Flipping my own classroom has been a journey of teaching self-discovery. I feel like myself in my classroom and I am helping my students learn inside and outside the classroom (literally). I recently gave a presentation about my flipped classroom, but I also want to share it through my bog. Here is my journey: What caused me to change my teaching mindset?- Wide range of students learning at different levels. Some of my students were at a 3rd grade math level and others were above grade level. In class, this caused a lot of difficulties. - High absentee rates and difficulty of students making up work. I work in a low SES community and students are frequently missing school. Students would come back to school behind and not make up work. - Taking effective in class notes: students were falling behind, not paying attention, and I hated giving notes. - Too much time spent on notes (15+ minutes) in class and going through guided practice in class practice (15+ minutes). I felt like class was dragging and I just wanted to have kids practice! - Not enough time for students to practice on their own and get individual help from the teacher in class. More practice time meant that I was falling behind on curriculum. - Students were not doing homework = no practice outside of class. My district requires us to give homework and I felt like a lot of it was busy work. Let's be real here. I wasn't very happy. I didn't feel like myself. What is flipped learning?Flipped learning is an inversion of traditional teaching practice. The traditional method of teaching is Lecture/Modeling in class, Guided practice and independent practice through homework. In flipped learning students watch their lectures at home and then work on labs, practice, activities and projects in class which are on the topics of their video lectures. There is no lecture in class, just students and teachers collaborating on the content. One-on-one time happens every single day. In class students and teachers focus on high level Bloom's and low level Bloom's happens at home through video lectures. Check out some links with some visuals and research here, here and here. Here is a high school in the suburbs of Detroit which is 100% flipped, every single class. They have amazing results. All of their video lectures are online as well! Jackpot! Post Flip: What I see in my classroom- More time to practice in class. 80-90% on a given day (unless we are testing or reviewing) is spent with the students practicing through practice problems, learning stations, labs, application activities, reading activities, projects... basically anything you can think of. - Ahead of schedule for curriculum- more time for more content and units. This is one of the best parts. I'm not rushing and leaving out cool content because I don't have time. - Better relationships with students (one-on-one time). I make a point to meet with every student every single day. Some of them hate it, some of them love it. But the one-on-one time helps me to get to know my kids. - Students are not bored in class listening to a lecture and I'm not bored giving a lecture. - Students are more independent and self sufficient. Students have to take their learning into their own hands and watch lectures at home. - I don’t lose my voice from lecturing all day. HECK YEAH - I feel like myself as a teacher Steps to Flip your ClassroomStep 1: Teach students and parents what flipping is. Explain to them the research behind it and why it works. Invest everyone! Step 2: Find out what technology is at home. If you are in a low SES community this can be more challenging, but very possible! Step 3: Write and record your lectures or find your own lectures to use. Here is a link to my YouTube channel. I record using Explain Everything on my iPad, however there are tons of other options such as PowerPoint. It's really up to you want you want to use. I recommend starting out with lectures that are already done and then when you're ready, make your own! Step 4: Give your video to your students 2+ before the day it is due. This gives students a few days to watch the video and take notes. Students should come to class with notes the day the flipped lesson is due Step 5: Review, collect notes and/or quiz on the lesson. This helps students have responsibility for the lesson. Step 6: Start applying the lecture to activities, labs, projects... anything. Pros and ConsSo did you read this and think "Wow this could be for me!"? Or did you think "Uh, this sounds so crazy"? Whatever you think, I hope you think about how you could fit this into your classroom. Before you jump in, here are some pros and cons of flipped learning. Pros: - No longer struggle with concepts outside of class (in homework) and come to class with nothing done - Students can skip parts of lesson or re-watch at student’s leisure - All applied learning in the classroom... no more in class notes! - Students have ownership of learning and come to class prepared - Teacher can explain and understand material better Cons: - You need to find more activities, projects and labs for the students. - Units and lessons must be planned ahead of time (more than a week) - All students with Internet access outside of school -“Buy In” by students and understanding of flipped learning -Creating or finding videos to use My Closing ThoughtsFlipped learning has changed me as a teacher and how I view the future of education. My students have more access to information and material. My class time is spent working with my students 100%. This has changed my teaching and I hope it change yours too.
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