Tools and Settings
Content
Questions and Tasks
DELETE: Introduce teacher videos and quotes in a way that both introduces the videos and ties them to the competency of the chapter. Place your videos and quotes where they make the most sense in the chapter.
Online integration is at the very heart of blended teaching. It has to do with how you combine your in-person PE classroom with online activities (remember the baker mixing dry and wet ingredients from Chapter 1). Because the main component of blended learning is integrating online and in-person activities, online integration is a good place to begin thinking about blending your classroom.
This is where you as a PE teacher can consider what specific online practices can help you address the problems of practice you identified in Chapter 4–1. The more examples of blended teaching you have personally seen and the more experience you have with online teaching, the easier this process will be for you. But even if you are just starting out, you will probably have a few ideas of your own. This chapter will help you explore more ideas.
Although blended teaching can seem overwhelming, experienced blended teachers say that the best way to go about this process of starting to blend is to think big but start small. Small beginnings allow you to wet your toes in the process, focus on specific pedagogies and activities, see the benefits and drawbacks, and make improvements on a small scale without becoming overwhelmed by the process.
You can take that first small step by doing the following:
See the example below in Table 1 for how this process might work. The teacher in this example explores several activities that could be blended. You have a similar chart in your Blended Teaching Notebook.
A teacher might identified her problem of practice: I want my students to be more precise and careful in their analysis of character. The learning objective states: "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text."
Here are some ways she could combine online and in-person activities.
Table 1 (Replace the content to fit your content area. You may want to add videos or quotes between each table.)
Planning for Online Integration: Student-Content Interactions
Table 2
Planning for Online Integration: Student-Student Interactions
Table 3
Planning for Online Integration: Student-Instructor Interactions
In your workbook, using one of your problems of practice, fill out the Planning for Online Integration table.
If you haven't already opened and saved your workbook, you can access it here.
If you can find YouTube examples of blended teaching models (flipped, station rotation, lab rotation, flex, etc.) include them here. If not, explain the models using examples from your content area.
Once you have chosen an activity or activities to blend, consider which blended teaching model best fits the activity. (For a review of blended teaching models, see Chapter 2: Online Integration in K-12 Blended Teaching: A Guide to Personalized Learning and Online Integration.)
In a traditional classroom, students learn how to do things at school, then practice at home. A flipped classroom does just the opposite. The student is introduced to the activity, sport, or content at home. Then, at school, the teacher helps students practice, working individually with those who need it most. In a rotation model, students are divided into groups and do different activities at different stations or in different spaces. Because the groups are smaller than the whole class, the teacher can give extra help to small groups in one of the stations, while other students collaborate or perform individual actions online or in-person in the other stations. Learn more about flipped classrooms and station rotations here: flipped classroom, station rotation.
In the following video, Olivia Mode-Cater talks about the station rotation and flipped models. Althought she presents them in the context of the pandemic, her descriptions of these models apply just as well in a regular classroom. As you watch, think of your own classroom. How might you use each model?
Reflection Questions: How can you use either of these models to help your students learn skills and content?
In the traditional flex model most of the learning takes place with students gathering together or meeting individually with the teacher as needed. You can read more details about this model here: Flex Model.
In the following video, Olivia Mode-Cater explains how she uses the flex model for dance classes.
Reflection Questions: How does Olivia organize her flex classroom? What advantages does she see in using the flex model?
Here are two more examples of a station rotation in a PE classroom.
Reflection Question: How could you use station rotations in your next PE unit?
Reflection Question: How can you organize a lesson into a station rotation?
Blended learning is the strategic combination of online and in-person modalities. But how do teachers decide which activities to do online and which to do in person?
One way to begin answering the question of what can be done most effectively in person is to look at your strengths as a teacher, the needs of your students, and the types of activities that lend themselves to the best use of the in-person space.
For example, students may be working (collaboratively or alone) on a project or paper. You want to do this in person because you know they will have many specific, unique questions. Answering those questions in the moment that they come up can keep students from getting stalled in the process and keep energy high. It also helps assure that students don’t have to back up and redo work.
Similarly, you may want to begin a discussion in person. You want students to get excited about the topic and begin thinking about the possibilities of the discussion. Once they’ve had this beginning, they may be more ready to participate in an online discussion.
Perhaps you are good at reading aloud, and your students enjoy hearing you read. You might want to introduce a new text in person, reading and discussing it.
Role-playing, whole class simulations, reading circles, discussions of goals and progress may all be activities that work best in the in-person space.
Know yourself, your students, and your subject matter well enough to determine what you want to preserve for the in-person space.
Once you know how you can best use the in-person space, you can begin to explore ways to use the online space to allow the kinds of activities you want in the in-peron space, to best use the affordances of the online space, and to make meaningful connections between the two modalities. Answers to the following questions may help you decide.
Blended learning is not just about using technology in the classroom. It is about strategically combining technology with in person activities to improve pedagogy and student outcomes.
Review Chapter 3: Evaluating Blended Teaching for guidance in how to evaluate the blend you have created.
In addition, the PIC-RAT framework provides a means of evaluating your use of technology to see if it is adding value to your classroom. It helps you evaluate students’ relationship to technology as well as its impact on traditional practices.
For a complete explanation of the PIC-RAT framework, See 2.3.1 "The RAT Framework," 2.3.2 "Blended Activities that Engage (The PIC Framework)," and 2.3.3 "An Evaluative Framework for Blended Teaching" in Chapter 2 "Online Integration" of K-12 Blended Teaching: A Guide to Personalized Learning and Online Integration.
Establishing routines in a blended classroom is crucial. Helping students understand when and how to move around the classroom, how to access an LMS or other online programs, how to log in and out, where and how to store hardware, how to communicate civilly and respectfully, and how to turn in assignments is essential to creating a usable blend. In addition, making plans for how to manage off task behavior can prepare you for situations that are sure to arise.
Process for Implementing Routines in a Blended Classroom:
In Table 2 below your mentor teachers share tips they have learned and implemented that have helped them establish routines to manage their classrooms. As you read through them, think of your classroom. Are any of these tips appropriate for your setting? What ideas come to mind of ways you can effectively manage your own classroom?
Blended Learning Routines
Physical education and health discipline teachers say they typically spend four to six weeks at the beginning of the year establishing routines and expectations and teaching students how to use the technology. But, they say, it pays off in the long run with a smooth running class and increased opportunities for interaction and personalization—all of which they see as positives in their blended classroom.