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If you were involved in OBC last year please sign up here!Admins, Teachers, Coaches
*Stimulate Your Mind *Give Your Practice a BOOST*Increase Student Engagement
Through Personalized Learning!Click on "More Info"
Find Out How Your District Can Join The Collaborative!“The OBC is a great way to collaborate with other teachers. It's nice to hear what others are doing and get perspectives from other districts. You get what you give into this experience. If you participate and follow along, you're going to take away so much. The info and resources shared are helpful in everyday classroom lessons!”
“OBC is an encouraging atmosphere and relaxed pace so that you can learn and not be overwhelmed each month. The learning is also well organized and clear. Very helpful for expectations - also the leaders and teachers are very helpful and patient and kind.”
“There are just so many great resources and it pushes us to keep growing and learning.
I would say, if you are on the fence about joining, JUST DO IT!”Click on a flyer to learn more...
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When we think of "real world," we often think of careers or work; however, part of real-world learning also relates to the fact that we all bring unique abilities and experiences that impact our learning. As educators, we must be focused on supporting students to know themselves as learners and create learning opportunities that span a wide spectrum of diversity among them. Digital Promise has created a navigation tool through their Learner Variability Project (LVP) work to support teachers in finding resources and strategies that engage, empower and promote excitement in learning for all students.
We chose the LVP Navigator as this month's resource because of the synthesized amount of research by Digital Promise and the offer of great strategies to help us engage the full diversity of learners. The added bonus is that they organized everything in an easy-to-search navigation experience.
Overview
To find strategies to meet the needs of your diverse learning population, after you open the navigator, choose a model. Next explore different factors such as learner background, social-emotional learning, cognition, etc.. that LVP has aggregated to help you hone in on targeted areas. Then find curated strategies and resources to use immediately!Here’s an example
A 7th grade Science teacher has a series of readings that students need to engage with as a part of the learning process. To take into account learner variability, she chooses the “model” 7-12th Grade Literacy in the navigator tool.
She’s interested in factors related to “disciplinary literacy,” so she selects this factor,
which brings up research about this factor and a curated list of resources and strategies she can use in the classroom.
For example, one strategy she’s interested in is “advanced graphic organizer” She pulls up the strategy, reviews it, and adds it to her lesson. 
Recommendations- There’s so much here in the navigator! We recommend spendings some time just pursuing the factors alone. They can help us think through different variabilities in learners' situations that we may not have considered or tend to forget about.
- Intermediate or High School content area teacher? Use the literacy models to support all disciplines!
- Do you work with adult learners through professional development? In addition to math and literacy models, there is one for adult learners.
- Learn more about Learner Variability Learner Variability Is the Rule, Not the Exception.
Don’t Forget!- After you use the LVP Navigator, tell us what you think here in the comments below.
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It’s no secret that we are big fans of identifying your “WHY?” when it comes to shifting to blended, personalized learning. Anything that is worth doing takes effort and when our teacher tanks run low we can go back to what motivates us!Most of us who are shifting do so because we know that our modern learners have different needs, technology and experiences that shape their lives. Embracing and leveraging these tools helps us to meet the needs of our learners and supports them in developing skills to effectively use technology
Enter AI Chatbots!! (Click to learn more)
You can run away, stick your head in the sand, try to catch every student who uses the Chatbot to write (wow, that sounds exhausting) OR you can think differently!
We have an opportunity. How can we leverage AI Chatbots to be part of our assignments and classroom experiences to increase engagement and develop skills learners will need beyond school?
Let us remind you that it wasn’t too long ago we were having the discussion about students being able to “Google” the answer… how did we pivot? We shifted our assessments and assignment to questions that are not able to be Googled…performance tasks, PBL, discussion, creating, etc. More thinking and applying using content AND it increases student engagement because they have a purpose in learning!!!
Below you will find an excerpt from “Embrace the Bot in the Classroom.” As you read, find a small step that you might be able to take to “Embrace the Bot” in your classroom to support student engagement and learning. We would love to hear your ideas in the comments!!
“The potential impact that these technologies can have on the classroom is truly exciting. I am currently in the process of redesigning assignments and making sure my students are required to learn, taking into account the ways in which AI chatbots can be utilized to enhance the learning experience. Furthermore, I am considering incorporating more in-class assignments rather than relying solely on homework, as I believe that this approach can lead to more interactive and engaging learning experiences for students.
In addition to this, I am also designing more meaningful in-class activities that focus on creating an experience-based learning environment, which I believe can lead to more effective and efficient learning. However, I am also looking into ways in which students can use AI to make their homework more fun and memorable. By incorporating AI chatbots into homework assignments, students can have a more interactive and engaging experience, which in turn can lead to a more effective retention of the material.
Some innovative ways that other teachers are using chatbots in the classroom, and I’m feeling inspired by their creativity. Instead of just soliciting questions from a class of unenthused students, some teachers are using chatbots like ChatGPT as a teachable moment by asking the bot for its thoughts and then openly debating the answers. It’s like having a virtual class debate partner that never sleeps.
I’ve been hearing some horror stories about teachers playing the “gotcha” game with students who are using chatbots to do their homework and, let me tell you, that is not a game I want to be a part of. I understand the concern of cheating, but I believe that the approach some teachers are taking of requiring rough drafts and closer monitoring is missing the point. It’s like putting band-aids on a broken leg, it’s not really solving the problem. This approach is essentially policing and not giving students any incentive to engage in a hard learning experience. I, on the other hand, am trying to find ways to reach my students and make learning more enjoyable for them. Instead of punishing them for trying to avoid the lame assignments I give them, I am trying to find ways to make the material more interesting and relatable to them.” -
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There’s just something about starting a brand new year. So maybe when you turned your calendar to 2023, you established some goals, made some resolutions, or, at the very least, felt some sense of a fresh start.
As you implement blended, personalized learning, necessary routines, expectations, and norms become clearer. Some you are prepared for, and some you aren’t. You might find yourself mid-year thinking, “I wish I would have…” We know it’s several months away, but before this fresh start feeling fades, we decided to focus your thinking on Back To School by sharing the concept of a “Unit 0!”
Overview
What is Unit 0?
Unit 0 is designed specifically for learning, co-constructing, and practicing classroom routines and expectations. In addition, students are introduced and become familiar with tools for pacing, tracking learning, check-ins and more.
Design this unit like any other.
1. Know “The Point” of your unit
ie.. The purpose of this unit is-understanding, co-constructing, practicing and using expectations, routines, tools and norms in a blended, personalized classroom.
2. Establish learning goals and desired outcomes, including how and what you want to communicate with parents
3. Begin with the end in mind. What evidence will show you that students understand?
4. Curate and create information, lessons, and activities needed
5. Reflect
After the unit consider what worked, and what needs tweaking. How will students continue using what is learned in Unit 0 throughout the year?
What goes in Unit 0? Some initial ideas...- Describe the classroom environment - “day in the life of”
- Debunk myths (students are on screens all day long)
- What tools are used, why, when, and how
- Where and how to access and share materials
- What is the teacher doing? How is it different from traditional settings?
- Activities for co-constructing norms
- Activities for practicing protocols and procedures for independent, small group and large-group time
- Activities to build relationships
Some templates to get you started!
Unit 0: Slide Development Template Modern Classroom Project
Classroom Communication Toolkit Modern Classroom Project
Sample Unit 0 organized in LMS from https://ohiobc.org/
Recommendations- Start working on your Unit 0 now, or at the very least, keep track of what you want in it as the year progresses.
- Calendar checkpoints throughout the school year to reflect on how it’s going. What’s working? What needs more practice?
- Add plenty of time for practicing routines and procedures. Don’t assume even the oldest students know how to do what you ask.
- If students are struggling, stop and regroup- ask them for feedback. What’s not working? Why? What would help it go better?
- If a particular behavior issue arises during the year, try a 1:1 conference with a student using the materials from Unit 0.
- Share your ideas about what you would include in Unit 0 in the comments below!
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Personalized learning requires continual, embedded assessment. It helps support students in growth and ownership while engaging students in reaching their learning goals. Think of embedded assessment as using the work that students are doing as the actual evidence of learning. A simple way to get started is to modify the learning tasks you are already using so that you and your students end up with some evidence of learning.
Get started with this “Grab-n-Go” strategy:
The Muddiest Point is a simple exit ticket strategy that can be used in any content area and any grade level.
Simply have students say or write the answer to “Whats’ the Muddiest Point (or most challenging point) for you in (something they were learning/doing that day)?”
Tip: Try using a Google Form and everyone's responses will be in one place- easy to review and access!
Add a twist!
Use student reflection question to get more informative data. For example,- How have you tried to clear up your muddiest point?
- What resources are available that might help you to clear your muddiest point?
- What question might you ask to help you clear up your muddiest point?
Up your game!
When students come in the next day- put them in groups according to their muddiest points. Provide them with resources to support their gaps and have them work together to clear their muddiest point. This gives them ownership of their learning and an opportunity to build skills. You role is to be a coach--listen, ask questions and support their thinking.