Since the start of the school year, I have integrated technology to help me better balance my split classroom. My grade 7 students have been using Google Sites for both math and science, created by my colleagues a couple of years ago. My grade 6 students have also been using Google Sites for both math and science but their sites were created by me. Although I have a good start, I have only managed to stay a couple of lessons ahead of them in planning.
For my course profile, I decided to work on a future math module. I will be focusing on the Shape and Space strand, more specifically SS6.1. Since I have previous experience using Google Sites with my students, I plan to work on making the Google Site more enhanced and engaging. Lumi is a tech tool that I have never used before that allows you to embed questions, polls, etc. into your videos. I will be investigating this tool further and use it to replace the YouTube videos that I am currently using. I think that this tool will help me create more personalized and engaging instructional videos.
Here is an example of my current grade 6 math (Numbers) Google Sites and the link to my course profile.
You make Google Sites look good! I honestly hadn’t thought of blended learning as a tool for blended classrooms until your post, but it absolutely makes sense. (How did teachers do it before technology??) It must be stressful to only be a couple of lessons ahead of your students. Hopefully this class will give you the tools to build more of the lessons and future years will be easier for you. I’m looking forward to trying out Lumi as well – the features look promising!
I honestly don’t know how split teachers do it without tech! It’s saved me so much time and kept my head on straight (most days). I agree, Lumi does seem promising, I look forward to diving into it further.