Flipped Classroom

The Flipped classroom resources

Have a look for the article on this website in the New Zealand Science Teacher Magazine or Interface Mag coming out next Month(:

The flipped classroom for a science teacher. My short reflection.

I believe science is the perfect subject for a flipped classroom to be used. Remember this is not the magic bullet but in the perfect world it could be as it is a way of providing a differentiated learning environment where you had the time to unpack questions and not be fixed at teaching bland content for lessons at a time. A good way to think about the model is it makes the teacher the "guide on the side" in that the majority of the content information is gained from methods other than lecturing and the teacher becomes a powerful facilitator with the expectation that the subject content has been learned and then can be mastered inside the walls of the classroom by activities and exemplars.

Why it is not perfect.

Students are human and often are busy with sports practices and general teenage procrastination. For them to sit down for 30 minutes and to watch a video or work through an animation they may lack the intrinsic motivation to complete the task. I have also found that sometimes they do get stuck and cannot get unstuck themselves. If they do not see you, the teacher this can become a snowball effect that leads to a lack of confidence in the subject. Also for NCEA modelling is important. Sadly the examination is still king and the student needs to know exactly how to format the answer to a question and the key terminology to use. In best practice this happens in the classroom but in reality it can break down very easily if the homework from the previous night is not complete.

Who really likes the model.

My top students (scholarship) as well as those who show the skill of resilience. They often tell me of how they got fixed on an idea and the initial link took them on a night of research and more activities that are not on this website. The model is excellent when it comes around to revision time as students can use the interactive resources alongside their study.

Whats really important?

The thinking skills of the students, how they reflect on the task they are undertaking, Linking the online learning to real world paper tasks. Remember our students still need to write 9 essays in a 3 hour period at the senior level. You have to think when and where the learning will occur and how you can monitor this learning. Who is it not working for and why?

Overall

It comes down to you, the teacher. Just by providing a resource such as this website you will not see an improvement in grades or classroom engagement. Using this alongside other effective tools and methods will.

If you have any questions email me at mwilson@shgcham.school.nz Of course if you would like to help out with resources/ or even small adverts to help keep this running that would be fine.

Report: The 4 Pillars of the Flipped Classroom -- THE Journal

Interesting points from the article above.

Flexible environments: Teachers must expect that class time will be "somewhat chaotic and noisy" and that timelines and expectations for learning assessments will have to be flexible as well.

Culture shift: The classroom becomes student-centered. According to the guide: "Students move from being the product of teaching to the center of learning, where they are actively involved in knowledge formation through opportunities to participate in and evaluate their learning in a manner that is personally meaningful."

Intentional content: Teachers are required to evaluate what they need to teach directly so that classroom time can be used for other methods of teaching, such as "active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter."

Professional educators: The instructional videos used for flipped classrooms cannot replace trained, professional teachers if you were worried (:

Ms. Cleary's Blog: The Flipped Classroom - An excellent resource

From the blog above:

Benefits

This reversed teaching model has countless benefits. Flipped classrooms will deliver instruction at home through interactive, teacher-created videos and moves homework to the classroom.

Allows teachers to spend more one-on-one time with each individual student
Creates a collaborative learning environment
Builds stronger student/ teacher relationships
Offers a way for teachers to share information with other faculty, substitute teachers, students, parents, and the community easily
Produces the ability for students to rewind lessons to master topics

7 Things You Should Know About Flipped Classrooms - Educause

The Flipped Classroom: Turning the Traditional Classroom on its Hea

Flipped Classrooms 101 – A self-paced, short course

Must use Youtube channels

http://www.youtube.com/user/bozemanbiology

http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse

General E-learning resources

Seven questions to ask about texting in class texting

Top Ten Social Media Competencies for Teachers Top Ten

Ipods in the classroom A Classroom in your Pocket: iPods in Education