The following is a true story. 

As I drove him from school yesterday, my 16 year-old sheepishly announced, "I got a 40% on my test in _______."  [Course name deleted to protect the innocent.]

After I corrected my almost-swerve into oncoming traffic, I regained my composure and inquired in a calm voice that masked my inner panic, "How did that happen?"

He responded, "Don't be mad. I got the highest grade in the class!"

I corrected yet another swerve.

He volunteered, "The class average right now is a D." 

I gritted my teeth: "There's nothing average about an entire class of students underachieving."

He attempted to assuage me: "Mom, it's okay. No one ever gets an A. Or a B."

I explained, "Maybe it's just me, kiddo, but I don't think that's okay. How is is okay for an entire class of students to be failing?  How does the teacher know you're all learning? Because the test would indicate that very few of you can show what you know."

He sighed, "Mom, please don't start with the teacher talk."

So I stopped. And not only because my sons get bored with all my educational reform proselytizing.  It's because I think it's totally uncool for me to call out my kids' teachers in front of them. I don't like being all Judge Judy on other educators. 

While my son put in his earbuds and tuned me out, I couldn't tune out my brain.

I'm not calling out my son's teacher here; he's not the only one.

I was that teacher. I was renowned for being the toughest grader in the high school English department, and I wore it like a badge of honor. An A was earned in my class--not granted. I believed I was preparing my students for the rigor of college by putting these obstacles in their way. 

Doesn't that almost sound like I was setting them up to fail? Wasn't I establishing almost insurmountable odds? How was I doing my job? What were they learning?

We have to meet our learners where they are.

What would happen if a doctor prescribed all of his patients the exact same drug for completely different illnesses? Maybe a minority of the patients will improve--but the majority of them will never, ever recover. Their sickness will continue. And the doctor would be guilty of medical malpractice. 

We have to meet our learners where they are. We really have to. And that means making sure we're doing our very, very best to reach the needs of each learner. We can do this when we give daily ungraded formatives (exit tickets in Google Forms, reflections in Flipgrid, or 3-2-1 checks in Edpuzzle). We can do this when we differentiate assignments in Google Classroom based on student needs. We can do this when we offer choice menus. Like good doctors, we should diagnose what each of our patients need--instead of writing them all the same prescription.

Teaching does not equal learning. Let's not be guilty of educational malpractice.

In my coaching, I meet many educators who want to give blended learning a try, but quickly dismiss it because they don't know how to get started. In these instances, I quickly defer to Catlin Tucker, a teacher, author, and coach who literally wrote the book on blended learning. (It's worth checking out.) Recently, Tucker provided some practical strategies for the teacher-led station in her station rotation model.  Click on the image below to learn more.

Providing a #TeacherBordered classroom means letting go of controlling the learning. It's difficult, sure, but when we don't allow students opportunities to explore, fall, re-learn, and succeed, then we rob them of the ownership and pride that comes as a result of discovery. Let’s stop feeding information to our students and let’s enjoy them figuring it out for themselves.

My friend posted the following to Facebook a few months back:

I didn't comment, as I have a semi-serious case of notification-itis. (I get itchy and inflamed from seeing my notification count exceed single digits.) But that didn't stop me from being totally amused waiting on the comment thread. As you can imagine, comments ran the gamut from disgust with "these kids today," to the "give him a break" pleas that could only originate from a mom.
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Had I commented, I would have asked, 

I've been using QR codes in the classroom for years. They make learning visible and three-dimensional. More importantly, when used properly, they provide a voice for students--something we really need more of in digital learning. 

Did you know that with Flipgrid, you can add QR codes to student videos?

​#AwesomeSauce

With digital learning (i.e., the 1:1 classroom) becoming more of the norm, teaching in traditional ways should start to fade into the sunset. Individualized learning, differentiation, and self-paced learning gets easier everyday. Follow these outstanding educators to learn how it's done:

• GAMIFICATION: @mrmatera  and mrmatera.com
• HYPERDOCS: @lhighfill and hyperdocs.co
• PLAYLISTS: @Catlin_Tucker and playlists
• TIC-TAC-TOE BOARDS: @shakeuplearning and interactive learning menus
• ​DIGITAL MENUS: @tommyspall and digital menus
  

My advice: Pick one strategy and get really good at it before tackling another.