Middle School

BLENDED LEARNING PRINCIPLES - GETTING STARTED

STUDENT OWNERSHIP

  • Guide students through the process of reflection.
  • Provide individual feedback so that students can progress monitor & build relationships with teachers.
  • Experiment with allowing students some choice in selection of time, pace, path & place.


FLEXIBLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

  • Students or classes are in flexible groupings according to need.
  • Create spaces or opportunities for whole, group, small group, & individual instruction.
  • Experiment with flexible use of time based on students’ needs.


INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTION

  • Mindset is open to changing instructional practices
  • Uses data to design lessons that support students’ instructional needs
  • Experiments with at least one blended learning model (flipped, station rotation, etc.)
  • Collaborates with others to reflect on new instructional practice

INTEGRATED DIGITAL CONTENT

  • Selects 1-2 digital tools aligned to content to meet student needs & learning objectives.
  • Establishes instructional routines & expectations for students to engage with content & digital tools.

STUDENT OWNERSHIP

3 Ways to Encourage Ownership of Learning

This article outlines 3 ways to promote student ownership:

  • providing choice
  • encouraging voice
  • encouraging leadership

Lisa Spangler, a 6th grade ELA teacher in Florida, shares some very practical ways to encourage student ownership:

  • Use FOMO
  • Student Choice
  • Self-Assessment
  • Interactive Learning
  • Cooperative Learning

Balancing Student Choice and Needs with Playlists

In this Learning Accelerator article about Cisco Junior High (Cisco, Texas) details how to develop student ownership by using skill-level appropriate playlists.

FLEXIBLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Selecting Small Groups by Learning Level

Teachers at Locust Grove Middle School (Henry County School District, Georgia) strategically group students based on their proficiency and learning activity to ensure the right supports are available for each group.

Morton Middle School and Blended Learning

Teachers in Morton Middle School (Fall Creek, Massachusetts) use station rotation to balance online and face-to-face instruction. In this video, you will learn tips for creating teacher-led stations and independent stations.


Blended Learning at Grant Beacon Middle School

This video highlights several of middle school teachers at Grant Beacon Middle School in Denver, Colorado as they talk about the benefits of using blended learning.

INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTION

Aspire ERES Academy: Blended Learning in Action

Aspire ERES Academy, a K-8 school located in Oakland, California that primarily serves low-income students, uses station rotation to target learning to the individual student.

Blended Learning, Real Teaching

Students and teachers at Mott Hall V Middle School in New York City talk about the benefits of blended learning.

INTEGRATED DIGITAL CONTENT

Using Playlists to Differentiate Instruction

Tracy Enos, an eighth grade teacher in Rhode Island, uses playlists to individualize instruction. These "digital roadmaps" allow students to work at their own pace and level. The article contains several ELA playlists as examples.

Want to learn more about Tracy? Check out her blogspot at http://enosela.blogspot.com.

Blended Learning at Whittemore Park Middle School

This video takes you through the setup of a middle school blended learning classroom. There are lots of visual examples of schedules, groupings, and classroom setup.