Straight talk from a star principal in ‘Blended Learning Gets Real’

At Ashley Elementary, Zach Rahn implemented blended learning as part of a powerful school turnaround. Ashley was underperforming, under-enrolled, and slated for closure when Zach was hired to lead the school’s turnaround. He made technology a cornerstone of his new strategic plan, becoming the first 1:1 iPad school in Denver Public Schools.

Recently Zach presented key insights in the webinar Blended Learning Gets Real, and recommended that educators plan for evolution and continuous improvement in technology rollouts. “You have to be comfortable with a certain level of ambiguity when going 1:1,” he observed.

 

 

WEBINAR OVERVIEW:

– Ashley Elementary introduction: 2:58
– What does blended learning mean at Ashley? 11:02
– Outcomes from blended learning: 14:16
– Key wins and fails when rolling out 1:1 iPads: 19:12
– Top instructional tools used at Ashley: 28:07

Zach featured LightSail as “hands-down the best investment we’ve made at the school,” noting that reading was “more purposeful” at Ashley, and “the work for teachers [is] WAY more efficient.”

The full webinar can also be viewed on Vimeo.

Posted on 4.Apr.15 in Featured

Insights for your ELA Classroom

We've gathered information on the topics educators ask us about most often. Each post is written to be insightful, practical and most of all, based on what we know works from our experiences with tens of thousands of classrooms across the country.

Trending Topics:

  • Going Digital & Your Literacy Strategy
  • Engaged Students in Data Driven Classrooms
  • How Formative Assessments Can Guide Instruction

Sign Up For Literacy In Action

We protect your privacy and will never share your email address with anyone.