1. You Gotta Start Somewhere

Feb. 9, 2013

I am going to try to chronicle aspects of my journey in moving in the direction of "flipping the classroom." I sense that others who are considering doing the same thing, or who have already made the decision to launch out in this direction, can benefit from the path of a fellow educator. I don't think my progression in moving ever toward a more complete flipped classroom was exactly linear or chronological or entirely purposefully rational, but sort of emotionally kinesthetic, and in every sense meaningful. I have learned this much after hovering around, and engaging seriously, the idea of "flipping": I want students to become more responsible for their own learning. Monologue up front must move toward dialogue between teacher and class, or really, more perfectly, between the teacher and individual students.

And I am sure of this. To those onlookers who are shouting out, "How will you get them to watch the videos?" and "What do you do when they choose not to become responsible for their own learning?" I shout back: "What do you do with kids who don't do your homework?" and "What do you do with your students who are getting Ds and Fs?" No matter what approach any teacher takes you can be sure that there will be students not doing all they should be. Flipping is no different than any other method in that regard. I am not using this new "flipping" pedagogy to try and be on the cutting edge of technology, I am not using this to try and get out of lecturing, I am not doing it to lessen my workload, I am not using it to "show off" or be different, and I am certainly not using it to put pressure on any other educators...I am using it to try and reach students more effectively. Read on and I think you will see why I have come to embrace the flipped methodology.

"Smart kids" will always do well, whether you flip the classroom, or lecture every day to a whole class. But my sense is some kids, maybe 50-70% of them, will do better if they have more personal interaction with the teacher. They will do better if they see someone caring about them and trying to move them along… if they are encouraged to take charge of their own learning, their own future. So I guess I will stop my maiden post on this journey here, and see where it will go...

2. Start at the Beginning … If you can

Feb. 10, 2013

I know other teachers are thinking about flipping the classroom, and I would hope that, whatever other purpose this blog might serve, it would be to help other teachers consider flipping. As I think about how I got started I realize that I can't really pinpoint when or how I got started. I read about Sams and Bergmann, the two pioneer "flippers", somewhere along the way, and I read about the theory behind flipping. I watched some podcasts from several different people who were flipping.

It all made so much sense. I started thinking, "I should try this. It makes so much sense." One of the challenges, of course, is that few districts as a whole have embraced it. This is definitely a ground roots movement. Bottom up. Teachers see that it is based on sound educational principles and works with sound pedagogy. So they move ahead. But they are alone in their building, most likely, and thus they would be in a desert...without the oasis of the internet, blogging, twitter, and the like. So there is companionship. It's just not your superintendent or your department.

So you have to have somewhat of an adventurous spirit, the make-up of an independent thinker, and a desire to continue growing as an educator to start down this road. Then you have to be willing to put some time into making podcasts, or finding good ones and then figure out how to deliver them to your students.

So, take courage, and press on, if you are feeling the call of the "flip." The baby steps I have taken, have, I think, been promising. I am hoping as my craft develops and the experiment expands, I will have some kind of sense, some qualitative if not quantitative data, about if the flip is accomplishing for me what others have said it has done for them...

Stay tuned...

4. Flipping Cool!

Feb. 12, 2013

I am giving a test to my senior Civics students on Friday. Normally I would be lecturing right now, but instead I made a podcast of the lecture during my free period, so I freed myself up to get the kids into the material today, in a way other than lecturing. I gave them a list of key concepts in the chapter, and told them to work in groups or alone to produce a product that will end up teaching one or several of those concepts. A product I can use in a future PowerPoint, Prezi or Podcast. Something you can be proud of. Something that shows me you understand the material, and will help future students understand it. Something that plays to your strength: drawing, narration, visual media, whatever. I told them these creations based on the content of Friday's test are due at the end of the period Thursday.

Since I will not be lecturing on Tuesday and Thursday, as I usually used to, I told them the responsibility for them to master these concepts is on them. They are explained in the book and in my podcasts. Do not blame me if you do poorly...blame yourself. I am here trying to help you. I made the podcasts to help you be successful. I am reminding you that you are the master of your academic success.

This is not an assignment. If you do nothing and walk into class Friday for the test, you will not lose any points for not doing this. But if you turn into me a quality product, it will be bonus points on the test.

This was an experiment to see how they handle being told that the responsibility for learning the material is really with them. It is also an attempt to see if rewarding them, but not requiring them, to have some autonomy to create material will motivate some of them, engage some of them. My sense is that even though I will do little “teaching” (other than the podcasts) they will do better than previous classes have on this test. This is my sense. Several kids/groups consulted with me about their concepts. I brainstormed with them and helped them perfect their creations.

I think challenging assignments for extra credit are appropriate once in a while. The students are still responsible for all the other material in the course. Of course, many kids will not do it. But my sense is that most of these are the ones who would not have engaged in my lectures had I given them. And the general atmosphere of the class seemed to be engagement, either with the material that would be on the test or creating something extra. Kids were working on this as I was circulating.

Let's wait and see what kind of assignments/products I get in response to this, and let's see what the scores are on the test.