How does blended learning in a 5th grade math classroom affect teacher and student attitudes toward math, teacher class time, and student independence?

Seminar Title

How does blended learning in a 5th grade math classroom affect teacher and student attitudes toward math, teacher class time, and student independence?

Blended Learning (Station Rotations)

5th Grade

5th Grade

Mathematics

Mathematics

“Wait, what page?” “I finished. What should I do next?” “I don’t get number four.” How many times do we, as teachers, hear these questions. Chances are, too many. Frustration sets in because you already repeated the page number eleven times, there is no way Gavin should be done already, and you did number four as a class. My research was based off of the station rotation model of blended learning. Using stations in my math class has allowed me to structure my math class in a way that virtually eliminates these questions and allows me to be a better teacher for my students in the process. Students now ask each other questions instead of coming to me. They know where they are going once they finish work at one station, and they also know their job if they happen to finish before rotation time. Blended learning allows me to work with small groups during math. Natural movement and collaboration are built into station rotations to keep students engaged. I am still learning how to make blended learning better! If you are looking for a realistic session with examples of both failure and success on station rotations then this is the session for you.

Eric Plude Anoka Blended-5 erplud16@smumn.edu How does the blended learning in a 5th grade math classroom affect teacher and student attitudes toward math, teacher class time, and student independence? The central question that my research is based around is the following: How does the blended learning in a 5th grade math classroom affect teacher and student attitudes toward math, teacher class time, and student independence? The review of literature (beginning pages) consist of a collection of resources that help provide information that relates to the central question. Through my research, I have learned how to successfully implement a station rotation model of blended learning in my classroom. I have found free and paid resources that assist me with the online portion of blended learning and have also discovered a way to incorporate movement and teamwork on a more consistent basis. My attitude to teaching math has increased because I feel that I am able to get a better idea of each student’s needs as a result of more small group work. Student attitudes remain generally the same after implementing both styles of teaching, as some prefer the whole class instruction and some prefer the station rotations. I enjoy teaching math more with blended learning because I feel that the students are learning more from the station rotations. Upon reviewing the data that was collected, I can conclude that I have drastically changed the way that my time is spent in the classroom. I have gone from primarily whole-group instruction to primarily small group instruction. Students are now able to find the answers to their questions without coming to the teacher, and are busy completing their tasks. The amount of times a student asked me a question about the content during the average blended learning classroom lessons was one third of the amount during a traditional lesson. The amount of negative student behaviors/redirections needed has decrease with blended learning as well. I now am working on finding ways to break up the class even further so that I can have a small group that is half the size of what I have now without having twice as many stations. In addition to this, I am going to work on finding new ways to keep students motivated to give their best effort with each station.