Parent's Night - Blended AP Psychology
Change is hard. Even when the change is good, even when you initiate the change, it's still hard ... and scary...and stressful. Change is not just hard for the teachers or the students, it's hard for all of the school's stakeholders. Therefore, a critical part of the blended learning pilot program at our school focused on strong communication with all of our stakeholders.
Stakeholder Concerns
The implementation of blended learning at Cary-Grove High School presented a number of challenges from a variety of stakeholders; teachers were concerned about how this would affect their courses, students were concerned about the amount of work that would be required of them, other staff members were concerned about how the flex days would affect their roles in the school, and the parents were concerned about if this class was the best fit for their students. As a district, we decided it was imperative to be proactive and address these concerns from the onset. It was addressed with the faculty and staff at an organizational level during our joint institute day and at the building level during departmental meetings. In this spirit, we held an informational meeting for the parents whose students are enrolled in the blended pilot before school even started.
Our Agenda
One thing that I have really appreciated about this pilot is the amount of support that I have received from the top-down. Our parent night was attended by our Principal, Neil Lesinski, my Division Lead, Greg Hoffman, and my fellow AP Psychology teacher, Mindy Garis. Our agenda was as follows;
1. Welcoming Remarks - CGHS Principal, Neil Lesinski, shared the purpose and vision behind a blended pilot.
2. Course Information - Rationale: Why was this course chosen to pilot the blended learning model?'
3. Comparison: How will the blended course compare to the traditional model? Delivery: What will my student be doing in and out of class?
4. Challenges: What are some challenges students may face and how can we all work to support them?
5. Communication: How will the teacher communicate with the students and parents/guardians? What should I do if I have a question or concern?
Presentation
This presentation was designed by Paul Humpa (phumpa@d155.org). It was shared with all four of our district schools. Each school is piloting a different course using blended learning. I would also like to acknowledge all of the help that we received from our neighboring district, Barrington High School (#220). They have been instrumental in helping us develop this program. Our parent's night agenda was derived from their experiences and utilizing their guidance. Links to the presentation and the information video shown are posted below.
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
1. Will the same material be covered as the traditional course? Will it be more work or take more time?
Yes! The course content is dictated by the college board. Both the blended and traditional courses will be covering the same content - just in different ways. The students will also remain on the same pacing and assessment schedule. It is very tempting to include more into the blended model - because there are so many amazing resources out there! What has helped me to avoid the "course-and-a-half syndrome is researching
the challenges faced by other schools, planning each unit concurrently and developing a mix-map in guiding my re-design.
http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/faculty_development/topics.cfm
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/inspire/2018/06/19/use-mix-map-blended-learning/
2. Will enrichment opportunities be offered if a student finished his or her assignment early?
Although flex time will allow for more time to explore individual interests, additional assignments will not be assigned if a student masters the learning targets unless the student seeks them out. I would hate for the students to view finishing their work early as a punishment! However, flex time does offer more opportunities for me to collaborate with individual students. For example, I often have students who are interested in conducting psychological research as part of their AP Research class. Flex time would provide us the opportunity to meet to discuss and explore their topics.
3. Where will my student be during flex time?
Students may only flex out with my teacher's permission. If they flex out, they must be in a approved location and they cannot leave the school building. Our students use their ID's to scan into defined locations (cafeteria, library, testing center etc). I see this in Skyward. However, my door is always open! They can work on the assignment in class as well.
4. What are the benefits of a blended model as compared to the traditional model?
The student has flexibility built in their schedule to take care of other needs. This could include tutoring, test corrections, conferencing with other teachers etc. It also helps them develop their executive functioning skills by requiring them to monitor their progression, as well as requiring other organizational and planning skills. Lastly, this model will prepare them for the reality of college and the work place today.
5. What if my student is not experiencing success? Can s/he transfer to a traditional class?
This decision would involve a discussion with myself, the student, guardian and school counselor. Ideally, the reasons why the student is not successful would be addressed and a transfer would not occur.
6. Why was my student chosen for this pilot?
Your student chose to enroll in AP Psychology. They were randomly assigned to the blended section. We currently offer 7 sections of AP Psychology; the blended model is being piloted in one section.
Note: When I met with the students for the first time, they were understandably nervous. In our discussion, I emphasized that they have already experienced blended learning. We are a 1:1 school and frequently use technology in the classroom such as Flip Grid, Ed Puzzle and Quizlet. The way in which this course differs is that they get to take more responsibility for their own learning, which also allows for more freedom and choice.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my experiences piloting a blended learning course. Please let me know if you have any questions by posting them in the comments below.
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