Blended Learning in Action at CHS

Submitted by Raquel Dove-Natale
​English Teacher, Chesapeake High School

Before I began to integrate blended learning practices in my classroom, learning was repetitive…we did the same types of activities every day and it had an impact on my student’s engagement.

I felt that I was restrictive in my instructional delivery, as I could only get to a few students at a time, and have those meaningful conversations around my content with them. I was in a “keep the train moving” mentality to try and get everyone to the same place at the same time...even if some weren’t ready yet.
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Being involved in the Formative Assessment professional learning community (or Flock as we call it) helped me to break from that one track mindset. I learned that the assessment cycle is on-going and after I had given assessment, I don’t need to move on no matter what; but build in structures to accelerate or remediate students… we call that being responsive. 

I have also been exploring how to leverage technology to enhance my instruction. I have been recording my feedback conferences for revision on student writing and uploading them to a lesson tile. This allows my students to have a personalized experience and receive a one on one conference, while also saving me time (I don’t have to write feedback for each of my students).
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In my PLC and during my personal coaching conversations, I have also begun to explore success criteria. 

​The impact on my students’ work ethic has been noticeable as they see the relevance in what they are doing and the expectations are clearly set. I am excited to continue to learn more about not only the formative assessment process; but acting on the data in order to be a more responsive teacher.