Today I was yet again amazed by the thoughtfulness, creativity and dedication of the teachers at MSS and PSS. As both schools head into our “Blended Learning Initiative” where every grade 9 will bring a laptop or tablet, teachers have spent a year learning in high gear. Some have used the term “saturated” to describe our schools in terms of professional development.

Much of the year was spent focused on changing how we, as teachers learn and getting our heads around the possibilities for learning, teaching and assessment. Of course, some effort was put into learning new tools, but this was not the major focus.

Today (the first day the school was open) a group of 15 – 20 teachers met in the library to work out any technical difficulties using D2L. Teachers met to make sure no one had any troubles that would prevent them prepping effectively this week. We activated courses, imported content from courses we worked on last year or over the summer. We refreshed how to embed video and discussion forums. Many shared  their plans for the first few days in a blended environment and shared materials with others. It was basically one big collaborative planning session. We were all creating our own class plans, but using the strengths of everyone to help out. Our boards eLC (Tim Hasiuk) kindly spent the entire morning connected to us through a Google Hangout. When teachers needed help merging courses within D2L, or other technical requests teachers could go to the computer and “ask Tim”. It was an amazing support to have. Tim would share his screen to work with a teacher. A great model of 21st century learning.

Tomorrow morning we have a guided exploration and planning with the new tool Google Classroom. Our focus will be on using it for effective peer and teacher feedback. Wednesday we will do a guided exploration of ClassFlow with a focus on formative assessment and differentiation.

To be honest, I expected very few teachers this morning. It was a beautiful day on Georgian Bay and I anticipated many teachers still spending time with family before we get back to work. I am constantly amazed by the engagement and dedication of my colleagues. They kinda rock. I’m very excited for next Tuesday! Wish us luck 🙂

Resources we use to help support blended learning can be found here:  http://bit.ly/blendedlrning