Proposal for approval
Audience
Natha Howell Elementary School’s Principal
As you know, our superintendent, Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner, started the project 25/100. The district’s goal is that by the year, 2025 the 100 percent of third-grade students will be able to read at grade level or above. Our school and district’s previous data shows that a large percentage of students in the bilingual program are below average. In order not only to meet the expectations of the district but to overcome them in a period of three to five years, I propose we implement in our school a Blended Bilingual Program. This project is designed to help English Language Learners to develop outstanding Spanish reading skills supported by blended learning pedagogies because the most efficient method of learning academic English is through a strong education in the student’s native language.
I am excited to start a pilot program integrating blended learning in my second-grade classroom. There is plenty research that supports the pedagogical effectiveness of the blending learning model. The blended learning model helps educators personalize instruction and meet each student’s unique learning needs. Also, blended learning models set the student at the center of the education process, providing the potential of technology to generate more engaging, productive, and success-oriented learning conditions. I am going to quote Christensen and Horn, authorities in blended learning, to define blended learning, “[Blended Learning is] a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home. The modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.” Our goal is to offering every of our students a world-class education.
Even though technology is paramount in blended learning, I would like to highlight that blended learning is an instructional delivery model, not a technology plan but it does require the use of technology. Gradually, I will integrate technology into the classroom. My classroom will begin with just a few computers for students to work during their individual rotations.
Another key element is data. The data collected is utilized to develop instructional strategies adjusted to move students up to or beyond grade level at an accelerated pace. In this way, learners can work at their pace and have the choice in which pathway they will choose to prove mastery of their learning.
I request from you the opportunity to implement the Blended Bilingual Program in our institution to prove all the benefits this program can offer for our students.
Submitted by ,
Ernesto Herrera-Franco
2nd Grade DLE Teacher
