What makes a great teacher? To me a great teacher is someone who not only teaches with their words but with their actions. I'm blogging on that topic at "advancepathgrads" http://wp.me/p2LBV4-9N

To teach today's students means to reach them where they are academically, socially, emotionally. At our Gilroy, CA Academy, we sometimes refer to our classroom as "100 classrooms" - where differentiated learning helps each adolescent master their coursework at the pace and in the style of instruction best suited to their capabilities. I've written a short piece on this topic for the community magazine, "Out and About," http://bit.ly/1jxSLLo

Good stuff LeAnn! My company is moving their face to face PD to a more blended learning model for the educators we serve, and while I have had a lot of experience with designing and delivering virtual learning sessions in the past, it's always great to find a place to collaborate with others on the same journey. I look forward to checking in and learning more from this resource. Thanks!

I have enjoyed reading your blogs on blended learning, LeAnn! I was referred to them by Tom Delaganis. When I think about blended learning, what comes to mind for me is taking the best of several worlds to provide what a student needs. I teach at an "alternative pathways" school in Denver, Colorado. We serve students who have life circumstances that make finishing high school very challenging. The age range we serve is 17 to 21, at which time public funding for achieving a high school diploma is cut off. These students need to complete the required coursework in a proscribed framework, but at the same time, need to have a lot of flexibility in accomplishing that goal. They have to learn to take ownership of their process, and we who teach them sincerely hope that they will take ownership of the learning process itself along the way. We use the online curriculum offered by Apex and students must complete the coursework at an 80% mastery level. We do set up a pace for course completion (9 weeks) that we encourage the students to keep up with, but their work is not lost or cancelled out if they do not meet that timeframe. They may also complete a course much faster than that if they want to. The manner in which the coursework requirements are met has a fairly high level of standardization, but we teachers are given some flexibility to create and offer alternative activities for purposes of differentiating according to students needs and desires. So, certain parts of the courses may have a sort of "buffet" feel to it, giving the students some options. I do a blend of utilizing the online curriculum and directly teaching content. Students can craft their own participation level as far as working with a partner, in a group, or individually for most of the work. There are components that can be completed away from the school if the student has internet access at home or at a library. I love our program because it blends the whole class type instruction with one-on-one tutoring or small group sessions - so there is a lot of variety in my days! I feel like I get to know the students at a much deeper level, not only just as people, but also as math learners. I feel like helping them to take ownership of their learning process and educational goals is every bit as important as the actual math content. Most walk into my room feeling extremely weak in math, and have very little vision for how they might turn that around. Most walk away from their time in my classroom feeling much more confident that they can learn and accomplish anything they set their minds and hands to. And I know that much of that turn around would not happen without the flexibility that is inherent in a blended learning environment. It was interesting to read your take on what blended learning is - what it looks like. I find that it can mean really different things to most educators. We had a whole year of PD around it last school year, and I cannot say I walked away with any clearer understanding than I went in with. So, there is a sense in which "blended learning" is nothing more than the latest catch phrase - throw it into the conversation if you want to sound on the up-and-up in education today! But at the end of the conversations, what it means to me is having the flexibility to craft the learning process to fit the needs of students today; and as you said, the technology is nothing more than one more tool in the toolkit. The technology to hear and read online content, to communicate with someone else around the content without having to be in the same location, and to complete assignments such as quizzes and tests that can be instantly graded for immediate feedback - all of that is simply amazing! But it will never replace the relationship of a teacher to a student that is also vitally important. Onward and forward into our brave new world! Ellen