LYNN — The Modern Classrooms Project shared a presentation about its blended-learning model that is being implemented in the district during Thursday’s night’s School Committee meeting.
The Lynn Public Schools (LPS) has partnered with the nonprofit to introduce the new curriculum, which the organization describes as an approach to education that combines online learning materials and interaction with traditional classroom methods.
Blended learning started to be implemented in the city’s schools this past fall.
Deputy Superintendent of Schools Kimberlee Powers said this partnership began in 2020, and was aimed at finding ways to increase student engagement and achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Modern Classrooms Project co-founder Kareem Farah, a former high-school math teacher in Washington, D.C., said he created this learning model in 2018 to increase student engagement and achievement, but also to help reduce stress among teachers when it came to creating lesson plans.
“I was teaching every single day and wondering: How do I find the time to support students in the ways they deserve to be supported?” said Farah. “When you stand at the front of the room you often feel like a failure, but the reality is your on-grade-level students are oftentimes feeling bored; your absent students are saying ‘I have no idea how to catch up and I don’t know what to do next’; and your students who are below-grade might be saying, ‘hey, I need more one-on-one time and I need help.’”
Farah said the Modern Classroom model uses a three-component structure to help students. These components are blended instruction, where students can access new content; self-paced structure for students to learn at their own pace; and mastery-based grading, where students advance in a subject based on their level of demonstrating mastery of a said subject.
In 2021, 100 LPS educators joined the Modern Classroom Project’s Virtual Mentorship Program, where they received training to learn how to build blended-learning-based classrooms, Farah said.
The educators worked with expert mentors from Modern Classroom to build three lesson plans using the organization’s learning model.
Farah said the majority of the district’s educators gave positive feedback, with 93 percent recommending the program and giving it a nine-out-of-10 grade.
“You’re hearing folks saying this is one of the most powerful transitions in their career,” said Farah. “You’re hearing them say they are finally able to differentiate their students’ needs and it will help you grow as an educator and it’s well organized.”
Farah said educators who reimagine their classrooms using his organization’s model are able to apply to be certified as a Distinguished Modern Classroom Educator (DMCE).
Those who have excelled as a DMCE can apply to become a paid mentor, which enables them to help teachers across their respective districts. Lynn has seven educators who have obtained this certification, three of whom have gone on to become mentors, Farah said.
Thursday’s presentation concluded with video footage of Lynn students from an English class giving positive feedback about their Modern Classroom curriculum. The students were shown saying that the best part about their new lesson plan is that they can take their time learning, and are able to receive additional help from their teachers.
School Committee members praised the organization’s work.
Brian Castellanos, a committee member, said he was moved by the presentation. He said that this new learning model is what he had envisioned for the district’s students.
“The pandemic put a toll on us — our staff, our families — it impacted us,” said Castellanos. “To sit here and see and hear that passion — I have that passion, too.”
