Learning is Change

I think this “community message” is a great example of how you encourage the right kinds of posts and interactions. What do you think of how she frames “new members” and norms?

Original Post from Lyn Hilt:

Welcome to all of the new members of this community who have joined us over the past month! We’re so excited to see this community grow and flourish. A few words about postings and sharings here…  

Many times, a post that has been shared to multiple communities advertising an event or product gets flagged as spam. I typically don’t allow those types of messages to post in this community.

You are encouraged to include a narrative/message to accompany your link if you’re sharing a great learning opportunity, conference, your experience with a product, etc. for the community members here. 

If you choose to share a blog post you’ve written, that’s great, just know that if it’s shared to multiple communities with no message specific to our members, it may get flagged as spam. Post with intent. Are you looking for feedback on your post? Just want to share some great work you’ve been doing or something exciting going on in your school? Then say so!

Please also try to use the most appropriate category for your post. 

I have been so impressed with the level of support you’ve provided one another. I love that so many people respond to queries and questions and that conversations are emerging in so many posts! 

Thank you all for respecting and contributing to this learning community! Happy New Year! 

What do you think of blended learning according to these 4th grade students?

Original Post from Jessica Raleigh:

Today the kids were answering some questions in a Google Form to help guide their film story for the White House Film Fest submission. My 4th graders had a lot of questions that were the spark to many conversations around the classroom about blended learning, technology and the arts, and how all the things we are doing this year help us to learn. I realized that we’ve never explicitly defined and discussed some of the terminology that is a part of my vernacular these days, like “blended learning” and “critical thinking”. We engage in those practices every day, but haven’t necessarily called attention to the terminology and what it means to them as the learner.

Some of the kids likened blended and personalized learning to making a smoothie, and that when you put all the different fruits in the blender (tools available and ways we learn) the end result is a really delicious beverage that brings out the best flavors of all the fruits when combined together. They said the smoothie was like their education, and that with just one fruit the drink would be “meh”, but that when put all together it is a great end result. 

I’ve often found myself explaining blended and personalized learning to adults, but there was something really eye opening and beautiful in having to explain it to a child who engages in those practices. It made me wonder about the role these conversations should play in blended classrooms, and how valuable it could be to call out these terms and involve students in defining and discussing them throughout the year. Thoughts?