Vanflections: Evolving why and how.

itsLearning is a platform. ✔

Learn how to collaborate with teaching partner. ✔

Learn how to create a playlist. ✔

Learn how to individualize playlist. ✔

Make it look cute. ✔

Implement platform and manage student agency, digital expectations and

anticipate other ambiguous and challenging things... ↭

I have recently realized I am moving from a "superficial why" to slowly uncovering my real "why" as an itsLearning user. Part of my "evolving" why is connected to better understanding and learning the pedagogy (clothed by the platform). Definitely- itsLearning is a powerful tool for our students.

What I mean by that is more important than understanding the "nuts & bolts" of itsLearning is understanding the shift in pedagogy that comes with implementing and using the platform with students. The "nuts and bolts" allows users to create anything! itsLearning truly a blank canvas with limitless creative possibilities. It's so exciting!!

Unfortunately creativity has a needy cousin-- practicality. Let me first say I have taken a million Myers Briggs personality tests and they have all said that I am a true to the core ENFP . ENFP's are known for being creative but lacking in practical skills. To connect the dots I know next in my journey is to learn more about the pedagogy of blended learning.

So what I can tell you so far is that there are still many missing pieces to implementing a playlist into the classroom. I am a constant work in progress and have been working on:

1. Holding students accountable

1. Setting students up to be successful.

1. Maintaining student to student and teacher to student relationships.

In regards to setting students up to be successful here one something I strategy I have used:

I've named it "mirroring." The idea of mirroring is that as a teacher you pair warm ups with content students will later encounter on a playlist. It's NOT rocket science but it is something I have learned that is imperative to student success.

For example: I wanted students to participate in an online discussion where they had to analyze two word problems and write about it.

Discussion on playlist:

Strategy: Mirror similar activity in warm up prior to students accessing discussion online:

Student's solve 2 word problems then have class turn-and-talk/class discussion & write an analysis in their journal.

Class warm up: Rehearse solving 2 types of word problems.

Close warm up: Students compare and contrast the structure of the 2 word problems by discussing with classmates how were they similar, and how were they different. For example 1 problem uses a table the other does not.

Result: The purpose and timing of doing this whole group warm up is because later students encounter a similar activity while working through their playlist and we want them to be successful:

Mirroring could also be done in small groups:

I knew that near the end of a playlist students would encounter an activity that asked them to determine a jeweler was selling real or fake "gold" (based on its density) and they had to justify their answer.

I also knew that another student learning goal we had was for students understand the tools used to measure mass and volume.

During small groups we killed two birds with one stone. Unplugged with dry erase boards and measuring tools students used a triple beam balance and displacement to determine if the sample of "gold" (pyrite) was real.