solving problems and going through topics complexity.

https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/ssf-cci/sscc-intro-blended-learning/sscc-blended-learning-models/v/sscc-blended-lab

I will be very persistent with the culture of blended learning classroom during this year. My students already know how to work with some tools online; however, I will have them reinforce their practice every class to create the culture of this knew way of learning.

 Since I started my work at Bulkeley high I have used mainly this platform REALIDADES.com

http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS22Oo

It has variety of activities to engage student’s self-learning activity. It takes time at beginning of the year to set up emails (I use email from the school) and passwords, but then the work just flows.  

Getting ready for this challenging but rewarding New Year!

Here are some platforms to create lessons plans and activities for our students:

https://schoolshape.com/

https://padlet.com/

We are ready: Teaching to the Common Core State Standards Using Blended Instruction.

Hello everyone, doing my research I found this interesting video about:

Teaching to the Common Core State Standards Using Blended Instruction.

It’ s an explanation about how we can go over all this new and enrichment process in the education now. The idea of computer-based and teacher’s stations will allow students to improve their knowledge in greater depth because of the immediate feedback and several opportunities to build the new concepts

http://www.schooltube.com/video/ae1cacaf88c144edbbaf/Teaching%20to%20the%20Common%20Core%20State%20Standards%20Using%20Blended%20Instruction

 Also, here is an example of case study about how to implement blended learning in Spanish. That allows me to implement more ideas about in my classes. http://www.nais.org/Articles/Pages/Case-Study-Blended-Learning-in-Spanish-V.aspx

STARTING IT UP!!!

So I'm going to pretend that this post is for all of you, but please know that this is 1000% for me alone, and it will serve as a table of contents of sorts for my future forays into Blended Learning.
That said, if any of you find any worth in what I post, I suppose that's not the worst thing in the world.

How to Implement a Station Rotation Blended Learning Model
This is a pretty straightforward information guide including what to include, how to include it, what a classroom using station rotation looks like, and what the mission and learning goals should be. This is a good tool if you are at the beginning of the implementation process.

Tech Tools of the Flipped Classroom
This resource gives a straightforward breakdown of what a flipped classroom should have, and the best way to go about using it. This includes information like how to create, host, and interact using videos, among other things.

10 Teacher-Tested Tools for Flipping Your Classroom
This site has tools that teachers have used successfully in the flipped classroom model. It features three iPad/iPhone apps, and seven cloud/desktop apps. Although BHS students may not have access to iPad's or iPhones through school, they may have them on their own, so they can take advantage of both.

8 Great Free Flipped Classroom Resources
Similar to the above resource, this provides teachers with free tools useful for flipped classrooms. Some are more universal (Edmodo), but some I did not know about until this research (Tackk)

Five-Minute Film Festival: The Basics of Blended Learning
While this is more of an overall show of what blended learning is, it is still valuable, and it contains many useful tools and guides to the implementation of this type of learning in the classroom.


Well, that's what I've got for now, but because of my new found appreciation for and knowledge of Blogspot, I know that this is absolutely a fluid document, that I can and will edit when I come up with more tools.

Implementation
My goal when implementing will initially be to use station rotation model at least twice a week.  I had a chance to become more comfortable with edmodo over the summer and will be using a combination of edmodo and khan academy which I have used in the past as well.  I am a fan of standards based grading and would like to see a khan/edmodo option as one way (out of three) to show mastery of a topic.i also found that edmodo is a great hub to use for students who are doing we quests and project based learning.

I am excited to attend the "mathcamp" that is being offered by the district this school year. Many different free resources are going to be presented and I am interested in talking to other teachers across our very own district to hear how they have implemented technology in their math classes.