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Session 1. Blended Models: What Belongs in Class?
Objective. Sort the learning moments of one unit into class and independent parts, choose a simple blended model that fits your school, and write a one-page blend plan.
Many teachers hear 'blended learning' and think of apps. In an Uzbek classroom it starts with a simpler question: which parts of this unit really need me and the class, and which parts can pupils do alone? Answering this unit by unit protects your scarcest resource, the 45 minutes you share with pupils, and stops you from moving lessons to a screen that half the class cannot open. This session gives you a way to decide, and models that fit the real conditions of your school.
Key ideas
What blended learning really is
- Blended learning has three ingredients: time in class with the teacher, planned independent work (at home, in school or on a device), and a clear link between the two.
- Putting a lesson on a phone is not blended learning. If the class part ignores what pupils did alone, there is no blend, only two separate things.
- Technology is optional. A printed page, a TV lesson or a library hour can be the independent part.
Four simple models
- FLIPPED: pupils meet the new idea first alone; class time is for practice and questions.
- STATION ROTATION: in one lesson small groups move between a teacher station, a practice station and an independent station (printed page, shared device).
- CATCH-UP PACK: a printed or audio pack for absent pupils or for pupils who need a repeat. ENRICHMENT: extra practice or reading for those who finish early.
Decide by purpose: who is the scarce resource?
- The teacher and the 45 minutes are scarce. Keep in class what needs them: hands-on work, discussion, feedback on misconceptions, first attempts at hard tasks.
- Move what pupils can do alone: reading a short text, listening to an explanation, learning terms with a self-quiz, easy first practice.
- A blend map (a simple table) shows this decision for each moment of the unit.
Start small and test the blend
- Try one model in one unit for two weeks. Do not redesign the whole year.
- Three tests before you start: Can every pupil reach the independent part? Does it fit into about 15 minutes? Does the class part use what pupils did alone?
- This builds on course 5.8 (Digital Teaching Fundamentals): use only the tools you and your pupils can really use.
A blend map for one unit (example)
In class
Needs teacher and peers
- Experiment
- Discussion
- Feedback on errors
Either
Depends on access
- First short explanation
- Easy practice
- Reading with help
Independent
Pupils can do alone
- One-page reading
- Self-quiz on terms
- Easy first questions
Choose the model that asks for what you have
Each model asks something different of a school. Flipped asks every pupil to meet the input alone, so it needs a route to the input for everyone. Station rotation asks for space, a few printed sheets and perhaps one shared device, so it suits a school with few devices. A catch-up pack asks only for printing. Enrichment asks for extra material.
Start from your conditions: how many devices, what home access, how many copies you can print, how big the class is. A model that fits these conditions will survive a bad week. A model that depends on conditions you do not have will collapse in the second week.
A blend map is a record of decisions
The blend map is more than a table. For every learning moment it records a choice and a one-line reason. If you cannot write the reason, the choice was a guess. Writing reasons also makes the plan easy to explain to a colleague, a head teacher or a parent.
Two rules keep the blend healthy. First, every independent moment must be used in class within a day or two; otherwise pupils learn that it does not matter. Second, review the map after each unit: early in the year more may stay in class, and as pupils build the habit more can move to independent time.
Examples from the classroom
Dilnoza and the plants unit
Scene. Dilnoza teaches Grade 6 natural science in Samarkand. For the unit 'Plants' she lists eight learning moments. She keeps the experiment with light and darkness, the discussion about yellow leaves and feedback on the idea that 'plants eat soil' in class. She moves a one-page reading and a six-term self-quiz to independent time and gives the page on Friday.
Insight. Purpose decides placement: what needs the teacher and peers stays in class, what pupils can do alone moves.
Aziz and the village school
Scene. Aziz teaches 35 Grade 7 pupils in a village near Fergana. There is one TV and few phones. He uses a station rotation: six groups of about six pupils move through three 12-minute stations (teacher, map practice, printed reading), with 9 minutes for the start and the exit ticket. No home internet is needed.
Insight. Choose the model that asks for what you have; rotation blends teacher, print and practice without devices.
Malika's catch-up pack
Scene. Malika teaches Grade 9 chemistry in a Russian-medium school in Tashkent. In flu season about six pupils miss a week. She prepares a two-page printed catch-up pack with the key idea, an example and three questions, and checks it with a 5-minute ticket when pupils return, so that the ones who were ill do not lose the thread of the unit.
Insight. Blending also protects continuity for pupils who are absent, with the simplest tools.
Common pitfalls
- Moving whole lessons to Telegram without deciding what needs the teacher.
- Choosing a model that needs devices or internet that most families do not have.
- Making the independent part so long that it replaces the lesson instead of preparing it.
- Never using in class what pupils did alone, so the link between the parts disappears.
Build a Blend Map
- Read the SAMPLE unit in the Kit: Grade 6 natural science, 'Water and its states', 6 lessons, with eight learning moments (A to H).
- Pairs (12 min): fill the blend map. For each moment choose IN CLASS, INDEPENDENT or EITHER, and write a reason in one line.
- Pairs (10 min): the school has 1 TV, 5 phones in a class of 34 and no home internet for most families. Choose one model (flipped, station rotation or catch-up pack) and say how the independent part will reach every pupil.
- Groups (10 min): swap maps with another pair. Apply the three tests: reach, about 15 minutes, link to class. Give one comment each way.
- Alone (5 min): write your classroom action task from the Kit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which moment was hardest to place, and why?
- How did your model change when you remembered that most families have no home internet?
- What will you keep in class even if a platform could replace it?
Reflect
- Which part of your last unit did not need you in the room?
- What would you not want to give to a screen or a page?
- Which pupils could be left out by your first idea?
Try it tomorrow
- Take your next unit and write a blend map: eight learning moments, one choice and one reason each.
- Choose one independent moment of about 10 to 15 minutes and give it on paper this week.
- At the start of the next lesson, spend two minutes using what pupils did alone and note how many used it.
Further reading and links
Blend by purpose: keep in class what needs the teacher, move what pupils can do alone, and make sure every pupil can reach the independent part.