Innovation Plan Update
The Use of Smartphone Applications for Blended Learning for English Language Learners
"In life not everyone is comfortable with calling themselves a leader”. Drew Dudley
-Everyday Leadership [Video file]. (2013, August). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAy6EawKKME&feature=youtu.be
Change Must First Start With YOU!!!!!
This statement was true for me at one point in my career. Honestly, I never saw myself as a leader of change. I never saw myself as having an impact on teachers and students around me. In 2019, I was asked to become my building’s technology assistant. This was the first time that I started to see that I could be a person who could invoke change
My Passion
I have always been interested in technology and teaching with technology. I don't consider myself a very techy person but I will say that I am a hard worker and I am always trying to develop my craft within technology and teaching. There is something about blended learning that really resonates with my soul and ignites the passion within me. As I started to implement this into my school in the Library, I started to share my experiences with other teachers.
In the Fall of 2019, I started my journey at Lamar University. I was searching for ways that I could better help my fellow teachers understand how they could teach 1:1. The process prior to receiving our iPads was basically here, “learning to teach with computers.”
My Innovation Project
Innovation is not something that should be done haphazardly. It takes a lot of planning. You also need to have a defined purpose. Having a successful innovation plan, you must be dedicated to the process and understand that change takes time and will not and does not happen overnight. People must understand the why, the how, and the what.
As an innovator I needed to be able to explain the why. Without the why, my innovation plan I would have definitely seen failure. I needed to be able to convey my message to my staff through my why, how, and what statements.
Before I could present to my staff. I needed to get my principal on board. I wrote a letter to my principal describing a general outlay of what I was proposing. Along with the letter an outline of the plan was created in order to give a better understanding of the general timeline.
Promoting the Learning
I was given the green light to pursue my innovation plan. In order to excite teachers I created a promotional video about the use of smartphone applications to promote a blended learning environment for English Language Learners.
The Research-My Literature Review
With innovation comes research. During the research process, I think that I grew more in love with blended learning and what it had to offer. Blended learning is dynamic in so many ways. It allows for differentiation of instruction for students. It allows teachers a wide variety of models that can be used within the classroom. This research was used in order to help teachers see what is currently being said about blended learning in the educational world. After looking at the global context of digital learning and blended learning my innovation project was strengthened by an updated version of my literature review.
Growth: My Professional Development Plan
In order for my innovation plan to be successful planning was needed. I created a professional development plan for the innovation project. This was a very difficult task for me to accomplish. Without me planning the project was surely going to fail. I have definitely had my share of attending professional learning sessions but I have never created a plan for something of this magnitude. I really struggled with making sure that each time we would meet it would be done with purpose. If there is one thing that I know to be true, it is that teachers hate to waste their time. They don’t get a lot of time to learn new things in the first place and when they do they want it to be worth their time. This what I tried to encompass every time that we would collaborate together. I also wanted to make their experiences memorable, interactive and fun.
The Big Change!!!!
In March, Covid 19 changed everything. To say that things changed in the educational field would be putting it lightly. In March of 2019 my school district like many other school districts closed for the year. At the time, we didn’t know that it would be for the entire school year, but that unfortunately was the case. Teachers were thrown into the world of online learning with little to no experience for some. This created a huge road block for my innovation plan. I had no time to implement anything because I spent my time assisting teachers with how to properly use technology.
For some teachers my assistance was helping them set up Zoom. The problem for me came from the fact that most teachers learned only in a way that you could teach in person. My timeline of starting professional development starting in August 2021 has changed. Several teachers reached out and because of that they have started to work on changing their classroom. Due to COVID restriction some blended learning models are not used within the classrooms. Many of the teachers went to a flipped classroom model. This was done mainly out of necessity. Many of the teachers have seen success with a flipped classroom and have been learning by trail an error as they go along. They are also stressed to the max because they not only are trying to learn about blended learning but also implement it at the same time. Unfortunately for them, implementing blended learning takes time and this was something that I had done over the summer prior to myself implementing it into my own classroom. These teachers did not have the luxury.
In August school started back up, but not in the normal way. At my school district students were required to come into school but they would not transition from classroom to classroom. Teaching was still done 100% online. Many of the teachers that had flipped their classrooms continued to use this model. With the added stress of the beginning of the year, my innovation plan has been put on hold. Some teachers are working on transitioning to blended learning on their own and I am working with them in coaching sessions within their classrooms.
The Future
When it comes to innovation its not easy, but most things worth accomplishing are not easy. Through out the process I have learned that planning can be your best friend. I have not always been the best planner. If there is one thing that I have gained from this experience is the power of planning.
Another lesson that I learned was make sure that I understand who my audience is. I think that sometimes I was torn between the audience of my teachers and the cohort of students also going through the process. At times I thought it was easier to talk to people who understood what I was going through. I wish that I would have taken more time through out and done a better job of making it clear what I was getting at.
Overall I would say that the process has been very stressful, but at the same time very rewarding. I feel that I have grown and look forward to other opportunities to lead in. It really does start with a spark.
