Blog Post #13

Blended Learning Cycle

This week's blog assignment was about the teaching strategies of Mr. Paul Anderson, who is an AP Biology teacher from Bozeman, Montana. He is also a technology-driven instructor who understands the value of letting students use interactive learning to help them grow. He calls the foundation of his teaching methods the "Blended Learning Cycle" which combines the components of online, mobile, and classroom learning that a child needs to help him/her be well rounded and gain an education that will benefit him/her much more in the long run. Mr. Anderson explains that in the basic learning cycle for science, there are five E's: engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. To help keep order to the blended learning cycle, Mr. Anderson has created an acronym that he refers to as Qu.I.V.E.R.S. to show the process of learning and solving problems by using this teaching strategy. In the same way that there are six arrows in a quiver (or, six arrows in the picture of the quiver on the video), Mr. Anderson provides six steps used to demonstrate the process of the blended learning cycle. Qu. stands for Question. Students are to first identify the problem or question that needs to be answered. I. stands for Investigation/Inquiry; this is where students dig deeper and find out more information about the problem and the issue surrounding it. V. stands for Video, which is where the students would invite technology into this method and use video methods to help them. E. is for Elaboration, where an explanation or analysis of the problem is given. R. is for Review, and this is where students will reflect back on what they have learned and how they came to their conclusion. Finally, S. stands for Summary Quiz, which Mr. Anderson saves for the end when students now have a better understanding of the cycle and how they used it to answer a question. If any students do not understanding a part of the cycle, they will then go back and work on it until they fully comprehend how the cycle works.

I really enjoyed learning about this method of teaching. Although I am not majoring in science or have the desire to teach it, I think this is an excellent strategy to follow for that subject. As Mr. Anderson implied in the video, science is about asking questions and using hands-on methods to solve problems. I do also like that he still quizzes students at the end of each cycle to see that they fully understand how it works. I love that this form of teaching gives students the chance to not only use technology in the classroom, but to learn how to be hands-on learners and thinkers for themselves. As a future English/language arts teacher, I'm not sure that this exact method would be perfect for my class, but I definitely want my students to have the importance of "learning how to learn" on their own, and this video has given me a great example to follow.

Back to the Future

For this blog post assignment, I really neglected to read the fine print in the Instruction Manual. I thought at first that the only part of this assignment we needed to respond to was just the Blended Learning Cycle video. However, I was highly mistaken, so here I am now. In the video entitled "Back to the Future", Mr. Brian Crosby, who is a teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada, shows just how much of an impact technology has made in the lives of his students. He begins the video by giving a list of shocking statistics about how underprivileged the students in his classroom are. Most of them are second language students, and although they are in the fourth grade, most of them live in poverty and have not been able to positively experience the world around them; some did not even know simple information about themselves, such as what city they lived in. Mr. Crosby, however, does not let these conditions be setbacks for the future of his students. He allows them to be opened up to the idea of interactive learning by the use of technology in his classroom through blogging, Wiki, Flickr, Skype, and various aspects of Google. He allows his students the chance to become excited about learning through experiments in his class, too, such as crushing soda cans by intense pressure. One of his biggest projects, the High Hopes balloon, is an idea that I hope more teachers steal for their students in the near future. In this project, the students are to write in their blogs about the things that they are most hopeful for. They are then able to send up their ideas in a "homemade" hot air balloon, which incorporates the use of scientific experimentation. The balloon will burst high in the air, and the students are still able to track the pieces of it through Google earth and the cameras that they have set up with them. Each student gets a notification when a piece lands, how fast it was going, etc. The biggest objective to be grasped in this project is getting the students excited about learning and giving them something to look forward to and be inspired by.

I thought this video was a nearly perfect summary of project-based learning truly is. If you're like me, and you strive to be a teacher who pushes students to reach their fullest potential and light a fire inside their souls with a passion for becoming learners, then this is what it's all about. My absolute favorite part of this video is when the sweet little girl named Celeste is reached out to. When Mr. Crosby was informed that she was joining his classroom but that she would never be at school due to her leukemia diagnosis, Mr. Crosby refused to let her slip through the cracks. Thanks to technology, Celeste is able to engage in the same activities as her classmates in the comfort of her own home, and is just as involved in her work and growth track as the other students. When the video showed her laughing and enjoying everything she was learning with the class, I was almost reduced to tears. If this doesn't show how rewarding a hands-on learning experience is, then I don't know what does. Mr. Crosby concludes his video by pointing out a major flaw in most educational systems today. He says that most schools promote learning basics in classrooms and later adding enrichment. This, unfortunately, is a route filled with rushing students through school without giving them the opportunity to enjoy what they are learning or develop the desire to want to continue to learn. The same students who could not tell you their addresses in the beginning of the school year are now getting an education through the most advanced tools in technology while building relationships with people all around the world. This video is a great example of how this type of teaching strategy not only helps students "learn how to learn" but teaches them a sense of character and promises them better days ahead.