Dr.

Söze:

Thank you so much for reaching out to include me in the district’s undertaking of blended learning.

Incorporating online learning within the context of a school building may seem like a daunting venture because

the amount of time and what actually takes place within the four walls of the school will vary from a traditional

learning environment based upon the type of blended environment the school is employing to best educate its

students. When blended learning is implemented correctly the reward will be worth the challenge; technology

and educator can come together in a way that can have the power to allow for personalized learning within a

classroom full of students. In order for this to happen, both teachers and administrators must have clarity

regarding what is considered best practice in an environment that challenges the traditional model of factory-

style education. In a blended learning environment, it will become necessary for administrators to adjust their

expectations during evaluations, as they may not always observe the “usual suspects”. Pursuant to your request,

I have outlined the following recommendations for adapting Danielson’s teacher evaluation framework as we

proceed through the adoption of the blended learning model at the middle and high school levels.

Classroom Environment

The current Danielson framework domain that assesses classroom environment has many components

that overlap with what a blended classroom will look like. Teachers will still be responsible for creating an

environment of respect and rapport, establishing a culture for learning, and strong management skills of both

classroom procedures and student behavior. Attributes as described in the Danielson Framework will also

remain the same, however, the way those attributes are demonstrated by the classroom teacher may look quite

different in a blended environment. The following charts offer suggestions for teachers and administrators as to

the habits of a distinguished teacher in a blended environment. Please note that the examples from the original

Danielson Framework may also apply in certain situations.

Classroom Environment

Danielson’s Component Examples of Activities for a Blended Environment

2b Establishing a Culture for Learning 1. Students participating in individual online coursework

offer to help one another.
Indicators: 2. Students are fully aware of the status of their online
1. Belief in the value of what is being learned coursework pertaining to both grades as well as
2. High expectations, supported through both verbal completion.
and nonverbal behaviors, for both learning and 3. The teacher has passed out rubrics for all project based
participation learning taking place.
3. Expectation of high-quality work on the part of 4. A student takes it upon himself to redo a lesson online
students to achieve a better understanding of the content.
4. Expectation and recognition of effort and 5. Students are working online or on projects without the
persistence on the part of students teacher’s prompting.
5. High expectations for expression and work 6. Teacher links what is happening in class to real world
products examples.
7. Students are aware of and abide by a basic code of
digital ethics

2c Managing Classroom Procedures
Indicators:
1. Smooth functioning of all routines
2. Little or no loss of instructional time
3. Students playing an important role in carrying out
the routines
4. Students knowing what to do, where to move
1. Students log onto computers within the first few
minutes of class.
2. Students do not ask if they are working on the
computer or projects, they get into their groups and
begin working immediately.
3. The teacher transitions students from computers to
projects seamlessly.
4. Students use required technology efficiently and
perform basic problem solving strategies to
troubleshoot simple technological “malfunctions”
5. Students are aware of signals for rotation between
small groups or activities and move without additional
reminders or signals.

The biggest change in classroom environment will be in component 2e Organizing Physical Space.

When walking into a blended classroom, there should be no expectation of this looking like a conventional

classroom or it even being set up in the same style as another blended classroom. Some blended models are

considered hybrids that help the traditional classroom become better, while others will disrupt the entire system

and call for a complete change in environment. According to Horn and Staker (2015), when using models like

the Station Rotations, Lab Rotations, and Flipped Classrooms, the basic “egg-crate” classroom may serve

adequately (p. 206) because it is a hybrid form of blended learning that preserves the rough contours of the

traditional classroom by maintaining face-to-face teacher led instruction and does not dramatically change the

flow of a student’s schedule (p. 73). Since there is no drastic change in environment, there is no need to view

these models any differently than one might view a technology rich environment, therefore potentially not
 needing any adaptation to Danielson. At the other end of the spectrum would be the Flex, Individual Rotation

and Virtual models that do much better in a wide open learning environment that has no “front” of the classroom

with a chalkboard or whiteboard and a teacher commanding the attention of a roomful of students (Horn &

Staker, 2015, p.76). As such, the following examples will only address the later models and if the school is

employing multiple models in one classroom, these examples can be applied at that time.

Classroom Environment (Cont’d)

Danielson’s Component Examples of Activities for a Blended Environment

2e Organizing Physical Space
Indicators:
1. Pleasant, inviting atmosphere
2. Safe environment
3. Accessibility for all students
4. Furniture arrangement suitable for the learning
activities
5. Effective use of physical resources, including
computer technology, by both teacher and students
1. Students are observed moving from using a computer
at a desk to a bean bag chair on the floor.
2. A space has been reserved in a portion of the room for
small group instruction.
3. A group of students move desks together to facilitate
group work.
4. Students have easy access to Chromebook cart and are
able to get computers as needed in minimal time.

Planning and Preparation

The district should be prepared to offer professional development in the area of correlating online and

offline content, as this will likely be an area that is unfamiliar to most of the teaching staff. As recommended by

AchieveNJ, administrators should utilize the information gathered during observations to make decisions about

the types of professional development offered to teaching staff (AchieveNJ and Professional Development,

n.d.). Additionally, teachers should be encouraged to use the feedback received during evaluations to plan their

individual PDPs.

Depending on the model of blended learning adopted by the district, specific indicators of the Danielson

Framework in Domain 1 may no longer be applicable. Certain indicators in Domain 1e, for example, may not

apply to teachers using purchased content in a Flex model blended environment, as those teachers would not be

creating lessons, per se, but rather supporting and guiding students as they work through the content at their own
 pace. According to Horn and Staker (2015), instead of lesson planning, teachers often find themselves
specializing in working one-on-one with students and in small groups, mentorship, facilitating discussions and
projects, and so forth.
Planning and Preparation
Danielson’s Component
1a Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy
Indicators:
1.Lesson and unit plans that reflect important
concepts in the discipline
2. Lesson and unit plans that accommodate
prerequisite relationships among concepts and skills
3. Clear and accurate classroom explanations
4. Accurate answers to student questions
5.Feedback to students that furthers learning
6. Interdisciplinary connections in plans and
practice
1d Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources
Indicators:
1. District-provided materials
2. A range of texts
3. Guest speakers
4. Internet resources
5. Materials provided by professional organizations
6. Teachers participating in continuing professional
education courses or professional groups
7. Community resources
1e Designing Coherent Instruction
Indicators:
1. Lessons that support instructional outcomes and
reflect important concepts
2. Instructional maps that indicate relationships to
prior learning
3. Activities that represent high-level thinking
Examples of Activities for a Blended Environment
1. Lesson plans indicate a correlation between online
and offline lessons and activities.
2. Teacher provides feedback to students virtually in
real time using programs such as Google Docs or
Hapara.
3. Teacher utilizes data collected from adaptive software
to formulate objectives for lesson plans.
4. Teacher provides directions for the completion of
assignments and projects in both online and offline.
1. Teacher takes graduate level coursework focusing on
education technology.
2. Teacher presents materials using a variety of virtual
tools (ie, Prezi, Glogster, HistoryPin)
3. District-provided technology (Chromebooks, Epsons,
etc) are utilized on a routine basis.
4. Lists of supplemental virtual materials are provided
to students to enhance traditional textbooks and
literature.
1. Online and offline activities are complimentary and
build off one another rather than being repetitive or
redundant.
2. Students are given a choice between several different
projects, each with online and offline components, to
complete as a portion of their final grade.
3. Students are free to choose from a variety of online
presentation tools (ie, Animoto, Glogster, Prezi)
4. Opportunities for student choice
5. The use of varied resources
6. Thoughtfully planned learning groups
7. Structured lesson plans
4. Teacher utilizes digital content to meet the needs of
all learners, including those requiring above and
below grade level instruction.
5. Students are grouped flexibly for various online and
offline tasks, depending on the skills and interests.
6. Teacher maintains hard copies of alternate lesson
plans in the event of technological malfunction.

Instruction

Administration and supervisors should be aware that instruction will be different from the traditional

classroom setting. The structure and pace of learning will be personalized to each student or groups of students.

Educators now have the following responsibilities but are not limited to; (1) Maintain a focus on high

expectations for achievement while providing feedback and opportunities for practice, revision, and

improvement, (2) Document and track learning trajectories that meet each learner’s readiness, strengths, needs,

and interests, and (3) Promote the development of “digital fluency” in students to enhance their ability to

interact in our digital world.

Instruction

Danielson’s Component Examples of Activities for a Blended Environment

3a. Communicating with Students
Indicators:
1. The teacher links the instructional purpose of
the lesson to student interests; the directions
and procedures are clear and anticipate possible
student misunderstanding.
2. The teacher’s explanation of content is
thorough and clear, developing conceptual
understanding through artful scaffolding and
connecting with students’ interests.
3. Students contribute to extending the content
and help explain concepts to their classmates.
4. The teacher invites students to explain the
content to the class or to classmates.
5. Teacher uses rich language, offering brief
vocabulary lessons where appropriate.
1. Directions and order of classroom movement are clear
to students in a rotation model.
2. Communication of instruction through discussion
forums and email are thorough and well planned.
3. Students work collaboratively on projects/presentations
in groups or through online programs such as Google
Slides.
4. In a flipped classroom setting, teacher may invite
students to explain content from previous online
session.
5. Provide face to face support on a flexible basis through
activities such as small group instruction, group
projects, and tutoring.
6. Provide social experiences where the students drive the
content through collaborative work in projects or
online discussions.
3b. Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Indicators:
1. Questions of high cognitive challenge,
formulated by both students and teacher.
2. Effective use of student responses and ideas.
3. Discussion, with the teacher stepping out of the
central, mediating role.
4. High levels of student participation in discussion.
3c. Engaging Students in Learning
Indicators:
1. Student enthusiasm, interest, thinking, problem
solving, etc
2. Learning tasks that require high-level student
thinking and invite students to explain their
thinking
3. Students highly motivated to work on all tasks
and persistent even when the tasks are challenging
4. Students actively “working,” rather than
watching while their teacher “works”
5. Suitable pacing of the lesson: neither dragged out
nor rushed, with time for closure and student
reflection
3d. Using Assessment in Instruction
Indicators:
1. The teacher paying close attention to evidence of
student understanding.
2. The teacher posing specifically created questions
to elicit evidence of student understanding
3. The teacher circulating to monitor student
learning and to offer feedback.
4. Students assessing their own work against
established criteria.
1. Discussions and questions are posed to students in real
time through an online platform such as gmail or
Blackboard.
2. Students in the flex model learn based on individual
needs, and teachers in a flex model initiate projects and
discussions to enrich and deepen learning, where
needed.
3. Students participating in online discussions through
programs such as Collaborize Classroom or Chalkup,
where students can debate, vote, and collaborate on
projects or content.
1. Learning tasks are personalized and students are
working toward their individual growth (e.g, Khan
Academy)
2. Teacher prepares Rotation Models to provide an
efficient amount of time for students to work in a
collaborative setting and online platform within
classroom time.
3. Teacher develops diverse physical and digital
environments that maximize learning within, across,
and beyond classrooms.
4. During collaborative learning (online or offline),
teacher emphasizes regular student reflection about
specific questions that draw out the learning within
the project.
1. Use online assessments as a tools to gather
individualized data for each student to help drive
personalized learning.
2. Teacher uses expertise to determine when intervention
is needed based on data results of assessment and uses
UDL guidelines to assist students in learning.
3. Teacher monitors students work in online learning and
provides daily, weekly, or monthly feedback to users
through emails.
4. Teacher embeds formal or informal assessments in
rotation models at each station to track student
progress.
3e. Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness
Indicators
1. The teacher’s adjustments to the lesson are
designed to assist individual students.
2. Teacher seizes on a teachable moment to enhance
a lesson.
3. The teacher conveys to students that s/he won’t
consider a lesson “finished” until every student
understands and that s/he has a broad range of
approaches to use.
4. Teacher persists in seeking effective approaches
for students who need help, using an extensive
repertoire of instructional strategies.
1. Rotate students through stations according to individual
needs collected from data through formative
assessments, i.e, individualized playlists.
2. Provide face to face support on a flexible basis through
activities such as small group instruction, group
projects, and tutoring.
3. Teacher exhibits in-class and online expertise in
different programs and applications to apply during the
lesson.
4. Employ the principles of universal design for learning.

Formative Feedback

In the Blended learning environment, one of the major objectives is to improve the quality of the

students learning behavior and to develop in them an awareness of the benefits of reflective, self regulated

learning (Ross & Welsh 2007). Students can improve the quality of their own work with an active participation

of assessing their classmate’s or peer’s work. Instructor’s feedback can supplement the feedback a student has

obtained from his/her peer. These multiple means of quality feedback help provide students with encouragement

and positive self esteem. Assessment can be used to promote learning by encouraging reflection on the task and

providing opportunities to reduce the gap between actual and desired performance. Not only can students make

gains in performance in content but also social development. Skills which encourage the social construction of

knowledge and understanding should be developed throughout the course. Students and staff need to be aware

that, not only are they learning about learning from a conceptual viewpoint, but that they must engage in

reflection on their own learning (Ross & Welsh 2007).

I look forward to working together on this blended learning endeavour. Please feel free to contact me

regarding any questions you may have with regard to the aforementioned suggestions.

Sincerely,

Roger Kint

Resources
AchieveNJ and Professional Development (n.d.). Retrived from
http://www.state.nj.us/education/AchieveNJ/pd/

Danielson Group » The Framework. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/

Horn, M. B., Staker, H., & Christensen, C. M. (2015). Blended: using disruptive innovation to improve
schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ross, M., & Welsh, M. P. (2007). Formative feedback to improve learning on a teacher education
degree using a personal learning environment. International Journal of Emerging Technologies
in Learning, 2(3), 1-7.