My son is 14 months old. Against the wishes of his risk-averse parents, he is a climber. He’s been a climber since he learned to stand. And his favorite thing to do right now is to take a bite of food and stand straight up in his high chair.
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When you decide to shift to a blended learning model, it forces you to think differently about everything in education, including the classroom setup. I decided to take the leap this year into flexible seating because students are constantly moving in blended learning, which lends itself to a different kind of classroom environment (think Google or Starbucks).
So here’s a little tour:
When I decided to try blended learning last year, I started with math because that’s where I saw the greatest frustration among my students. I had been teaching lessons mostly whole group to 34 students with very different needs. During guided practice, my two super advanced students were done with the problem within seconds and read novels while I hopped between the other 32 students to address their misconceptions. (I never told those students to “read when they were done.” It was obvious they had used this tactic for years to cope with a system that isn’t built to address their advanced abilities). By the end of the practice session, my most struggling student was in tears because my classroom tour never stopped at his desk to help him.
Several assignments in my blended learning courses asked us to imagine which of the models we could realistically implement in our classrooms with the time and tools at our disposal. Here are five reasons why I believe the station rotation model is the best choice for elementary teachers looking to start blending their learning:
When my students rotate between their blended learning stations, there is no digital timer for them to watch. Instead, they move to the music.
