As I hope you are aware, your son or daughter (or billeted exchange student) has enrolled in a special new program at D.P. Todd Secondary. The program takes place in Semester One (Sep-Jan) during the two morning blocks (A/B). Students successfully completing the program get credits for two courses: English 11 and Geography 12.
The “Language and Landscape” program is an experiment with Blended Learning. This involves a variety of learning styles, environments, designs, and assignments. The way we’ll be doing blended learning will includes a mix of in-class lessons (lectures, discussions, classwork, etc.), small-group sessions (supervised by the teacher but facilitated by students), larger-group seminars (supervised and facilitated by the teacher), and flex time (independent and online work, monitored by the teacher but up to the student to complete).
FAQs
Why English and Geography together?
This is a chance to use literature to explore the world around us, and to use human and physical environments to inspire our writing and inform our projects. As we pursue geographic literacy and authentic use of language we will also find space for interpreting themes, practicing life-long study skills, examining evidence, dabbling in fine arts, thinking critically, and developing community.
Why Blended Learning?
In part, we want to practice the kind of learning that takes place in post-secondary environments -- some larger gatherings, some smaller gatherings, and considerable independent work. Our BC Education system is also going through a period of rapid change -- 21st century, personalized learning and so on -- it is important that we have thoughtful experiments like this program to try and keep the best of the past while trying new ways of exciting student's imagination and building their confidence.
What will this look like in action?
A typical week might play out like this:
Monday (3 blocks): lesson, small groups, lesson
Tuesday (3 blocks): lesson, small groups, lesson
Wednesday (2 blocks): lesson, lesson or assessment
Thursday (2 blocks): flex (students not required to be in class)
Friday (2 blocks): seminar 1/choice, seminar 2/choice
Note: during flex time, the teacher is available for extra help and will use this time to set up the online components, make sure students have completed missed work or tests, and to track, assess, and give feedback for the online work. Students will use flex time for project work, research & study, reading, writing, online work (including maintaining a portfolio), and other learning outside the classroom walls.
What kind of communication should we expect?
During the first week students did an activity where we asked “how can we better involve parents in the learning process? Many students suggested group emails and a website or blog with a calendar and updates. Others talked about what they could do to have more open conversations with parents about what’s going on in school. The idea of “earned respect” came up. We’ll try all of these!
Contact:
Please give me an initial phone call, email, note, or drop by to confirm that you understand your son/daughter/student is taking part in a program that will include “flex time” -- independent work that does not have to take place at school. Students requiring supervision on a particular day can use the teacher’s classroom or the school library. When you make contact, you can also let me know your preferred way of staying in contact, and anything else I should know. We want you to be a regular part of the support and celebration of learning in our program.
I use variety of online tools to organize my classes, discuss educational topics, and engage in professional development.
I’ll send out field trip forms when we have our excursions organized. We’re thinking about a small hike or two, a visit to UNBC Geography Department, a trip to an art gallery, a tour of the PG Wastewater Facility or the Pulp Mill, and maybe a trip to the Ancient Forest. Students may also conduct field study and community interviews during their flex time, but that requires your consent.
Please, stay in touch with me throughout the semester, and ask your son/daughter/student to share their on-going work with you. Check the calendar on the course blog if you want to monitor where your son/daughter/student should be.
We know that students taking online course, distance ed, or self-directed studies often struggle to stay motivated. We also know that the class of 30 students in desks “receiving” their education can sometimes be a passive and frustrating experience. Our program will try to strike a balance between the traditional classroom and more experimental forms of education, including project-based inquiry. There is also lots to say about assessment -- we are going to try to push past just getting grades to authentic learning and mastery of skills. I am passionate about the subject areas and about creating meaningful learning opportunities for students, so I’m honoured to have the chance to do this work.
I expect this course will be both challenging and rewarding for the students. It will require that they take an active ownership of their learning (including time management), make connections with the subjects and lesson topics, and develop their own big questions into meaningful projects.
Warm Regards,
Glen Thielmann,
Teacher, D.P. Todd Secondary
Monday (3 blocks): lesson, small groups, lesson
Tuesday (3 blocks): lesson, small groups, lesson
Wednesday (2 blocks): lesson, lesson or assessment
Thursday (2 blocks): flex (students not required to be in class)
Friday (2 blocks): seminar 1/choice, seminar 2/choice
Note: during flex time, the teacher is available for extra help and will use this time to set up the online components, make sure students have completed missed work or tests, and to track, assess, and give feedback for the online work. Students will use flex time for project work, research & study, reading, writing, online work (including maintaining a portfolio), and other learning outside the classroom walls.
What kind of communication should we expect?
During the first week students did an activity where we asked “how can we better involve parents in the learning process? Many students suggested group emails and a website or blog with a calendar and updates. Others talked about what they could do to have more open conversations with parents about what’s going on in school. The idea of “earned respect” came up. We’ll try all of these!
Contact:
Please give me an initial phone call, email, note, or drop by to confirm that you understand your son/daughter/student is taking part in a program that will include “flex time” -- independent work that does not have to take place at school. Students requiring supervision on a particular day can use the teacher’s classroom or the school library. When you make contact, you can also let me know your preferred way of staying in contact, and anything else I should know. We want you to be a regular part of the support and celebration of learning in our program.
- main phone: 250-562-9525 local 180 (mornings, D.P. Todd)
- alt phone: 250-562-7214 local 104 (afternoons, PGDTA office)
- email: gthielmann@sd57.bc.ca
- class: room 180 at D.P. Todd (first class in first hall past the office)
I use variety of online tools to organize my classes, discuss educational topics, and engage in professional development.
- Course blog: http://landspeak.blogspot.ca -- includes calendar showing class schedules
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gthielmann -- mainly for conversations about education in BC
- Main website: http://dpts.sd57.bc.ca/~gthielmann -- marks updates will be posted here
- Teacher blog: http://thielmann.blogspot.ca -- a journal of sorts for educational thoughts and issues
I’ll send out field trip forms when we have our excursions organized. We’re thinking about a small hike or two, a visit to UNBC Geography Department, a trip to an art gallery, a tour of the PG Wastewater Facility or the Pulp Mill, and maybe a trip to the Ancient Forest. Students may also conduct field study and community interviews during their flex time, but that requires your consent.
Please, stay in touch with me throughout the semester, and ask your son/daughter/student to share their on-going work with you. Check the calendar on the course blog if you want to monitor where your son/daughter/student should be.
We know that students taking online course, distance ed, or self-directed studies often struggle to stay motivated. We also know that the class of 30 students in desks “receiving” their education can sometimes be a passive and frustrating experience. Our program will try to strike a balance between the traditional classroom and more experimental forms of education, including project-based inquiry. There is also lots to say about assessment -- we are going to try to push past just getting grades to authentic learning and mastery of skills. I am passionate about the subject areas and about creating meaningful learning opportunities for students, so I’m honoured to have the chance to do this work.
I expect this course will be both challenging and rewarding for the students. It will require that they take an active ownership of their learning (including time management), make connections with the subjects and lesson topics, and develop their own big questions into meaningful projects.
Warm Regards,
Glen Thielmann,
Teacher, D.P. Todd Secondary
No comments:
Post a Comment