Blended Learning

Today I am going to talk a little about blended learning. I know I have touched on this subject in some of my other blog posts. A good example of how I used blended learning in my classroom can be found in my Cool Tool Review #1: EDPuzzle post.

Before taking the instructional technologies application class, for my master's degree, I didn't really think a blended-learning model could be possible in my STEAM class. I thought that I had too many students and that only having students 35-minutes once a week would also make it hard to keep students on track. I was proven wrong. I have now given two different grade levels videos to watch outside of class, so that they can come into class ready to learn.

One of my most successful lessons so far has been teaching my students to make Totem Spoons with clay. Since it is the end of the year and clay is at least a two-week project, I decided to create an EDPuzzle video of a clay technique that my students should know.  They had to watch the video outside class before they could complete their clay project. It was really successful. Students answered all of the questions and were ready to start their projects in class. I have been observing my students work and all of them have been attaching their clay the way the video has shown them. By having the students review the technique out of class, I was able to save a whole day of instruction, because by the time I would explain it, there wouldn't be enough time to get clay out and clean it back up.

Here is more information about the lesson I am teaching my 5th graders:

1. I introduced my students to what "Totem" and "Spoon" symbolize
• Totem - Tells a story
• Spoon - Symbol of sharing
2. Explain they are making a spoon that shares a story about them. To review our clay techniques, students are required to complete this EDPuzzle before the following week
3. Students will create sketches of their spoons to help them plan what they are going to make. This coincides with the plan step of the engineering design process. 
   
4. Students will create a variation of a spoon with at least 3 descriptive objects about themselves on the spoon.
5. Students will glaze the spoon after it has been fired. 

What I've Learned from #ITA575

To sum up my experiences from my Instructional Technologies Application class, I decided to make a video blog post. I used Windows Movie Maker to edit my video. I chose this tool because I was inspired by Cassie Stephens to begin creating videos for education and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it. I chose Windows Movie Maker over other video editing software because it was free on my laptop and I am somewhat familiar with using it. I also thought that it was easy to import my video from my webcam and realized after I recorded my video, that I could record directly inside the program. I have learned about many different cool tools in this course, which has inspired me to do some research of my own.

I think the biggest take away from this course would be the exposure and encouragement to use technology in the classroom. Like I mentioned above, there were many cool tools introduced in this course. I felt that being required to choose a different one each week, forced me to take risks with technology in my classroom. Some of these risks I still use today, for instance, EDpuzzle. I plan on continuing the use of technology in my classroom. I will begin incorporating a blended-learning idea with having students look at videos that introduce ideas outside of my classroom so that we can use class time for collaboration and creation.

I feel that this course has made me a much better teacher and has encouraged me to take risks in my classroom. I also feel that I use technology in a much more beneficial way instead of just to fulfill a teaching requirement. I have also enjoyed the creation of a blog and PLN. I have begun researching others in my field, beyond Pinterest and have also enjoyed sharing my ideas. I feel that I can help others the way many of their blogs have helped me. I hope to keep this blog up and running.