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In education, I began as an after school teacher. By the time students got to my class, they were already checked out. One of my biggest challenges was helping students remain focused and not bored. A learning technique that we implemented program-wide in our classrooms included blended learning. The purpose of this model is to have students practice their skills and eventually master content via different settings such as independent work, computer program (technology) and direct instruction from the teacher. This did not only allow students to access content in different ways, but also supported student learning for those students that needed to see content in a different context and required a smaller learning setting during direct instruction to access content. In the classroom, this included three stations: independent practice, TTM (computer-based math program), and direct instruction. Student groups would rotate every 25 minutes (this time can be modified to your agenda) to their next station.
I found this helpful in keeping students engaged because they weren’t seeing the same context for an hour and a half straight. In addition, those students that had disruptive behaviors had a chance to get up and in a way “take a break” from an activity by transitioning to a different one. For these students, you can also assign a peer tutor/mentor that can support the student in staying on task and keeping the student accountable.
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