Letter to Parents - Blended Learning

May 1, 2014

Mr. Chris Graham

Program Leader, Mathematics

Lockerby Composite School

1391 Ramsey View Court

Sudbury, ON

P3E 5T4

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that as part of my instructional strategies this year, I am planning to teach parts of my class in a blended format. Below you will find a brief description so that you will have an understanding of what my blended instruction will look like. Keep in mind that the blended format is something that many schools already have in place, and it is becoming the standard for what students can expect if they continue on to post-secondary studies.

The goal of teaching in a blended format is to combine the best parts of online instruction and in-class instruction to best meet the needs of my student body. I intend to offer a variety of online learning activities, to be completed at home, and use classroom time as an opportunity to provide extra instruction or direction for students on an individual, per-their-needs basis. I feel that this will allow my students to accomplish more during their instructional time, and also have a better comprehension of the material at hand.

Obviously, the caveat here is that, in order for a blended learning environment to be successful, there are a three major necessities:

·         Students must have good regular attendance at school

·         Students must have access to a computer with web access

·         Students must work to the best of their abilities both in class and at home

If you do not have a computer and web access at home, there are several computer labs at Lockerby Composite School which are open after hours, and the Sudbury Public libraries and their hours can be located here: http://goo.gl/FIMBTh.

I have attached an example of a blended learning activities that I intend to incorporate into my MPM1D (Grade 9 Academic Math) classroom on the following page. It is an activity that has been modified from the eLearning Ontario LMS, which all of my students will have access to. The activities on the LMS typically provide an overview and expections, but I would just like to show you the content, for now. I feel like it incorporates the blended learning format and the use of technology reasonably well.

If you have questions or concerns about how I intend to incorporate blended learning into the classroom please contact me at grahamc@rainbowschools.ca.

Yours Sincerely,

Chris Graham

Integers Sum

Get out those algebra tiles again and let's see what happens when we start putting the red tiles with the blue tiles.

If you were to take one of each and put them together, what would happen?

When you have one positive and one negative, they cancel each other out and the result is zero.

This is called the zero principal. Zeros occur when you have the same number of negative integers as positive integers.

Each positive tile cancels out a negative tile and the result is zero.

Now, let's see what happens when we take different integers and add them together.

Adding Positive Integers

For this part, just use your red tiles to show the following scenarios:

Adding Negative Integers

For this part, just use the blue tiles to show the following scenarios:

Adding Positive and Negative Integers

So far, you may think working with integers is straightforward. Well, it's about to get more interesting! Let's take a look at what happens when we add both negative and positive integers together.

Are you getting it? When you add negative and positive integers, you can get either a positive or negative answer. It depends on which number is bigger. For example, when you add (-3) and (+5), the five is bigger, so your answer will be positive. If you add (-6) and (+3), your answer will be negative because 6 is bigger than 3. Do you get it?

If you are still having trouble, the following video might help.

 

Audio / Podcasts in the Classroom

One of the focuses at my school is that we are a STEP (Science, Technology Education Program) school. We look at using technology and hands on learning on a regular basis in a variety of different manners. Below are a few of the ways that I have seen the use of audio and/or podcasting used at our school, or at other schools in my board that I have had an opportunity to see/hear. 

1) Jing – while Jing is really an image/video capture software, the science department at my school has also been incorporating audio into the mix. Specifically, one of my teachers has used Jing to record his computer screen, but also his narrative, so that students can review an explanation over and over without having to contact the teacher directly. 

Here is an example of how he has used it in his classroom: 

http://ww2.rainbowschools.ca/~luomat/FOV2-00128520/FOV2-00145951/FOV2-00145952/S0716037E-0716037E.5/p.50%2310.swf

2) Book Chats (podcast) – students in our English classrooms have been using Podchats to discuss books. These can happen as whole class events, small group chats, or even independent podcasts. The topics vary, but are often related to a book that they are covering in class: which characters they like/dislike, imagery or themes from the book, or they can even discuss the plot of the book itself. Teachers have found this to be successful in their classrooms, as it gives them an opportunity to assess students using conversations rather than product. 

3) Interview with a Boomer – our history classes often do a podcast that they refer to as ‘Interview with a Boomer.’ Students are directed to find and interview a baby boomer – someone born in the baby boomer generation, so typically a parent, grandparent, family friend, teacher or administrator. They are told to have ten questions to ask the interviewee, of which some are prescribed, and some are their own. This is a unique activity because it allows students some creativity over the questions they ask, and every answer is going to be a bit different.

4) Vocabulary – our French department has students create podcasts that include new vocabulary words that they have learned. They are required to make sentences or be conversational with their podcast, which helps them practice their language skills in the classroom. An example of something similar can be found here: http://www.princetonreview.com/vocab-minute.aspx (note: this is not from my school, as I do not have any content to share)

Finally, the example below is not something that we have incorporated at our school, but it seems like an interesting idea that I might like to incorporate into a class in the future.

5) Communication with parents, students, and other teachers – Teachers could broadcast a monthly update to parents, teachers, and students about the types of math lessons and activities that will be the focus of the coming month. They could also include important dates, homework and major assignment reminders.

Assessment Tools in the 21st Century Classroom

Here is a link to a collaborative Google Powerpoint that lists several different assessment tools for the 21st Century Classroom.

Educational Tools in the Classroom: Apple TV

3) Apple TV

Our school recently made a purchase of a set of 20 iPad 2's, and then the next year followed it up with a purchase of 20 iPad minis for use in the classroom. While there are a lot of apps and pieces of software that have been useful for use with the iPads, I have found no better tool that aids me in the classroom than my Apple TV.

Previous to purchasing my Apple TV, I had been having a difficult time showing content from the school iPads on my projector. I tried using various mirroring software like Reflector, but because my school is an old concrete building, and these programs rely on strong wifi connections, I had a lot of problems.

These problems were solved with my purchase of an Apple TV. The nice thing about Apple products is that they seem to integrate fairly well together, so bundling my Apple TV with the iPads in the classroom worked fairly seamlessly.



There are several reasons why I feel the Apple TV is an excellent tool:

i) It is cost effective. With budgets being reduced in education at most schools in Ontario, providing a smartboard can be extremely expensive. In comparison, an iPad/Apple TV combination can be fairly reasonable.

ii) I can use it as a portable whiteboard (with whiteboard apps on the iPads): Students are often reluctant in my classroom to come up to the board to answer problems. I have found that this is mitigated with the Apple TV/iPad combination, as I am able to pass the iPad to a student (with a stylus) and have them provide me with answers on the spot. As well, I can have the iPad passed from student to student, which gives everyone a chance to participate. The other reason I like having a portable whiteboard is it means that I no longer have to have my back to the class, which provides me opportunities to manage my classroom in a better way.

iii) I can use it as a way to display student content. When students are working on the iPads, it can be a great teachable moment to have students use Airplay to display what was on their iPad onto the projector screen. Often, when I have my classes doing group work (or EQAO styled problems), I will see something that might be useful for the class to see. When this happens, I can stop the class, and let the student Airplay what they are doing for the whole class to see. This provides opportunity for discussion, collaboration, and peer feedback, which I think are great.

In my opinion, if you are looking for a cost effective, efficient smart board system, the Apple TV/iPad combination seems like the way to go.