1b+How+to+establish+a+Blended+Learning+Culture

=How does one train students to succeed in the Blended Instructional model?=



Blended learning provides an opportunity to begin establishing a class culture that enables 21st century learning skills. However, students must be deliberately taught how to succeed in a Blended Learning classroom culture. It would be a real shame if a new instructional model was implemented in a school or classroom and the behavioral expectation and general classroom culture was not affected. So it is very important to understand the relationship between new teaching methods and student behavior.

The following are suggestions to effectively re-structure content delivery during the face to face sessions.

>>>> Begin with the End in mind >>>> Put First things First >>>> Think Win/Win >>>> Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood >>>> Synergize >>>> Sharpening the Saw
 * 1. Students must have a course orientation.** In most new jobs, the employee must go through an employee orientation that allows a new employee to familiarize himself with the company expectations and culture. An "employee" orientation is also a very effective tool in the classroom. Here are some topic that should be addressed during the orientation:
 * How to study and learn in a blended class?
 * How to use the course tools and why they are relevant?
 * What are skills needed to succeed in a blended environment (non Academic prerequisites)
 * The most important non academic piece that your students will need is that of Character Development and Character Management. 2 very useful Character Development tools that all students should strive to use in a thriving learning are:
 * //**Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers:**//
 * Be Proactive
 * //**The Six Pilars of Character from Charactercounts.org**//



Teaching students these values may seem impossible or a waste of time in some communities but in many cases, the classroom is the only place that some students hear about these values and have a positive place in which to practice them. Character can be taught in a variety of ways, without being preachy and/or irrelevant.

=Student Orientation for Blended Learning @ GRPS:= = NOTE: This is a good place to talk about Jeremy's Student Orientation Piece =

Besides Character Development, =What are some elements that the Blended Learning teacher can use in her face to face course?=

The following is a list of tools that a teacher can use in class to increase individual and group performance and awareness, get regular feedback from student and share with the community:


 * **Weekly eNews (**class newsletter, possibly even made by students)
 * **Weekly ‘Staff’ Meetings** (teacher shares with students all that needs to be accomplished during the week and assigns specific goals and expectations just like a boss would do during a staff meeting)
 * **Individual and group performance assessment** (group assessments should be public in the form of graphs...many of these graphs can be made with applications in most grading systems.)
 * **Weekly personnel review and evaluation**
 * **Section Managers**
 * **Periodic employee survey**
 * **Performance reports shared weekly with all stakeholders** (parents, administrators, tutors, students, special ed **teachers, etc)**
 * **Online Course Exit Survey**

It is also important to consider the student motivation factors. If the students are not motivated and the blended learning system perceive as just school as usual, then it will be difficult to get different results than the current results in student performance. Blended Learning allow for teachers to motivate students using innovating motivating ideas.

Please watch this video, explaining Daniel Pink's motivators. If time permits, the book //Drive: A Surprising Look at What Motivates Us// by Daniel Pink is a great source of information on how to motivate people.
 * The 3 motivators are:**
 * 1. Autonomy**
 * 2. Master**
 * 3. Purpose**

Teachers will find that the business principles explained in the video below also apply in the classroom. Simply substitute monetary rewards for Academic workload and the traditional pedagogy. Thus lesson plan and current teaching practices should be considered when watching this video.

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