Four Sprints to Phase Two

How to transform the traditional classroom environment into a Phase Two blended learning classroom in 60 days. 
​By: Marcia Kish 

What is a Sprint? 

What is a Sprint?  A sprint is an interval of time that focuses on three to four critical areas of change.  A sprint can last for one week, two weeks, or three weeks.  In the videos and photos, I will showcase a three-week sprint.  Note: This is a suggested timeframe.  A teacher must move through the sprints at his or her own pace and take into account how the students are reacting to the transformation process.  Classroom management and organization is vital for the transformation to be successful.  

The First Sprint

How to get started​

1. Prepare the students.  Explain to the students that you are going to be breaking the lesson up into learning studios.  Start with only two learning studios and gradually add in three and four learning studios before the first sprint starts. 
2. Start the first sprint! 
3. Change your space!  "If you change your space, you change your mindset" M. Kish Set up the classroom into four learning studios.  A mini-lesson studio, independent learning studio, digital content studio, and future-ready skills studio. 
4. Break apart a lesson into the four learning studios.  Take a traditional lesson and break it into a mini-lesson, independent practice (this could be the homework), digital content (a video, a video you created, or an adaptive technology tool), and finally a future-ready skill (a hands-on activity that the students can complete in ten minutes)
5. Set the timer!  Have the students rotate to each learning studio every ten-minutes

Week One 

• Prepare the students for the learning studios on Tuesday
• Deploy a Phase One lesson plan on Wednesday
• Tip: Start with a review lesson. It might help since the students will have some background information on the topic.

Week Two

• Prepare the students for the learning studios on Tuesday
• Deploy a Phase One lesson plan on Wednesday
• Tip: Start the first mini-lesson with the students that might struggle with the learning objective

Week Three

• Prepare the students for the learning studios on Tuesday
• Deploy a Phase One lesson plan on Wednesday
• Tip: Implement work folders.  This is where the students can place their work once they are finished and if they need more time to complete something they have a place to put the unfished work. 

Coming Soon... Sprints 2, 3, and 4