The K-12 education landscape is evolving, offering more options for students and their families seeking alternatives to the traditional model. Many desire flexible learning environments that better align with their needs and interests. At the same time, educators and school leaders are rethinking how to make learning more engaging and centered around essential skills or competencies that students must master.

Two instructional models driving this shift are project-based learning (PBL)—where students gain knowledge by tackling real-world and personally meaningful projects—and competency-based education (CBE)—where students advance by demonstrating mastery of competencies or key skills rather than completing a set number of classroom hours.

At FlexTech High School, these two approaches come together in a flexible model that enables students to incorporate their interests as they progress at their own pace toward graduation. To explore how FlexTech blends PBL and CBE, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI) researchers spoke with Dr. Sarah Pazur, director of school leadership at CS Partners, who oversees the FlexTech High School network in Michigan. The transcript of our conversation was edited for clarity and brevity. 

Can you tell us a little bit about FlexTech and why it was important for you to implement competency-based education?

FlexTech is a project-based, competency-based, blended-learning school offering face-to-face instruction Monday through Thursday with optional in-person student support offered on Fridays. All of our courses are accessible online through Google Classroom, allowing students to choose a learning model that works best for them—whether fully in-person, hybrid, or entirely online. Our advisory program, which is really focused on helping students find their purpose and make a plan for post-secondary that suits their passions and strengths, is the cornerstone of FlexTech. Beginning in the ninth grade, every student is paired with an advisor who follows them through their senior year and serves as an advocate for that student. 

There are three FlexTech campuses, all located in Michigan: Brighton, Oakland, and Shepherd. Each campus is small by design, with around 175 students at both Brighton and Oakland and 80 at Shepherd. Our small size enables us to offer students many options, flexibility, and one-on-one instructional support. FlexTech was actually designed as a competency-based school from the start. It was born out of a desire to provide options for students to finish high school—whether they weren’t going to finish because they needed to work during the day, life circumstances made school difficult, or they left their previous school because they weren’t successful, we wanted to provide these students with an option. Our flexibility and personalized support are designed to serve a wide range of students, including those who may not have been successful in traditional models.

What challenges did FlexTech face in implementing competency-based education?

One of our biggest challenges has been finding an LMS (learning management system) and a gradebook that work well in a competency-based/project-based learning environment to account for all of the competency-based nuances (e.g., indicating the “rigor rating” of an assignment, coordinating with a student’s transcript). Many learning management systems are designed around the student’s schedule; however, we need one that focuses, instead, on the project. This allows us to more accurately track competencies and allow for flexibility in terms of mastery. 

Another challenge has been tracking student progress. Because we’re competency-based, students can progress at their own pace, so we need detailed tracking systems to monitor which competencies each student has mastered and which still need work. Because of seat time (instructional time) requirements and expectations that students finish a course in a semester or in a year, we’ve had to create many of our own internal systems using spreadsheets and Google Docs, which allow teachers to make notes from semester to semester and year to year.

One area where we’ve experienced some pushback is around our grading scale. In our system, a 4.0 indicates a student can apply a skill in a new and novel way. However, the ceiling for an assignment that only requires mastery of a lower-level skill might be a 2.0. We’ve had to work hard to help parents understand that these numbers don’t directly translate to traditional letter grades.

Tell me a little bit about what competency-based education looks like in practice at FlexTech.

At FlexTech, competencies are primarily subject-based. While some competencies are multidisciplinary, most are tied to specific courses to ensure students meet credit requirements. To develop our competencies, we worked with curriculum designers and a consultant to create a crosswalk that aligns our competencies with state standards (e.g., MMC, NextGen, CCSS). This alignment process is crucial because it ensures that our competencies truly reflect the big ideas we want students to take away from each course. We continue to diligently revisit and revise these competencies to ensure they are still reflective of the right big ideas and standards. 

PBL and CBE complement each other at FlexTech. Most courses are designed to be project-based; however, some are more authentically project-based than others, as we do offer some off-shoot traditional courses for students who need them (e.g., a basic math class). Typically, students either a) start a project based on a personal interest or current event, and then, with help, competencies are wrapped into the project; or b) teachers create the “frame,” outlining specific competencies for the project, and then students create the “focus” based on their interests. Projects run for 3-10 weeks and typically focus on 1-3 specific competencies. Milestones, formative feedback, and self-reflection are key components of every project. Our project-based approach helps avoid treating CBE as a checklist, keeping the focus on authentic learning experiences. While there is a general class pace, FlexTech offers flexibility through asynchronous learning for students who move faster or slower. Daily project support time and one-on-one appointments on Fridays provide additional individualized assistance to ensure students stay on track.

Grades at FlexTech focus purely on competency mastery, unlike traditional systems where behavior or extra credit might influence grades. Teachers provide ongoing formative feedback to help students gauge their progress. Each campus functions a little differently when it comes to its transcript. When I was the principal at the Oakland campus, we used a conversion scale because parents wanted a more traditional transcript. However, the Brighton and Shepherd campuses offer a fully competency-based transcript, which is accompanied by a one-page explanatory document for universities (and parents).

How do you measure success with regard to competency-based education? 

We measure success in multiple ways. Because we’re project-based, students have the flexibility to demonstrate mastery of academic competencies in creative ways, which isn’t restricted by a rigid curriculum. Our smaller size allows us to track student progress very closely. Beyond academic competencies, we focus on students’ personal growth through the competencies outlined in our Portrait of a Graduate (e.g., passionate, problem-solver, growth mindset). Our Senior Chronicle serves as a culminating portfolio where students reflect on how they’ve grown throughout their time with us, including their ability to meet our Portrait of a Graduate competencies. 

We also measure success by hearing stories of FlexTech students who are relieved of the traditional school “pressures” (e.g., lack of flexibility, social anxiety, inability to catch up) and are now finding their way. A fundamental part of FlexTech is taking students who are not doing well and helping them, whether that means helping them for five or maybe even six years. However, maintaining our identity and inclusivity within an education system with a strict four-year finish policy is a challenge.

What advice would you give to other school leaders interested in implementing competency-based education?

Start by staying true to your values and beliefs about teaching and learning. Implementing CBE is not just about helping students finish faster—it’s about embracing a philosophy that requires a complete system-wide shift. This means rethinking everything from your instructional framework to your scheduling, course offerings, and even your LMS. Developing a shared vision is crucial, and so is being prepared to make some concessions along the way. 

It’s also essential to get everyone on board from the beginning, especially with the “why” behind CBE. We have a very personalized intake process, where we interview every family and explain how FlexTech functions. We also offer sessions during curriculum nights to educate parents and students about competency-based education and what it means for their learning journey.

Lastly, consider piloting the program on a small scale first to see how it fits within your school or district before going full-scale.

Final thoughts

FlexTech’s project-based and competency-based model is designed to give students more autonomy in how they meet academic standards and develop essential skills. While this approach provides opportunities for personalized support, it also presents challenges, such as navigating external expectations for a four-year graduation timeline and finding internal systems that can effectively track student progress in a non-traditional format. FlexTech continues to adapt its model in response to these challenges while maintaining a focus on individualized student growth.

In my district, we continue to work on preparing our students for a changing world. Maintaining positive relationships is always important, but we need to get our students to “learn how to learn.” While the situation may change, that value will always be constant. I discuss with my students that change is continuous. The other constant, though, is being able to solve a problem. If a student “learns how to learn,” they can work through changing variables.

As a teacher, I emphasize real-world applications and “learning how to learn” in all of my classrooms. Preparing students for the real world outside of our classrooms/schools is a significant goal of education. I use a variety of research-based tools in my classroom, including technology, primary and secondary resources, small and large cooperative group work, and relevant/rigorous content.

Technology, along with the incorporation of blended learning, has helped our staff meet the needs of our students in an effective way. We have also been more intentional about the use of our technology and the incorporation of another tool in our toolbox. Tools are great, but asking ourselves why we should implement tools and how it impacts student learning should be considered. Using technology just to say, “we are using technology,” shouldn’t be the goal.

Our students have always craved relevant, real-world applications. High expectations, along with the support that is necessary for students to achieve them, has always been important. This has not changed. I feel that the most significant change has been that students have been put in more situations where they can influence their learning. They are more responsible for creating and using learning tools, which has been aided by the incorporation of blended learning.

Blended learning and the effective incorporation of technology into the classroom has helped students “learn how to learn.” The engagement has increased. Relevancy has increased. Rigor, when done appropriately, has also increased. Learning has been impacted in a positive way.

Education is a career that I am passionate about. I enjoy the big picture of education and look forward to continuing to serve students, their families, and the greater community. The field of education is a noble yet difficult career. Doing our best and inspiring others to do the same is imperative. We owe it to ourselves, the district, the community, and most importantly, we owe it to the students.

Welcome to Digital Backpack! In our first Digital Backpack cast, we chat with Traci Smith, a high school English teacher at De La Salle. She shares some gems about connecting with students, creating an atmosphere of trust and how she uses technology to help with all of it!

In this first episode, we chatted about…

• Updates to Google Classroom — more specifically the comment bank feature! It’s a great way to save commonly used feedback and save you time while still providing feedback to your students.
• Creating an advisory program to build community within a school and across grade levels.
• Frequently asking for feedback from students and colleagues, processing the data and then discussing results with key stakeholders. Traci had some great insight into how this builds support in her classroom and school.
• In our “morning announcement” we share how a high school PE teacher is working to integrate technology into his PE class!
• If you like listening to this podcast and want to apply and explore the concepts a little more deeply, consider joining us in Podcast PD (Screencasting, the Future of Education or Google Forms, Failure-Free Failing & CBE

Make sure to subscribe to listen to future episodes!

In this episode, we chat with our colleague Emily Sicilia about engagement in the classroom. We explore how to define that engagement and chat about Hoopla, an app Emily shares that has changed our reading lives!

SHOW NOTES

We kick off this cast in our usual way by chatting about summer camps! After that, we conversed about a few more things:

• Emily shared the Hoopla app with us. It’s an app that’s connected to your local library and allows you to download a certain number of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and movies per month. Unlike other apps like this, it’s free and you don’t have to wait in line!
• On the heels of the Teaching Learning Coaching Conference, Emily was excited to share some of her biggest takeaways, including how she connected with educational consultant, Steve Barkley, who shared the idea of Student Production Behaviors in terms of engagement and talked about this TED talk from Reggie Rivers about behaviors versus goals.
• Jeff mentioned the Triple E Framework and how it pertained to the talk of engagement for students in the sense of false engagement through a learning activity as opposed to the content of the learning. Erin also referred to Schlechty’s Levels of Engagement and discussed how students might move between the different levels.
• We took a collective deep dive into working with teachers on engagement and the approaches that Erin and Emily find work best with educators and the “true north” of honoring and empowering educators and the knowledge they bring to the table.
• We also gave a big thank you to Mike Dewey for responding to our last #campfireQ and encourage you to share more with us about this episode’s #campfireQ which is: what are your thoughts on engagement? How do you engage your learners? Call in to our Google Voice Number and share your thoughts – (616) 929-0085.
• Want to check out Podcast PD and get SCECHs for listening and doing a little application? Try Screencasting, the Future of Education or Google Forms, Failure-Free Failing & CBE.

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!

You’ve heard of blended learning. You’ve read about blended learning. You know about models of blended learning and tools that can be used in the blended classroom.

But the question our blended learning coaches get asked most often is:

“Yeah, but what does it look like?”

It’s one thing to learn about a new pedagogical technique. It’s another to see it in action. The devil is in the details, and incorporating technology into the classroom is often easier said than done.

If you’re looking for examples of blended learning in action, look no further!

Welcome to The Blended Files, our super-secret project (shhhhhhh) where we visit the classrooms of Michigan teachers and share the strategic and thoughtful ways they’re incorporating technology into their lesson plans.

Here’s one teacher we visited recently who really inspired us with her awesome blended classroom!

Case #1: “As Seen on TV: Blended Learning’s Greatest Achievements”

Grade Level: Seventh
Subject: Social Studies
Blended Model: Thoughtful Use of Technology

As we enter her classroom, Mrs. M — a 7th-grade social studies teacher at Hamilton Middle School — shines a bright smile our way. We sneak toward to the back of her classroom and sink into two unoccupied, cozy chairs.

She’s standing in front of her students, most of whom sit in standard, one-person desks, though a few occupy standing desks in the back of the room. She’s got that teacher presence, you know? The kind of warm and welcoming presence that makes you feel right at home.

We quickly uncover this much:

The goal of today’s lesson is to inform students about our world’s historical empires. Rather absorbing this information passively through lecture, however, Mrs. M asks them to participate in reframing the narrative using everyone’s favorite genre:

The infomercial!

They’re going to create an advertisement following this pattern:

“As Seen on TV: The ____ Empire’s Greatest Achievements.”

Pretty cool, right?

To start out, the kids watch examples of popular commercials. While watching, Mrs. M asks them to consider different ways commercials hook in their audience, compelling them to keep listening and learn more about their product. They’re studying the genre before beginning the process of creation.

She gives some examples, asking the students to identify the company or product being represented.

Here’s the real mystery:

None of the kids recognized the GEICO Caveman:

Seriously. . . Are we that old??!

Apparently, this beloved commercial is already a piece of history. . .

Then, the assignment begins.

In pairs, students are asked to choose a specific empire’s achievement (from a list curated by Mrs. M), research this achievement, and share their findings with the class in the form of a commercial, including whether or not this achievement is still used today.

The students have voice and choice in the genre they used to make this advertisement. For example, one pair of students chose to do a rap and interpretive dance combo.

Yeah. . . It was pretty impressive.

Before students were allowed on their devices, however, they were first asked to organize and plan their project, including making a KWL chart to guide their learning.

Then, and only then, were they allowed on their devices. Once they received approval from Mrs. M, they could get to work on creating their projects using the powerful tools of technology!

We’ll file this one away under:

Thoughtful use of technology.

Why is this an awesome example of blended learning?

Even though it might not initially strike you as an obvious example of blended learning, Mrs. M put a lot of strategic thought into how technology would be most useful in this lesson.

She asked her students to use technology, but in a very specific way.

Rather than sending them blindly to Google, she curated a list of online resources for them.

Before even giving them access to their devices, she asked them to plan and organize their thoughts using an old-fashioned KWL chart.

By approaching the lesson this way, Mrs. M gave her students all the necessary tools they needed to complete their work successfully, all while allowing them to choose their own topic, partner and method of delivery.

With the appropriate scaffolds in place, the technology used became even more useful.

The moral of the story?

Blended learning isn’t all about cramming technology into every part of every lesson possible.

It’s about blending holistically.

As our own Jeff Gerlach writes:

Teachers trump tools every single time.

How can I use these strategies in my blended classroom?

If you’re wondering how to emulate Mrs. M’s blended strategy in your classroom, consider this:

It’s all about planning — about considering how technology plays a role in your lesson and why.

If you need a little more guidance:

Download our free Learning Cycle Planning Document

This sheet will help you walk you through the basic, asking questions like:

• What are your learning targets/goals in this lesson?
• What instructional strategies, activities and assessments do you want to include?
• Which of these are best suited for a face-to-face environment?
• Which are best suited for a digital environment?

We hope this sheet helps you create an awesome blended lesson like Mrs. M’s!

Interested in learning more about blended learning?

Our team of professional learning specialists regularly travel around the state of Michigan to provide free or low-cost regional training in best practices in blended learning for educators.

Check out our dates and locations to find blended learning training in your area, or request customized training and coaching!

Explore Our Blended Learning Training Options

Let me be perfectly clear: It’s not me. It’s you.

My old friend —

When I first started teaching, it was always you holding my hand and trying to help me grow stronger. You were there for my first conference, where I geeked out with other educators and left so inspired to take my pedagogy to the next level.

You were there when I hosted my training event for teachers at my school. You taught me your ways, and I did exactly as you said. I made a PowerPoint presentation, memorized each word, and even prepared a few questions to stimulate discussion at the end.

Since the beginning, you’ve set my expectations for what professional development should be like.

This may be difficult to hear, but it’s time for our relationship to end.

This just isn’t working for me. I’m not getting enough out of it anymore.

The hard truth is:

Your methods don’t work well for helping students master concepts, so why should I have any reason to believe that they work for me?

I’ve learned enough about pedagogy to know what I need, and it’s not getting lectured at for 30-minutes in a packed conference room.

Honestly, you should know better. You spend all this time lecturing at me about how to be a good teacher, but you don’t even practice what you preach! When it comes to teaching me, you operate on a different set of values.

The hypocrisy!

But we’ve had this argument before, haven’t we? I’ve been pushing back for years, but still, you remain the same. Rather than rehashing this conversation, I’m moving forward with my life, without you.

I’m holding myself and my fellow educators to a higher standard.

It’s not easy.

But still, we owe it to ourselves and each other to demand better professional learning opportunities. As experts in the art of teaching, we should not settle for less when it comes to our own education.

We must practice what we preach.

I wasn’t going to mention this, but I suppose you should know:

A new approach has stolen my heart.

It all started last year when I flew down to Texas to attend one of Heather Staker’s Blended Learning Live! events. What I experienced there changed my perspective on professional learning. That’s when I first began to realize that your way is not the only way.

You see, even though Heather’s an expert in blended learning, she recognizes that teachers are experts, too. They’re experts in their schools, curricula and students. They know what’s going on in their building better than she ever could.

So she leverages their expertise and empowers them. She offers them a common vocabulary, a toolkit, a few ideas and suggestions. But ultimately, she lets them go through the creative process of figuring out the logistics of how to implement this pedagogy in their classrooms.

Here’s what really astounded me:

Even the attention and energy in the room felt different.

Rather than just consuming information, we each took on a role of active creation. All around the room, different groups were working together on creating solutions for their school district. While Heather served as a facilitator, everyone else in the class worked at their own pace, working in groups or on their own devices.

That’s when I realized:

This is what a successful blended classroom looks like! This was part of the lesson!

By experiencing what it felt like to be a blended learning student, I gained deeper insight into how to craft this experience for my students.

Sometimes, the medium is the message.

I guess it all goes back to that adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

But instead it’s something like this:

Give someone a lecture on pedagogy, and you teach them for a day. Show someone what it feels like to experience this pedagogy as a student, and you teach them for a lifetime.

Sure, it’s not quite as concise as the original proverb, but you get the point.

Anyway, I’m not trying to make you feel jealous here. But now that I know what it feels like to be engaged and empowered in my professional learning, I won’t settle for less.

I’m sorry, but we’re over.

Now, I have the wonderful opportunity as a professional learning coach at Michigan Virtual to host sessions of Blended Learning Live! with my team. We do our best to live by Heather’s philosophy and simulate the same energy and productivity for our classes.

I’ve already seen some educators create some innovative solutions to problems that their school district faces every day. I’ve seen them revolutionize outdated systems to increase student success. I’ve seen them think outside the box and work together in incredibly powerful ways.

It humbles me every time. It makes all the effort and intentionality worthwhile.

And that’s why I can’t go back.

In this episode, Jeff and Erin chat about the concept of “power with vs. power over” — inspired by a recent book study of Jim Knight’s High-Impact Instruction — and host a great interview with the always amazing Val Capel.

We also invite you to call in and tell us a little bit about your student teaching/pre-service teaching experiences! Leave us a message at (616) 929-0085! If you’re the lucky winner, we’ll provide you with a free ticket to Day Camp, our summer conference.

SHOW NOTES

We had a great time thinking deeply about quite a few things in this episode. In case you’re curious, here are a few links to dive deeper:

• The concept of “power with vs. power over.”  This concept comes to us from Jim Knight’s book High-Impact Instruction. We share a few of our own experiences and dive into how teachers might be able to utilize this concept to shift the culture in their classroom.
• We also referenced restorative justice and this podcast from Cult of Pedagogy.
• Next, we jumped into an interview with Val Capel, an amazing 3rd-grade teacher from Hamilton. She shared out some of the processes she uses with pre-service teachers. To take a peek at some of those resources, head to this link. Val also shared how they’ve been developing online courses in Kickstand and gave us some insight into her summer learning plans which focus on instructional coaching and looking into more resources from Jim Knight. (We love his latest book, The Impact Cycle.)
• If you’d like to learn more about our summer conference, Day Camp, check out daycamp18.eventbrite.com! We’re excited to feature Michael Bonner as our keynote speaker (he’s been on Ellen) but also to carve out time for attendees to collaborate and share with other educators.
• Lastly, Jeff mentioned how we’ve taken a few podcasts and turned them into professional learning opportunities for you. To learn more, head here!

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!

In this episode another podcast about … podcasts?

Now, here are the notes:

Jeff talks about the start of his podcast session at Rebel U. You can check out his slide deck here and jump into the padlet here.

You can also check out an article he used as an activator in his session. The article by teacher and author Michael Godsey illustrates how Godsey found value incorporating podcasts into his classroom.

Teachers from Jeff’s session at Rebel U explain why they might consider using podcasts in their classroom!

Erin discusses Story Pirates, a favorite podcast for her colleague’s kiddos.

In the #campfireQ segment we work on answering the question: What is your favorite aspect of facilitating a learning session with teachers? Erin and Jeff share their faves and chat a bit about learn.BLEND.lead., a yearlong program for teachers who are ready to dive deeper into integrating technology in their classroom in meaningful ways.

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!

A podcast about… podcasts! Jeff and Erin discuss a cool tool (anchor.fm) for recording podcasts and how teachers might think about using podcasts in the classroom.

The notes:

We chat about the weather — and the crazy amount of snow that’s falling in northern Michigan!

Jeff shares about anchor.fm, a great app and website to simply create podcasts and send them out to listeners.

In the #campfireQ segment we work on answering the question: how can podcasts be used in the classroom? We came up with some ideas that range from parental connection to student reflection. We also mentioned this great articlethat explores how a teacher encouraged his students to read by listening to a podcast and following along with the transcripts, and this video about how Radiolab plans and produces their podcast. Last, we promised you a link to this document where we’ve started to list podcasts that could relate to subject areas (if you have more ideas than what we’ve listed we’d love to hear them!)

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!

In this episode, Jeff and Erin share about Flipgrid and how they ‘dig’ using it with students and teachers alike. They also engage in the great chicken/egg debate of educational technology: what comes first, the technology tool or the learning?

Now, here are the notes:

• We’re digging Flipgrid! We love using Flipgrid as a space for video discussion prompts and allowing participants to get “meta” and share their thinking. We especially appreciate its intuitive, easy-to-use design.
• In our #campfireQ discussion, we take on a debate we regularly mull over: what comes first the learning goal or the tech tool? Listen to how our thoughts and ideas have grown or changed over the years. Feel free to share your take with us, too!

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!