Published on NYMetroParents and printed in the January issue of all seven NYMetroParents regional magazines.
How an East Harlem school is utilizing blended learning in the classroom
Blended learning is a bold, new approach to education, in which technology is fully integrated with traditional teaching. St. Ann, a school in East Harlem, adopted this education trend in its classrooms and saw numerous benefits—both for the students and the community.
On the fourth floor of an old building in East Harlem, Phil Biondo is teaching fifth-grade math. One group of students works diligently in their workbooks on one side of the room, occasionally discussing questions or asking Biondo for clarification. A second group of students is taught by Biondo himself, at the front of the classroom. A third group of students, directly across the room from the first, wears headphones and works online on Google Chromebooks, using a learning program called i-Ready.Behind Biondo, a digital timer is set for 30 minutes. When it goes off, the students rotate between the three ‘stations.’ Biondo remains seated and quickly begins teaching the next group’s lesson.
Class at St. Ann looked very different four years ago, before Principal Hope Mueller came on board and instituted a blended learning program—one in which a portion of learning is done online, and data generated is used to track students’ progress and refine lesson plans and other teaching strategies. At the time of her arrival, Mueller says, the school was plagued by behavioral problems, and test scores were stagnant. “The faculty and I recognized something wasn’t working and we kind of brainstormed and thought about the fact that we were not meeting the needs of every child,” she shares.
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