BLENDED (R)EVOLUTION:

How 5 teachers are modifying the Station

Rotation to fit students needs
BY CLIFFORD MA X WELL & JENNY WHITE

JULY 2017
Diane Johnson, 5th grade SY201314:
Whole-group lecture followed by
Orr Elementary School three stations: online, independent
work, games

AT A GLANCE STUDENT ETHNICITY SY201415:

Jan: Fellowship begins

Spring: Three stations, no whole-

group instruction

SY201516:
Collaborative station for peer-to-peer
projects

Teacher-created videos on
Blendspace

Open-space stations with

Located in Southeast Washington, D.C., Orr Elementary School participated in the districts new furniture
first blended cohort. Prior to joining the Education Innovation Fellowship, Diane Johnson had
settled into a Station Rotation routine in her 5th-grade math and science classroom. She started Students choose digital content,
off her class with a whole-group lesson, then moved students through three different 15-minute set goals
stationsone station was i-Ready, another was math games, and a third was independent
Spring: Labeled stations return,
work based on the lesson. Meanwhile, Johnson pulled out small groups of students as needed
goal setting removed
to hash out the lesson for students who needed a reteach or extra help. Every student went
to every station every dayand that was the hitch, Johnson said: Everyone was doing the Summer (pilot model):
same thing.
Flexible seating and furniture
As a 2015 Education Innovation Fellow, Johnsons thinking as a teacher shifted when she
visited other blended schools. She noticed that those schools integrated an increased measure of Weekly goal setting, students view
differentiation into their models, and she questioned the efficacy of the whole-class instructional data each week
model she had always used.
SY201617:
In whole-group, I felt like I was teaching to the middle and realizing that students who were
clearly [ready] for next-level stuff were bored, and the students who werent accessing the concepts Rotation with four stations
and understanding, I was always pulling them into my re-teach station. She took this idea back
Weekly goal setting, flexible seating

CHRIS T EN SEN IN S T I T U T E: BL EN DED (R)E VOLU T IO N 15

to her classroom and adapted her model to include a teacher station with began to peel away the visible markers of structure. She let her students
small groups that were organized by level. choose where they saton the floor, on pillows, on a couch, or at tables. It
was an adjustment for her as a teacher to let go of organized space.
From there, school visits to other blended-learning schools continued to
inspire her. On a visit to City Neighbors Charter School in Baltimore, I thought it would be chaotic and I would lose control of the space, Johnson
Johnson was inspired by the fact that the teacher didnt need to manage said. Because she could still monitor student progress online, however, she
and direct the pupils constantly. grew to feel more comfortable with students learning where they pleased.
And to guide her students along their learning path, Johnson added weekly
The students were so independent. They knew what they were doing and
check-ins so that she could share data with students and help them to set
why they were doing it, Johnson observed. I wanted my students to have
their own learning goals for the next week.
this mentality, to be able to speak to what they were doing, why they were
doing it, and be independent learners. After some time, though, Johnson realized that her students might benefit
from some of the structures that she had eagerly cut out. I was giving
students a lot of freedomto choose which program to go on, to let them
set their own goals, she said. But some [of their goals] were so unrealistic...
and I didnt give a lot of guidance. I wanted the class to look like what I had
I wanted my students to... be able seen [in other schools], but I was asking a lot of the students.
to speak to what they were doing, why Johnson decided to rein the model back in. She spent the summer break
tweaking and testing a revised approach. In her latest iteration, Johnson
they were doing it, and be has reinstated labeled stations around the class so that students physically
independent learners. rotate and know exactly where to work. Within each station area, though,
students still have multiple seating options. Johnson also uses a timer again
to move students through three stations: peer collaboration, independent
online practice, and small-group instruction with the teacher.
Today, Johnson believes that her students are benefiting from a return to the
guidance provided by the Station Rotation, while at the same time retaining
some ownership of learning goals, space, and activities. This key shift means
At other schools, Johnson saw that flexibility with seating and space leant
that even though all of Johnsons students are still rotating through each
students a new level of trust and a chance to take ownership of their learning
station, they are doing so with personalized goals on their mind. Keeping
process. Before [the fellowship], I always had the kids face away from me so
an eye on individual students needs, Johnson intends to continue evolving
I could see everyones screen, Johnson recalled. But I decided to have the
the model over time.
mindset of Give me a reason not to trust you.
I want to push toward a classroom where we dont necessarily have a timer,
Back in her classroom, Johnson made a dramatic shift: she transitioned her
she said. My vision is that the stations are there, but they are moving when
classroom from a Station Rotation to a Flex model. In that model, Johnson
they know they are ready to move, not when I say they are ready to move.

CHRIS TENSEN INS TIT U TE: BLENDED (R)E VOLU TION 16

 Diane Johnson: Blended Learning Model Changes Over Time
5th Grade Math
r Teacher Orr Elementary

Then Monday - Friday

2013-2014

Online Instruction Independent

Practice

Whole Group Reteach Station

Instruction

Math Games

Now
2016-2017

Monday - Tuesday Wednesday Thursday - Friday

Collaboration Collaboration
Online Station Collaboration

Independent Online Independent Online

Student Goal
Small Group Setting Small Group

C H R I S T E N S E N I N S T I T U T E : B L E N D E D ( R ) E V O LU T I O N 17