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Showing posts from May, 2015

Hooray for Haiku Learning!

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Hi! A couple of blog posts ago, I talked about the process my school was going through in  looking for a new LMS that would be suitable for all grade levels Nursery-12th. At that time, we were moving into phase 2 ready to test the two LMS finalists: Haiku Learning and Schoology . Fortunately, for this round, the testing group grew. We had new teachers join us, in addition to giving all the school administrators access to the platforms. All the different stakeholders were well represented. During the final days of phase 2, all pilot teachers were asked to submit a scored rubric evaluation of the LMS they each tested. Surveys were sent to parents and students. On a 5 point scale, Haiku Learning scored a whopping 4.66, compared to 3.33 for Schoology. During the last pilot group meeting, each LMS pilot leader had the opportunity to speak about the Pros and Cons of their system. Feedback collected from teachers, students, and parents was shared. Then, it was time to vote. It

Understanding Blended Learning through Design Thinking

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The school year might be almost over, but at ASFM the learning just keeps on going! As a way to socialize the concept of blended learning, teachers spent the last PD afternoon learning more about this educational model. The elementary staff was divided into 3 major groups. With the purpose to introduce an innovative approach to problem solving, each group went through the phases of the Design Thinking process. 1- Discovery The advent of a new school wide LMS for the next school year comes along with other transformations in school. Challenge: How can we redesign the Blended Learning experience at ASFM? 2- Interpretation Now it's time to gain empathy. Teachers paired up and took turns interviewing each other. How much of your teaching is f2f and how much is it online? How have you modified student learning? Focus question: What is your experience with blended learning, from a teacher's perspective? 3- Ideation During the Interpretation phase, teachers were told