Innovation Plan

During my time teaching on our campus, I have had the opportunity to meet and build connections with so many students, even with students I have not taught. As I have built these relationships, I have learned so much about our students, their home lives, and the academic gaps that need to be closed. Due to so many of our students’ personal issues, many of them tend to lash out on campus. In response to the student’s misbehavior, there is constant redirection and loss of instructional time, and if the situation is severe enough, said student is sent out of class for detention, in-school suspension, or out-of-school suspension. These social-emotional disruptions create academic gaps because students are missing instructional time. Outside of their social and emotional issues, students also have learning disabilities, and accommodations that need to be met, and the majority of the time, students are usually on different learning levels. For instance, a classroom will almost always have students that are at, below, or above grade level curriculum. All these students should be provided the opportunity to be pushed to their full potential. So, for my innovation plan, I would like to address the causes of their academic gaps and use a variety of tools to remedy them.

I would like to address the challenges that generate academic gaps for our students by creating a blended learning experience in my classroom. Blended learning allows us to efficiently utilize our time wisely. There is an array of strategies that can be used in a blended classroom setting, like station rotations, flipped classrooms, and flex, to name a few. Students would prepare for their small group time with me by completing independent assignments or front-loading themselves with the information we will cover once they have their teacher's small group time. Once students make it to my small group table, I will be remediating or challenging them further, as needed.

I am proposing to pilot a blended learning classroom to enrich not only our Response to Intervention time but also during regular instructional time. I would like to utilize different methods of blended learning and analyze which ones work best for different students and their learning styles. Their small group time with me will be determined by their need for the day and or week. This will require me to collect extensive data daily on the students, because their needs may change by the day.

The benefits of my recommended solution are closing necessary gaps for our students so they can succeed academically and socially. Once students have the tools to properly identify their emotional needs and appropriately solve them, they will reduce the amount of time they are removed from the classroom. As a result, the students will be spending more time learning, and they can carry these tools into adulthood to become accountable and emotionally mature beings. Their academic gaps will be addressed by creating individualized plans and learning targets for each student, with our use of blended learning. In turn, our students will have the knowledge of the best learning practices available to them, and maybe share them with their future teachers to continue learning in an environment that best suits them.

In closing, I am asking for the opportunity to engage my students in a blended learning experience throughout our instructional and Response to Intervention time. I would also like to share my proposal and data with my colleagues, so they may be encouraged to utilize these tools in their classrooms.