Little Victories!

 Image from a Tweet by @tinaPCA

I saw this image and it reminded me of an encounter today with a teacher.

Last week I took a group of high school teachers on a blended learning tour.  They were all interested in trying blended learning in their classrooms, but they first wanted to see it in action.

I took three math teachers, two science teachers and a Technology and Learning Coach on the tour. All in all, it felt like a good tour.  We saw lots of different things in the classrooms.  There were plenty of opportunities to talk to the teachers and the students. So I thought things went pretty good.

But you never really know what the teachers are thinking on these tours. You just hope it goes well, and they get something valuable from the visit.

Today I went back and checked in with one of the teachers to see how they were doing in their planning for a blended learning unit.  Best part of the visit was when she mentioned that (paraphrasing here) she "felt rejuvenated since the visit last week." She had felt like she was "not in control of her teaching" and that she felt like she was just going through the motions.  Since the visit, she feels more willing  to try different things.  Little things like Google Forms and Flubaroo. Because now she can see the value in these resources.

I think she watered the grass and it got a little greener for her.  Oh yeah, it got a little greener for me too.