As I now approach my thirteenth year in education, I still get excited about the possibilities of a new school year. Not ever knowing what the year will bring, I always want to ensure that I get the students engaged from the moment they step in the door. With each new class, the goal is always the same: make their first day unlike any other. To summarize what I do is actually quite difficult. There isn’t really a set activity or prescribed format I follow. But I do have many tricks or “methods to the madness” (as my former students like to call it), that get students excited about the days ahead. In fact, recently a student called my orientation a “brainwashing, but in a good way.” As long as it’s a positive experience, I guess.

During the ISTE 2012 conference, I had the pleasure of discussing blended learning with participants of #SocialEdCon. Facilitated by Craig Nanson, participants were asked to define blended learning and how they are implementing it in their classrooms. As participants responded, it was clear that the lines are blurred between flipped, curated and blended learning. Below is how I defined the three during the discussion:

Many students struggle with taking written exams, as it is difficult for them to read a written question, interpret what that question is asking, recall the relevant information, and determine the appropriate answer. Those students could probably tell you the correct answer and explain why they chose it, but may have difficulty capturing the same information in written form. Unfortunately for those students, most teachers will assign grades to students solely based on written assessments, and don’t take into account the fact that some students can better express themselves verbally.

Personalized learning has become a popular catch phrase in the world of education over the past few years, even presenting itself as one of the hot topics at the ISTE 2012 conference. The basic premise involves customizing learning environments to meet the learning needs of individual students in the classroom. However, whether you are an advocate of personalized learning or not, the emergence of new technologies make this type of learning more accessible and feasible in today’s school districts.

Flipped learning can be a great way to motivate students to learn. However, it is often misunderstood by those who are not fully informed about its concepts and how they are implemented. When asked what flipped learning means, most will respond with something like, “flipped learning involves students completing classwork at home and homework in class,” or “students watch videos for homework and then complete worksheets in class.” This is not exactly true. We will try to clear up some of the most common misconceptions and reveal the truth regarding flipped learning.

A recent article by TeachPro has identified several innovative teaching strategies and philosophies that have been adapted for use in the classroom, in place of the traditional teaching model that most of us are familiar with. These newer strategies place the responsibility for learning in the students’ hands, and better reflect the way the students’ brains function to both process and retain information. Each strategy listed below also contains a brief description of its origin: