Hello everyone especially to my classmates, peers, and co-DOST Caraga scholars taking free courses in Coursera. Welcome to my blog! This is made in partial fulfillment of the course which I am currently taking with a course description "Blended Learning: Personalizing Education for Students".
I am one of those top believers of "learning by doing" by John Dewey. As one of those believers, it is so ideal that after learning from something, one should put it into practice and repeat it occasionally so one can remember it religiously and save it in one's long-term memory.
Well, as much as I want to make a video about how will I incorporate my learnings on high quality blended learning in my classroom setting, circumstances would never allow it. Who would have thought that this CoViD19 pandemic will hindermost of the things, works even events that we are used to be doing and attending? Almost everything is affected, even our own movements are limited. This is one of the reasons why the completion of the final assignment of this course is a bit difficult. However, there are still many options given to ensure that the works, time, and efforts we exerted will never go to waste, hence, I will just make a blog about my plans for it as my final assignment.
MY CLASSROOM
This is how my typical classroom looks like. Almost all the classrooms in our school look the same. It only differs a little on the teacher's way of decorating the classroom to stimulate student's willingness or interest to learn. Some classrooms have television sets, speakers, and structuring boards where information about the grades' subjects, classroom rules, information charts, and the like are posted.
Oh! I know what you're thinking. Yes, it is very traditional and whatever is in your mind right now the way you perceived this picture, yes, that's it.
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Hi, it's me!
I personally included my photo here to prove that this is really me, and this is really my classroom. |
In my case, almost 80% of the teaching and learning time is done in the classroom. The other 20% is done outside occasionally during Physical Education sessions and go-outside activities if the subject matter requires. Most of the time, students stay in the classroom listening, learning, reporting, and doing things we teachers think is good for them. You know, as to how it is structured traditionally.
As to the class schedule, we start the class at 7:30- 11:45 for the morning session and 1:00-4:30 in the afternoon session. Usually, we have 8 subjects in total, 4 in the morning, and another 4 in the afternoon so that's 60 minutes per subject with a 15-minute recess time in the morning. The said schedule is a routine, so that's it every Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, we usually have PE time or individual learning time. Most often than not, Fridays are used for school-related activities like opening or culminating program for Nutrition Month, Filipino Month, English Month, and the like celebrations.
The class adviser or subject teachers meet the students on their subject schedules. It could be 1 or two hours a day. The subjects we handled are mostly according to specialization unlike for elementary which is generalized, for some and it's fixed.
MY BLENDED LEARNING CLASSROOM
If I were to rearrange my traditional classroom, I want it to be 'homey'. It will also have divisions and areas like a house with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, dining area, and the like. A home-classroom where my students feel comfortable, safe, and most especially an educational one where everyone's treating everybody as real families. I want it to be educational without leaving the fun in learning!
My Innovation
Considering that nothing is a hindrance on my plans and even the budget is not a problem, I want my home-classroom to be divided into six different learning areas/ stations:
(1) Com Stat (Computer Station) - This is a learning area where the students can operate the computer for computer-assisted or online instructions. Just like having a playlist of songs, I want them to have a playlist of activities that they need to perform or do at a flexible time as long as at the end of a given schedule, they can master the competencies listed on their playlists. Softwares in this computer-assisted instruction is like a how the Coursera was built where almost all the instruction, lectures, and discussion were already given. Students will just look at it, work on the learning activities and assignments on it, and if they are not yet ready for the next level, they can stop, relax, go to other stations, and when they are ready, they can just go back where they just left.
(2) Teacher Stat (Teacher Station) - this is a station where students can gather to ask for guidance, clarify instruction, or just seek help and assistance to a teacher for topics and subject matters which they find very difficult to work into. This station provides teacher-led instruction and serves as a help desk. The teacher here will also have software where he/she check the learning status of the students. The teacher can then assess or evaluate the learning pace of the student and can even detect the problems the student might have before he/she will go to the teacher or solutions to their problems just before they ask some assistance by just looking at that assessment software.
(3) Collab Stat (Collaborative Station) - as the name suggests, this is a station for collaborative activities where students can work on hands-on projects and activities on a real-time basis that they can actually present or create output by group or individually. I can say that the collab stat can act as a breakout room just like in the Flex model where students can learn and do their lab works depending on the subject matter.
(4) Soc Stat (Social station) - As much as I want to, I want my students to think and to be good not only on academics but also to be socially wise. In this so-called soc stat, this will be the place for students to talk casually with peers or classmates about how their day went, the topic of subjects, the means of achieving and finishing the learning activities on their playlist, the techniques on how to work on activities efficiently, and the like topics in order for them to grow and develop with social manners. In a house, I want this to be the living room.
(5) Per Stat (Personal Station) - If sometimes, we need to be socially active, there will be times that we need to learn solo. This is the place for you, the personal station. While others learn more with buddies, others learn fast studying alone that's why I think that individual space is a need. In a house, I want this to be the bedroom.
(6) Rec Stat (Recreational station) - I am reminded that learning also occurs when one stopped focusing on something they want to work on and divert their focus mode to the diffuse mode of the brain. Usually in the diffuse mode, one needs to do relaxation to divert attention and exercise. The exercise here doesn't mean you exercise physically to form abs or muscles but it can be in a form of running to help your brain redirect and refocus you later on the activities that you find very difficult to deal with.
Maybe I'm thinking too much! I'm thinking that my classroom can fit all the plan I had in my mind but as what I've mention, there is no hindrance in this plan so far. All I know for now is that it takes a lot of plans and tons of hard work to realize all these plans.
A Key Difference in the New Structure
There's really a big difference in the new structure. As I have mentioned above about my traditional classroom, it is far too different from my innovations for a blended learning classroom. My traditional classroom is just like a big ballroom with no balls, while blended learning classroom is having a big feast!
To cite some key differences in the blended learning classroom, it has the following:
1. Work stations for various learning activities,
2. Softwares which makes teaching and learning processes more efficient,
3. Assessment and evaluation is made easy and measurable,
4. Students learn individually in a personalized manner within their own pace,
5. Teachers are merely facilitators of learning.
Role of Adults
The role of adults in my blended learning classroom are as follows:
1. Teachers are mere facilitators of learning,
2. Evaluates and assess students' readiness in a certain skill or competency,
3. Ensure that mastery level is achieved,
4. Make sure that learning is dynamic and is enjoyable,
Changes in Students
From a totally different culture, perspective, and practices, the students will be able to:
1. Manage and master their own learnings,
2. Study, learn, and work in their own pace,
3. Balance time in doing and working on projects, assignments, and recreational activities in one setting.
Implications for Future Practice in this Classroom
There will be a 360 degrees turn in our educational structure and system once blended learning is applied in our schools here in the Philippines. Our educational system is centralized and we follow educational orders, memorandums, and almost everything except on how we conducted our lessons to students, that would be where our own style and academic freedom applies. There are still many things to be diverted, directed, planned, organized, and even implemented.
If this turn will soon be advised to be put in place in the future, then I am sure to be there as one of the witnesses in that one amazing turn of events.
PHOEBE JANE RUBILLOS TAMBIS
