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Growth and Fixed Mindset Lesson Plan

3/28/2017

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One of my favorite books that I enjoy reading and that I always recommend to educators is Mindset by Carol Dweck.  The reason why I love the book is due to the fact that I can use the concepts in the classroom, in my personal life, and with situations that I might find challenging such as wakeboarding, surfing, kiteboarding....

I have taken the concepts from the book and have developed a blended learning lesson plan that can taught in grades 3-12 and even in a professional development workshop.  Below you will find an overview of the lesson. 

Click here for the complete Lesson Plan and Checklist for Growth and Fixed Mindset
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  • Mini Lesson
  • Independent 
  • Digital Content
  • 4C's
  • Extra Resources
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For this lesson, we will breaking apart the class into four groups.  The mini lesson will be provided to a 1/4 of the group every 10 minutes.  The facilitator, aka teacher, will showcase the five key components from the book Mindset, by Carol Dewk.  The video below will show case what the mini lesson can look like.  For a copy of the Keynote, click here.  

Watch the video below to get a quick glimpse of what the mini lesson would look like with your classroom or professional development workshop.  
A 1/4 of the class will be starting out in the Independent activity.  The students can read the articles together or by themselves depending on their lexile levels.  If you have low readers, record yourself reading the articles so the students can listen to the content.  Once the students have finished reading about growth and fixed mindset, have them take a mindset quiz.  (Again, for lower leveled readers, record yourself reading the questions and/or have the students read the questions together)

After 10 minutes, the students will rotate to the Digital Content activity.  (Checklist can be found in the lesson plan template.  Click here to get your copy)

Click on the download button below to get your copy of the printable articles. 
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expanded_growth_mindset_mini_packet_.pdf
File Size: 6541 kb
File Type: pdf
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A 1/4 of the class will be working on digital content.  They will be watching videos on how the brain works as well as understanding the difference between growth and fixed mindset.  

The students will click on the provided YouTube playlist found in the Lesson Plan when they reach this activity.  After 10 minutes, the students will rotate to the 4C's Activity.  

Click here to get a copy of the lesson plan and the YouTube Mindset Playlist. 
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A 1/4 of the class will start out in the 4C's activity.  The students will first sort the growth and fixed mindset phrases.  The students will complete this activity in groups of two or three.   
growth_fixed_sort.pdf
File Size: 21 kb
File Type: pdf
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After the phrases have been sorted, the students will the dice to see what they have to create with that phrase.  See the video below to understand how the 4C's activity will work. Click here to get your copy of the App Dice
Complete online course to use with the students throughout the unit or school year. 
  • Mindset Kit - Online Course

More resources and ideas to use with the students or during a workshop
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ycla_lessonplan_v10.pdf
File Size: 174 kb
File Type: pdf
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Learn and Explore 

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Tech Tools for the 6-12 grades

3/20/2017

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Finding good technology tools that allow for creativity, communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and global connection can be difficult for grades 6-12.  However, we have come up with our top 15 Tech Tools that can be dropped into any middle of high school classroom.  
Click the icon below to download a free copy of the Tech Tools 
6-12_tech_tools_copy.pdf
File Size: 353 kb
File Type: pdf
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CUE 17 Conference 

3/20/2017

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There is something special about the CUE conference.  It might be that the conference is held in sunny Palm Springs or it could be the fact that 6,000+ educators were onsite eager to learn new ideas for the classrooms.  Regardless, we had an amazing time meet up with new and old friends.  

CUE Live

While walking down the hallway after our workshop on the Key Ingredients of Blended and Personalized Learning, I was asked to participate in CUE Live hosted by Chris Walsh.  The idea of the interview was to share out resources, suggestions, and tips for setting up a blended or personalized learning classroom.  
  • Workshop Notes and Resources 
  • Breakfast with Newsela
  • Poolside Chat
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The DSD Professional Development team was prevailed to present an hour and half workshop on the Key Ingredients of Blended and Personalized Learning.  This workshop focused in on allowing participants to experience what it feels and looks like in a blended learning environment while learning about the aspects of blended. 

We broke the lesson into five key areas
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Mini Lesson:  Participants learned about Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 of blended learning.  Together we watched a sample Fourth Grade classroom from Santa Monica and looked at the key aspects from the video.
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Independent Practice is where the participants had the chance to read about blended learning, explore different tech tools, or take on the Newsela Scavenger Hunt challenge.  
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Digital Content area was set aside so participants could learn more about the three phases of blended learning and watch blended learning in action.  One of the stops that most participants took was to take a look at how educators set up checklist in their classrooms for the three phases. 
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4C's Gallery Walk took the participants on a photo tour of different blended and personalized classrooms.  Each poster has three questions that the participant could answer.  The goal was to move to all eight posters within the 10 minute session.  
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4C's Maker Space allowed time for the participants to explore different types of tech tools that can be added into the classroom environment.  From building with K'Nex, to coding with Puzzlets, to Code.org, to Little Bits, and creating a paper kite.  Maker Space is a great 4C's activity that can be dropped into any classroom environment.  
We concluded the 90 minute session with a quick overview of tech tools that would fit into a blended learning classroom.  One participant asked me to name just three tools that I would put into an English Language Arts environment.  My answer: Newsela, Actively Learn, and No Red Ink 
Download the slides from the presentation by clicking the link below. 
blended_learning_mini_lesson_cue_17.pdf
File Size: 1383 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Grab a copy of the packet from the session by clicking on this link.  Use the code: march17 to receive 50% off any of the products in the store.  
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The DSD Professional Development Team had the previage to be guest at the Newsela Breakfast on the 16th of March.  Not only did we enjoy a fantastic breakfast but we had the chance to talk with amazing educators from around the country.  Thanks to Newsela for letting us join in on the fun and for breakfast.  
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It's HOT in Palm Springs!  So why not have a Tech Showcase while sitting pool side?  That is exactly what we did.  After our sessions were over, we headed to the pool to cool off.  While sitting there, we started to talk with educators from the conference.  In just a 10 minutes we were able to provide a snap shot of tech tools to use in the classroom.  This was an impromptu session that was just for fun but of course very practical.  Here our the top 10 tech tools that we recommend to the teachers that were sitting poolside. ​
  • Frontrowed- Math, ELA, and Social Studies adaptive program
  • GoFromative - Save 80% of your time by grading less
  • Telagami- Create an avatar with this amazing iPad App
  • Seesaw- a student portfolio builder
  • Class Hub - control and lock student devices
  • Quiver- an aqumented reality app to use with the iPads
  • Videonot.es- take notes while watching a video, ties into Google Docs
  • PearDeck- interactive slides that can be shared through Google Docs
  • Quizziz- review game like Kahoot
  • Smore- an online poster generator that can be shared around the world
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Blended Learning Student Checklist

3/14/2017

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One of the most common questions, we get while coaching teachers how to implement blended learning into the classroom, is "How do you get students to turn in their work?"  There is no magic wand that will get students to turn in work in a traditional classroom or a blended learning environment.  However, we have found a couple of ways that gets 90%+ turn in rate. 
This blog post will go over the following items to help keep track of student work as well as help to grade work faster. 
  • Student Checklist
  • Student Playlist
  • GoFormative
  • Paper Pencil 
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5th Grade math checklist from Pickerington School District

Student Checklist

A student checklist is generated by the teacher.  The checklist contains items the students must complete within a given amount of time.  Some teachers give a checklist for the day, the week, and even for a particular unit.  We have found that teachers tend to revise their checklist multiple times before it fits perfectly into the different blended learning phases.  The following tabs will showcase a Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 samples of checklist.  

​Note: these checklist were generated by the teachers we coach.  The school information, teacher names are located at the bottom of each checklist.  
  • Phase 1 
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3
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Phase 1 blended learning checklist are normally handed out to students on a daily basis.  We coach the teachers into developing a checklist early in the implementation stages of blended learning so that way the students get a costumed to using the checklist.  
Phase 1 looks like the following: 
  • The teacher breaks the lesson up into four parts. A mini lesson, digital content, independent practice, and 4 C's (creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking) 
  • The students travel around to each activity within a class period
  • In the beginning stages, a teacher might use the timer to direct the students to move to the next location
  • If the teacher feels like an activity might take more time than other activities the timer can be removed (Phase 1 checklist are deployed at this point) 
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The following is an example of a Phase 1 daily checklist.  Even if a timer is being used, it is important to start to train the students how to fill out the checklist so when the timer is removed, students understand the concept of the checklist. 
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8th Grade Math classroom daily checklist from Kirtland Middle School. 
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2nd Grade Digital checklist from Fortville Elementary
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Contact to visit any of the schools that we work with that are currently in the implementation phases of blended learning.   The schools are located mostly in Ohio, Indiana, California, New Jersey, and in New York. 

    ​Visit K-12 Blended Learning Schools

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Phase 2 transitions away from all of the students moving through the same activities from Phase 1 to allowing the students to move at his/her own pace through differentiated activities.  The students are given the choice in place to learn by themselves, in a small group, with the teacher, online and offline.  
The below checklist showcase content delivered in within a weekly timeframe. What you might not see is the fact that activities are differentiated based on the data collected from teacher formative/summative assessments and digital content. 

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The above checklist was created by B. Holmes from Etna Elementary School.  The checklist was for a 5th-grade Science classroom
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The weekly checklist is from a 4th grade math teacher room Etna Elementary School. 
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3rd-grade reading checklist was created by B. Rios from Pataskala Elementary School. 
Both Pataskala and Etna Elementary Schools are a part of the Southwest Licking School District, which is located outside of Columbus, Ohio.  Both schools have teachers that are striving towards developing Phase 2 and Phase 3 learning environments.  Fill out the following for to plan a school visit to see these amazing blended learning educators in action. 

    Southwest Licking Elementary School Visit

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Phase 3 Overview: Students are working through the content at his/her own pace, place, and path.  Project Based Learning and 20% projects become part of the checklist.  Also, note that the students have the ability to test out of different topics in Phase 3.  Therefore, a group of students can be in chapter 3 while an other group could be in Chapter 4.  
This is a unit checklist in a Phase 3 learning environment in Honors Geometry class. Students were given the checklist at the beginning of the unit.  The checklist included 
  • mini lessons with the teacher
  • group projects
  • Schoology quizzes to check for understanding
  • online learning program, Desmos 
  • independent practice
Students could pick and choice what he/she wanted to work on first, second, third... (The stamps were requested by the students) 
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The above checklists were generated by C. Fisher from Mentor High School. Fill out the below form to schedule a school visit to Mentor High School to see other fantastic educators implementing blended and project based learning.  

    School Visit to Mentor High School

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Other Resources for Blended Learning 

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March Newsletter

3/11/2017

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Newsela Scavenger Hunt

3/9/2017

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One of our favorite and most recommend language arts technology tools is Newsela.  Newsela takes a current event article and transposes it into four different Lexile levels.  Which means that a student can read the article at his/her own reading level and still be able to talk about the article with the whole classroom. 
What we have noticed in the classroom is that the teacher assigns the article, the students read the article and then the teacher looks at the data from the online assessments.  The teacher can then use the data to teach a mini lesson on the concepts that the students might not understand.  For example, main idea, sequence of events, vocabulary words... 
After hearing that the teachers are having a hard time engaging conversation with the students about the Newsela articles, we have developed a Newsela Scavenger Hunt that will go along with an article.  Our example is used with the article about Bao Bao a US Panda Bear Bond for China 
  • Watch and Learn
  • Step by Step Guide
  • Questions and Answers 
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Watch and Learn

Watch the video on the main idea of the scavenger hunt.  Stop the video to scan the different QR Codes

Step by Step Explanation of the Scavenger Hunt

Print out all of the attached documents and QR Codes found at the bottom of this blog post. 
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The start card will direct the students to read the article from Newsela on Bao Bao and her trip to China.  Students can read the article at his/her own Lexile level. 
Note: The students can work together in groups of two or three to complete this project. 
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After the students have read the article, they will locate the second QR code that has an image of the Newsela article.  (Feel free to hide or challenge the students to find the QR codes) 
The students will scan this card.  The card will prompt them to generate a Storyboard using the program Storyboardthat.com.  
NOTE: the students don't have to sign up for the program, they can just create the storyboard and take a screenshot of their storyboard.  
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After the students create the storyboard, then they will search for the QR code that showcases an example of a storyboard.  
The next QR code will direct the students to post three words to mentimeter.com.
Note: You can change the code and  create your own word cloud in mentimeter.com 
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After the students post three words to the Word Cloud, then they will locate a sample word cloud and scan the next QR Code.  
This activity, will ask the students to color in a Quiver activity sheet that relates to New Zealand. The activity sheet can be found in the printables attached to this blog post. 
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After the students explore New Zealand, they will be directed to practice their measurement skills using the website located on the QR Code.  (BiteSize by BBC) 
To show mastery of the activity, the students can take a screenshot and save it with their Storyboard
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In the article, the author explains the Bao Bao means precious gift.  In this activity, the students will get a chance to examine the meaning and trend of names through the website, names.org.  
The students will take a screenshot of their name chart and you can use the screenshot for a math or social studies mini lesson. 
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The students will find the trend graph of Bao Bao and scan the attached QR Code.  This QR Code will take the students to the YouTube video of Bao Bao preparing for her trip to China.  
Note: If YouTube is blocked at your school, you can download the video using Keepvid.com or Savevid.com
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After the students watch the video they will search for the YouTube video of Bao Bao.  
The next activity will take the students to the National Zoo website where they will plan a trip to the zoo.  Using the printable map, the students design a route to go visit Bao Bao's parents and brother that are still at the National Zoo.  Students can plan to stop and visit other animals while at the National Zoo.
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The students will scan the next QR code that will take them to a short quiz on the article and overview of the article using the program PearDeck.  
Note: You can either use my code that is provided for the QR Code scavenger hunt or you can create your own quiz using my sample questions. 
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The students will showcase their knowledge with the Bao Bao and her adventures and move to the last QR Code.  This QR Code will ask the students to create a digital poster using smore.com 
Note: Since this is a digital poster, make sure the students don't post any personal information on the poster.  
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This is an example of the digital poster make smore.com.  If the students can get more than 30 people to open up the poster, the location of the visitors.  
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Answer Key: Print out the Answer Key to help direct or guide the students.  

Can QR Codes work with Chromebooks?

Yes, QR codes can work with  Chromebooks, Surface Pros, smart phones, and iPads.  Below is a list of some of the QR Code Scanners that you can use with the different devices.  
QR Code Reader - Google Play
Scan- iOS App for iPads and iPhones

Grade Level

This activity can be used in the 3rd through 12th grade classroom.  The Newsela article can be read at five different Lexile levels.  Some of the activities can be modified ago fit the needs of the different grade levels. 

Content Areas 

This activity can be tied into the following content areas: 
  • Language Arts
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Studies

Length of Project

Blended and Personalized Learning Classrooms
If you are teaching in a Blended Learning environment, then this activity would be a part of the rotations.  It took a class five days to complete during their rotation activities.  
Traditional Classroom Environment
This activity can be broken up into two days.  Start the whole group out reading the article and once they have finished reading the article, their group can search for the first QR Code (storyboardthat) 

Free QR Code Scavenger Hunt Print Outs

newsela_scavenger_hunt_printouts.pdf
File Size: 11429 kb
File Type: pdf
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Checkout our other Resources 

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14 Tech Tools for the k-5 Classroom

3/8/2017

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Educators are always asking me the questions, 
"What are the best technology tools for the K-5 classroom?"
"Do you know of any good websites that will engage my students?"
"How can I mange the use of technology while teaching in a mini lesson?"

So I have developed a list of my top 14 Technology tools to add into any K-5 classroom environment.  All of the applications are web based and most are free or will provide you with a free 30+ day trial. 
tech_tools.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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30 Second Video on the Tech Tools 

Newsela

PearDeck

Class Hub

Frontrowed.com


Checkout Our Other Resources 

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Designing a Blended and Personalized Learning Classroom

3/7/2017

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Transforming a traditional classroom into a blended or personalized learning environment might seem like an overwhelming task.  The starting process alone of purchasing devices, deciding on wifi carriers, and internet security can sometimes delay the start of any new shift in pedagogy.  However, once a school decides to move forward with blended or personalized learning a yearly game plan becomes a necessity towards making the movement happen within a classroom. 
​Over the last eight years, the DSD Professional Development Team, has helped with the deployment of blended and personalized learning environments.  Below are just a few tricks that will continue to push your school district, building, or even classroom forward. 

Think Big but Start Small

Generating a blended and personalized learning environment usually takes an average of about three to four years if the right professional development and coaching is a part of the plan.  For example, stating to the teachers that every classroom will be transformed to a blended or personalized learning is thinking big.  The three year mini goals to get to the blended or personalized learning set up is part of the starting small.  Below is a typical three year roll out plan that we have used with the different school districts. ​
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The Six Levels of Blended and Personalized Learning

In order to insure success with the blended and personalized learning program, the DSD Professional Development Team has developed the six levels of teacher progression.  Each level contains ten areas to look for while in the classroom or during the coaching session.  By breaking down the levels into ten areas, the teacher now has the freedom to focus in on mini aspects of the big picture.  The sample below showcases the six different levels with assessment and data.
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Tracking and Goal Setting

After the ten areas have been identified and explained to the teacher(s), the instructional coach will help to define goals for each individual teacher.  The goals will focus in on the targeted areas that will help the teacher to keep progressing through the different levels.  The coach will not only support the teacher through the process of deploying blended and personalized learning but will also track the different levels of implementation.  The scores for each level are listed below.  The circle graph to the right showcases the current level of the 203 teachers that we are currently working at DSD Professional Development. 
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Coaching Software System

A software tracking system has become a major key factor in helping our teachers progress through the six levels of blended and personalized learning program.  As part of the blended and personalized roll out plan the coaches, principals, and classroom teachers can input data points and notes into the tracking system.  The tracking system will measure the different rubric points, provide possible goal setting strategies, and email out next steps to the teacher and principals.  The tracking system will also keep track of the number of contact hours with the each teacher and their current level score.  All of this data can be used to generate goals, workshop topics, and evaluation of the success of the blended and personalized learning rollout.  
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Start Planning Now for the Future

“What is not started today, is never finished tomorrow.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  
​There is not time like today to start thinking about transforming the classrooms of tomorrow.  The DSD Professional Development team has a lot of upcoming opportunities to learn more about how to roll out the six levels of blended and personalized learning.  We hope you will be able to join us as we continue to change one classroom at a time.

Wild Side of 
Blended and Personalized Learning 
Conference

June 13 and 14 at the 
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium 
Powell, Ohio 
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    Get More Information about the SIX LEVELS of Blended and Personalized Learning 

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    Authors

    Marcia Kish - Blended and Personalized Learning coach that designed the Three Phases of Blended Learning  
    Jeff Kish - Coding Expert that showcases how to implement coding into the classroom. 

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