Our class operates on the flipped (or blended) classroom model of teaching. You may have had other teachers that have used this model of teaching. I have created this page to answer questions you might have about what flipped learning is all about. What does it mean when a teacher has a "flipped or blended classroom?" A flipped classroom is one in which students are assigned a 10-20 minute video lesson or podcast to watch outside of class. This work is completed prior to the next class period. Students may be asked to take notes in an interactive notebook, solve practice problems, and/or respond to a prompt on the class blog page. Here is a link to a short video that gives a brief explanation of a flipped classroom à VIDEO LINK What does this look like in our classroom? In different subject areas, a flipped classroom looks a little different. In a chemistry, physics or math class, students may come to class and work problem sets, play games that reinforce the content, or construct models that help them understand course content more clearly. What this looks like in our classroom is:
But the video isn't you, so you're not really teaching us, right? First of all, the video podcasts that have been chosen for you to view are of outstanding quality, and are directly correlated to the learning objectives of our curriculum. The flipped or blended classroom does not mean that you will not ever receive direct instruction from me; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Because you will be getting the content delivered outside of class in a smaller amount of time, I will have in-class time to elaborate on the concepts learned, to clarify any muddy points you might still have, to provide enrichment, and to assess what students have learned before moving on to more challenging work. Teaching using this method allows me more time in class to interact with you so that I can more easily assess what you do and do not understand about the topics we are learning about at that time. This method also means that you will have more time for collaborative learning as a part of a team. I feel fairly confident this is not just another passing fad in education, nor is it something that I am just now jumping on the bandwagon. For over three years, I have been researching, planning, and talking to many other educators in an effort to make this move to a more student-centered classroom. The primary obstacle has been that I felt had to make all my own video podcast to do this, otherwise it would be like cheating. I have determined, with the help of many excellent teachers, that taking advantages of the quality resources that are already available to our students is smart – not cheating. In today’s world students should be gathering information from multiple resources, not just one “expert” in the field. It is my goal to slowly add more of my own video podcasts as the year progresses, and over the next few years to build up my own library of video podcast that will serve as another tool for student learning. So what's the benefit of flipped learning? Here are a few of the many benefits of learning in this way:
If you still have questions about this method of teaching and learning, please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to engage in conversation with you. |