ODESSA, Texas — The 2023-2024 school year marked the first time Pease Elementary School implemented blended learning into all 23 of its classrooms, including prekindergarten.
For the school, it meant changing the traditional classroom setting into incorporating the use of tools, such as tablets that contain adaptive software.
"Students continue to receive that face-to-face Tier One instruction, which is grade level instruction," said Micah Arrott, the principal at Pease Elementary. "They spend a certain amount of time on the adaptive software each day."
The adaptive software this Ector County ISD school uses is My Math Academy and My Reading Academy. Students use the tablets to access the software during daily rotations. These rotations last about 90 minutes a day and the use of the software varies from student to student.
According to Principal Arrott, the software adapts to a students educational levels and tracks their progress.
"The student engagement is through the roof because they are getting that choice. They're able to do that content," Principal Arrott said. "So it's things that they can do independently. And then the things that they struggle on, they have time to work with the teacher to work on those things."
The software isn't just being used to determine gaps.
"It pushes the students to what it is that they need instead of holding them back," said Principal Arrott.
According to Principal Arrott, it's allowed the teachers at Pease Elementary to spend more intentional time with every student.
"It gives teachers more freedom to have that intentional time with every kid, not with ones that are struggling, not with just your grade level kids, not with the kids who are at a higher level. It's with every student," said Principal Arrott.