Learning to blend something new

Pedagogy Wheel. October 2017. https://designingoutcomes.com/assets/PadWheelV4/PadWheel_Poster_V4.pdf

This week we combined our knowledge of classroom led instruction with the innovation of technology to together create a blended style learning classroom. This week was an example of blended learning as we learned more about its importance, what research has said about it and different programs and applications that we can use in our future classrooms. As 21^st century teachers we must be prepared to have an open mind to a new way of teaching that may not have happened in our classroom as we were students, but is very prevalent in today’s classrooms.

As I continue to explore more about blended learning and what it is I feel the most important step for me is to have patience and to be open minded to something new. Resiliency is something I struggle with when it comes to new methods and ways of learning, being able to take a step back from my old way of learning and trying something new. It can be scary to take on new technology and invest so much time and effort into something new, but I can’t forget that with anything there are pro’s and con’s and sometimes taking the chance on change and something new with turn out for the better. Technology won’t always work the way we envision it to but that’s the chance you take for something new. We have to start with this growth mindset to instill in our future students to provide them with the tools that will best suit them and their learning needs to become successful.

Having a blended-learning style environment will also take many hours even days of prep time in order to make count. I think it is very important to collaborate with fellow teachers to exchange lessons, ways of teaching a new method and strategies that work for the different learners in the classroom and the different apps that work. Teaching is a team effort with your students, with fellow teachers and with the education world, so we need to remember to work together.

This week’s articles and online resources continued to educate us on the power technology has in the classroom and in particular the math class. There is no doubt that when kids are interested in what they are learning they will become more willing to try and learn something new, even in mathematics. Incorporating different gizmo’s, math games and online tools that will get students thinking about math is one way to foster engagement. In Lynda Colgan’s article she talks about the power of mathematics play and when we have students engaged in learning activities formally or informal and are designed for children to play they are doing math. They aren’t thinking about the mathematics principles but rather are engaged, exploring new things, interacting and most importantly playing with math. I believe blended learning takes the pressure off of learning math and transfers the attention to the student’s understanding of math the way that best fosters their learning.

As a future educator, I believe it is my responsibility to make mathematics meaningful and create a positive atmosphere for learning math; one that is fun, engaging, innovative, engaging and full of play.