Thursday, April 26, 2012

Get Ready to Flip for a New(ish) Model of Teaching

Welcome back to the Learn and Earn and thank you for letting me take that brief hiatus. Today's topic is one that you may have heard of, but may not know much about. We're talking about "flipping" your classroom. This idea has been around for a few years, and now it's really starting to get a lot of attention thanks to things like the Khan Academy.

The basic idea behind a flipped classroom is that by swapping what often traditionally happens (lecture) in the classroom with what traditionally happens as home (homework, projects, etc.), teachers can improve student learning, engagement, and increase the rigor in their classrooms and at the same time, save time. Let's start with a quick (2 minutes) introduction:


Sure, there's a little technology involved, but if you have a white board in your classroom and a laptop with a camera (which you do), you could get started flipping your classroom right away. (Not to mention that you also have an instructional technology coach (me) who would help you get started.) But, first, let's learn a bit more about it.

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation offers several short videos on the topic. There are two short videos embeded on this page. Watch them to build your background knowledge about this topic. NOTE: One of the things I like is how these two teachers use minimal technology to achieve the "flip." Sure you can get fancier, but their approach of one-take videos and use of a white board makes it much more accessible.

What do you think? What questions does this raise for you? Do you see application for your classroom? Why or why not? Interested in some extra credit? Then, why not give it a try yourself? Like I said, I'd be happy to help you get started. Just let me know!




Posted by Kimberly Allison at 5:40 PM

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Marie Page's avatar

Marie Page · 674 weeks ago

This concept is really interesting and something I see education working towards. It would definitely take some time to change over and I could see Tahoma School District taking the lead on this, but until every student has access to a computer and internet capabilities I don't think we can fully do this yet. How would students without computers and internet see the video before hand?
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Patty Stillmaker's avatar

Patty Stillmaker · 674 weeks ago

Karen Duncan and myself have been having the students preview the next day's lesson via graphic organizers and the HOLT videos. This way we are not teaching the same thing that the book does. It gives us more time to use active learning strategies to reinforce the learning. I

It not only gives us more time to reinforce the concepts, it gets the students using resources that are available to them. They come iin much more prepared for class.

If students don't have internet access at home they can either read through the book or view the videos during GO time.

We both have tried a lot of new things in our math classes this year. This is one we will be keeping .
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Hilary Ledford (CH)'s avatar

Hilary Ledford (CH) · 674 weeks ago

I can see this working in a world language class, HOWEVER, I agree with Marie that until all my students have working internet at home I can't see this working in my class. If/when they do, I could very easily make a video demonstrating a new grammar concept. For homework they could watch the video and take notes or complete a graphic organizer to ensure that they understood the topic. Then class could be more focused on USING the grammar or vocabulary. Another good thing about this is theoretically you would make a video to illustrate a concept that you could reuse for future years.
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Scott Hagensen CH's avatar

Scott Hagensen CH · 674 weeks ago

I really like this idea. I think I would try it in minute. I really like how the students do not do the work in class, but rather apply the things that they learned at home. It would be pretty cool just to walk around and answer questions and work with the students as they are applying their knowledge. I think it would also allow for a lot of one and one time. It encourages the kids to try what they learn. It gives the students control over their learning, which I think is a must in education. I would like to learn more about this and see how it works over time and see what grades work the best.
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Jennifer Dunham (CH)'s avatar

Jennifer Dunham (CH) · 673 weeks ago

I know it is after 8 am, but I am hoping this will still count, if not, oh well. Just another victim of MSP testing :)
I was really having a hard time picturing this working in my class so I actually watched on of Katie's Algebra 1 videos on what I think is a pretty tough concept. Her video was very interesting. It has similar content and instruction to what I normally would do. Setup, examples etc. I would love to see more about how they actually apply it the next day. How do they structure the classroom to allow for the remediation she is talking about? Do they self-select groups to work in and she has different "homework" for each group? Does she do a "pretest" and then assign them? What does she do with those who didn't watch the video last night?
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Jennifer Dunham (CH)'s avatar

Jennifer Dunham (CH) · 673 weeks ago

I think it is a great concept and for students who would take the initiative to watch and and actually think about it, it is great. But what about my student who wouldn't even click on it much less take notes on it or even more so, actually try and process and understand it? I really like the idea but I need more on what happens in the math classroom since she isn't "lecturing".
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
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Kimberly's avatar

Kimberly · 673 weeks ago

Yes, it counts. I accept late work. :)

In response to your questions, I think if I were to implement this system, I would make sure that they wouldn't be able to really do what we were doing in class unless they had watched the lesson at home. I think most of my students would admit to not being prepared and then I'd send them into the hall or to the library to watch the lessons before they could work on the classwork in class. Yes, there were be some kids who would never watch the homework--but we have those kids now, and that doesn't stop us from moving on. I think there would actually be more motivation in a flipped situation to complete the work necessary to be in class the next day.
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Rhonda Ham (CH)'s avatar

Rhonda Ham (CH) · 673 weeks ago

I know I am late with my response (about two weeks) but I am very intrigued with this concept. I like the idea of having the instruction at home through videos. Parents would also be able to watch the videos giving them a better understanding of the lessons and goals of various classrooms. Having the ability to watch a video numerous times also would help those students who don't understand a concept the first time.
1 reply · active 673 weeks ago
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Kimberly10tech's avatar - Go to profile

Kimberly10tech 66p · 673 weeks ago

Good point, Rhonda. I hadn't even thought about how cool it would be for parents to really see what their kids would be learning.

Sent from my iPhone

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