4.3 Building Buy In
"Building buy-in is instrumental in a blended culture because students are expected to take ownership of their learning in independent work stations, when navigating various programs, and even when working as a group through a challenge. In the past, teachers have built buy-in through tons of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation techniques, but one thing blended has that most traditional structures do not is an overwhelming amount of data! Using these data to invest and inspire students is key to activating buy-in and engaging students in classroom goals, various activities, and their learning as a whole!"
—Juliana Finegan, Relay GSE Blended Learning Curriculum Designer
Blended Strategies
Blended strategies are named strategies that have been found to support teachers in successful blended implementation. These specific strategies are used to give students opportunities to directly influence data, as well as to monitor their progress. Remember, these strategies do not need to be taken as is, but instead can be adapted to meet your and your students’ needs.
Interactive Data
- Description: Students are able to directly influence data through actions and can immediately see the outcome visually, by completing tasks on a program, moving up a level, or pushing through a performance task
- Rationale: Allowing students to directly influence their data gives them immediate buy-in because they can see the outcome of their actions in real time. Furthermore, having a visual representation further cements the buy-in and motivation towards reaching a big goal
Click here Links to an external site. for transcript.
Transparent Data
- Description: Allow students full access to their grades, mastery points, etc., so that all of their data are transparent and accessible at all times
- Rationale: Giving students full access to their data allows students to pinpoint exactly which areas they are struggling in and which areas they have mastered. This is key to buy-in because it allows students the ability to revisit material, determine where they need help, and truly take the driver's seat with regards to their own learning
Click here Links to an external site. for transcript.
Teacher Techniques
Class Dojo
Class Dojo Links to an external site. is a free resource that can be used as an incentive to build buy-in, parent-communication technique, and engagement strategy when working with all ages. Hear how Ms. Hill uses class dojo to build buy-in among her elementary-school students.
Click here Links to an external site. for transcript.
Goal Cycle
Goal Cycle is a Relay GSE process from one of the classroom culture modules that a teacher uses to invest students in classroom goals by going through three steps:
- Introducing: In this stage, you introduce your student to the goal of the activity or objective
- Celebrating & Reflecting: This stage focuses on celebrating the goal when students meet it and/or having students reflect on their progress towards the goal
- Engaging & Sustaining: This stage focuses on engaging students in the goal as well as sustaining their investment in the long term process
This can be used hand-in-hand with both interactive and transparent data (explained above)
Additional Resource
This resource was collected by BetterLesson's BlendedMTP (Master Teacher Project).