Blended Learning

 As a student, the only experience I can remember with blended learning is the use of stations. From what I can recall, the teachers that I had did a sort of routine similar to what Ms. Crofford does in her classroom, where she tells the students to go to their stations and bring what they need with them. I always thought it was fun to do something new every day, and my teachers/paras were always there to help me when I needed it. My teachers would implement reading and writing into different activities to help us improve these skills. We would also be able to use class resources, such as school computers and other visual aids in the classroom.

Blended learning can be used to personalize instruction and meet needs by having different stations where the students could either work in groups or have one-on-one time with a teacher or a para. With the students who need more one-on-one help from their teacher, it could be a sort of station where they work independently for so long and then have a check-up with their teacher to fix any problems or if they have any questions. When students are able to have this individual time with their teacher, it could help them understand the material better and give them less anxiety about asking questions.

For a music classroom, blended learning works a little differently in my opinion. In my classroom, I would make sure that each and every student has an instrument to play, no matter what their situation is. Another thing that I would be able to implement is to have individual lessons with each student to make sure that they are progressing and improving on their instrument. In an instrumental music classroom, there is not as much use of technology as there is in a general education classroom, so I am not entirely sure how I would be able to implement any technology use in my classroom. From what I remember, when I was in middle school or high school band, the only times we really used technology was to fill out mandatory surveys.

A downfall with blended learning could be that there would be an increase in students' screen time. One way to make sure that they are having a healthy amount of screen time is to divide it out evenly throughout the day so that they are not using all of their screen time in one sitting. This could be done by having a station rotation, where students will work with technology in maybe one or two stations but then have pencil-paper assignments/activities in their other stations. Another way to promote healthy digital learning is to maybe give a presentation (or if the students have a technology teacher, this could be a thing for them to do) about healthy habits with their technology, including the impact of social media, screen time, what to do vs. not to do on the internet, etc.