February 6, 2017

I am going to attempt to influence change at my campus for the teachers to adapt and enhance blended learning for students.  When I sit down and think about implementing blended learning on my campus, I realize it will not be an easy task; there are many aspects and factors that need to be takin into consideration to ensure successful change.

My goal to implement blended learning starts with developing a plan to motivate and encourage teachers to participate in the blended learning process.  To successfully make a change at my school I must develop a plan and a way to measure the plan to ensure success in my change.  In order to develop the most successful plan for change, I am going to implement ideas based on the book Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change (2013).  According to Influencer, there are three keys to influence change.  The three keys include, focus and measure, finding vital behaviors, and engaging all six sources of influence.  I took several of these aspects into consideration when developing my plan for implementing change in my organization.

Results I Want to Achieve

The results that I want to achieve is to increase the blended learning environment at Baker 6^th Grade Campus by having all core teachers implement two blended learning assignments a week by June 26, 2017.

Implementing blended learning will benefit students in the future of education and society.  With advancements in technology, more educational institutions are moving to technological based forms for learning and communication. 

Vital Behaviors I am Trying to Change

• Teachers deliberately develop lessons to promote a blended learning environment including but not limited to flipped classroom videos,
• Teachers will be evaluated on their use of blended learning on their yearly performance review.

According to Influencer, the following 4 key strategies will help in identifying the vital behaviors you wish to change.

1. Notice the obvious
   • Students are not always engaged in assignments and activities.
   • Teachers dislike making copies that students inevitably lose; with blended learning, assignment can be done digitally.
   • Teachers do not like bringing heavy bags of student work to grade. Since work is done digitally, teachers can grade assignments from any computer. Some websites and programs will grade assignments such as quizzes for teachers which saves time.
2. Look for crucial moments
   • I recently polled several of my classes and noted that the majority of students have access to a computer or internet device at home. If we can increase the number of minutes a student in completing school work and assignments a week, we can hopefully increase their scores on tests and assignments.
   • If students are frequently absent, they can receive their information using flipped classroom, teachers can e-mail assignments for individual students.
   • ITS are on campus every Thursday to help teachers with technology implementation in the classrooms.
3. Learn from positive deviants
   • I am a positive deviant in my organization; I already have a little bit of experience implementing blended learning so I can be beneficial for teachers who need help.
   • The ITS in our district are also positive deviants because they can also help teachers implement blended learning.
4. Spot culture busters
   • To increase blended learning in the classroom, we will develop a way for teachers to be evaluated on their use of blended learning.
   • Simply devoting a time for teachers to share their ideas on developing a blended learning environment, could help teachers who are less comfortable with blended learning open up and be more willing. According to Influencer, this is called crucial conversation.

“One of the most potent behaviors for driving change is influencing people to speak up about a previously emotionally of politically risky issue.” (Grenny, 2013, Loc 819).

Six Sources of Influence

I was able to use the factors above to develop a six sources of influence table to help with my plan to implement blended learning on my campus.

	Motivation	Ability
Personal	Blended learning will foster a sense of self-direction and discipline to ensure future success of learners as a result of self-motivation. Teachers will develop an understanding for the need of incorporating blended learning as important for the future of student learning and success.	In class support. Professional Development trainings. Personal experiences. Instructional Technology Specialists will assist teachers in developing blended learning.
Social	Technologically experienced teachers model the use of blended learning in their classrooms.	Collaborative session which allow for the sharing of ideas in the use of blended learning. Instructional Technology Specialists assist teachers in implementing blended learning.
Structural	Celebrate the use of blended learning in the classroom with jeans passes. Integrate blended learning into performance expectations of teachers. Instructional Technology Specialists (ITS) will demonstrate blended learning lessons and will assist teachers in creating blended lessons.	Provide a scheduled time for training to ensure most beneficial use of technology. 1:1 laptop to teacher/ student ratio. Consistent and reliable Wi-Fi.

references

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change: 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.