Too Much?

And then this happened....

On Fridays, our parish has Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  The students go to mass on Fridays and after mass Father prepares the Eucharist by placing it in the monstrance all while we are kneeling and singing.  This last Friday, one Kindergarten boy was intently watching Father do this.  Father carefully opened the little latch to on the back of the monstrance to place the Blessed Sacrament for prayers and adoration.  The little boy was not at an angle that he was able to see what Father was placing in the monstrance so with his background knowledge and prior experience, he quietly turned around to me and asked, "Is Father putting batteries in that thing?" :)  Ahhh....#teachable moment

This gave me a smile but also led me to reflect on everything digital.  This little boy with all of 5 years on this earth knew that when a little latch was opened that's where the batteries go and most things have or need batteries to work.  Technology is a part of the little boy's life, but how much is too much?

This week I explored and researched blended learning.  Blended learning does just what it says -it blends online learning with face-to-face instruction.  It has different looks to it in different classrooms  and schools but the outcomes in most situations include increased engagement, increased achievement and increased student performance. This is what we all want, right????

When I first heard of blended learning I was fearful that it was a push to diminish greatly the role of a teacher.  With everything technology driven and the push toward a digital world, do we even need a teacher in the classroom?  Will blended learning be the model of learning that we integrate to help us stay financially afloat by decreasing staff?  If it is, I'm not liking this idea at all...  I see students in classrooms, headphones on, hooked up and linked into the techie world.  The adult in the room, merely a supervisor, is walking around helping with technical issues, giving permissions to use the restroom, or is the official "clock-watcher".  This is not a pretty picture- dull, drab, gray....Communication, group discussions and collaborations, project-based learning, inquiry, questioning- where is it?  It is all missing...

Thankfully through the research that I read this week, taking the teacher out of the equation is not what the experts recommend.  Whew....  As a matter of fact they suggest and encourage just the opposite.  With any new model or concept proposed to increase student learning, actual teaching can NEVER be omitted from the equation.   The face to face contact with teachers and peers is something that students crave (whether they admit it or not!) and allows students to build relationships in order

to collaborate, communicate, and create.  We cannot shift from a teacher focused classroom to a computer focused classroom and expect student learning to increase.  We need to gear toward a student focused classroom that uses the best blend of teacher and technology.  With blended learning, teachers can be more accessible to students beyond the walls of the school and timeframe of the school day.  This builds that relationship even further and engages students even more. Relationships are what matters and that face-to-face contact of group learning, discussions with asking and answering questions, giving and getting feedback, and a general care and concern cannot be replaced.