I wasn't as consistent with blogging about flipping/blending my classroom as I wanted to be, but that is a goal of mine in the future. Well we did it! My students and I flipped/blended our math class this year and it was amazing. There were learning curves, adjustments, lots of discussions, and tons of student responsibility, but it was a success. Not just in the culture of our learning and classroom, but also in data.
My students blew the MAP test out of the water. 100% of students met and exceeded their goals, a bunch improving by more than 20 points. I have never in all my 6 years of teaching had students do so well. My low students improved to "on level" and my higher students soared above and improved their scores just as much as their peers. I've had a couple colleagues come and ask me what I did. Honestly, I can't point to one thing. It was a combination of a lot of things: the students and parents buying into this change, a more active class, challenge problems, group work, individual time with students, student engagement, and lots more. Flipping the class was so much work, but it was worth every second I spent making the videos, planning the lessons, and reflecting on the process. I've already starting thinking about next year and how I can blend my class a little more. Rumor has it we will have a BYOD in the elementary, which will lend itself to more dynamic learning and lessons. I'm so pumped to start planning, tweaking, and working on stuff for next year. How can I flip/blend learning in other subjects? How can I have students more involved in the planning of lessons? What are other ways to assess students' understanding? What should my classroom layout look like to foster engagement, group work, and movement? How can I get parents more involved in the process? Could I incorporate "jobs" into the learning? Are there more efficient ways of checking students' understanding? How do I bring in more problems students will face in their life (student input)? This journey has been long and tiresome. I'm glad I stuck with it. Hopefully next year some of my colleagues will want to join me on this journey. :)
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When I first started flipping my focus was on creating great interactive videos. And while I still focus on the videos, I realize that most of my time needs to be spent on planning the class activities. My students need structure. Flipped learning allows for student choice, and I didn't do a good job of guiding my students to the correct choice in the beginning. I made the mistake of assuming (yes, I know never assume it makes an @$$ out of you and me) that my students would be able to pick their choice and work throughout the entire class period. Not the case. I have tweaked things a little and things are going better. What did I do? I gave my students limited choices and implemented a daily reflection piece. Now students are no longer picking activities based on what their friends are doing, but truly on interest or readiness level. Also, students are now held more accountable to what they are doing during the class through a recording sheet for both individual and group work. Guided ChoicesBefore students were picking any choice from the daily "Your Choice" menu, but now students pick from a certain group of colors based on their responses to the Google Form. We will discuss the options at the beginning of class and then students make their choice. For example, a student that understood everything and got all the Quick Check questions right can choose any except the Blue (which is the easiest activity and will not challenge her), whereas a student that was confused and missed some questions will can choose Blue, Green, or Yellow (all foundational activities). AccountabilityMy students love working with peers, doing activities and projects, and playing games to reinforce their learning; but they were switching activities like a Kim Kardashian switches men, so I needed to hold them accountable to their choices. I didn't want to dictate their decisions and wanted to see what would help them so I brought it up in a class meeting. The class agreed that having recording sheets would help, and they could look back and see all they learned throughout the unit (be still my heart!). Below are two examples of their recording pieces, one for their Math Circle group and one for their individual work. Students individually complete this recording sheet during Processing Time. Most days it is their ticket out the door. https://docs.google.com/a/eac.com.br/file/d/0Bz8E1G1_cVsza081eExmME1Ib1U/edit
I'm still learning, and I guess that's the beauty of this whole flipped classroom. My students know this and are patient with me . I'm sure in another month things will evolve into something else...and I can't wait to see. My class has now officially been flipped for three units. The students are familiar with the structure, both at home and in school, and I am adjusting our class activities daily. Which is the way it should be in my mind. I create a blanket plan of what I think we can do, but after checking students' responses on the google doc I adjust as needed.
One of the most powerful things during our math flipped class is student math circles. Students can ask questions, solve problems together, discuss how they arrived at their solutions, and take the skill to the next level together. The students benefit from the open ended conversation and are learning from each other. Rarely does a student approach me first when he is faced with a challenging question. They feel comfortable with their group and confide in them. Another thing that has grown through flipped learning is our higher level thinking. Students are actively choosing enrichment tasks and problems. It is the "cool" thing to do. Students are more engaged and work together to solve these challenges, which allows me time to work one-on-one with struggling students. Students just took their unit test and I am going to compare pre-test and post-test scores to get some real data on if flipping our class truly improved student learning. I understand this will be hard to determine because it is hard to separate out the flipped learning--it impacts so much more. It may active learning or math circles that had a significant impact, but since it is all grouped in with flipped it is hard to differentiate. We are almost finished with a full unit of flipped learning. I am still seeing a big impact in students' engagement levels and understanding of content.
A couple things I have learned and modified since starting... - changed the Math Circles grouping for better mix -Google forms-I embed them and share them with students (some students were having trouble filling in the embedded form) -"Your Choice" -students can choose what to work on during class (enrichment/challenge activities, extra practice, different learning style projects, and small group work, one-on-one with me) -Mrs. K (similar to Writers Workshop) -students put their name on the board if they have questions or want help. They continue working until their turn. I had to smile at a conversation I heard two students having. They were bragging about about the amount of notes they took on a video. It made my giggle and so happy because these two students weren't the most engaged before we started flipping. :) One last thing, I gave a flipped PD presentation for my colleagues yesterday. I put it on with my husband, who is also flipping all of his upper school math classes. We structured the workshop like we do our flipped classes and teachers were able to work through videos we created at their own pace while we were available for questions. It went really well and we received great feedback to help us make some tweaks before we present for a chance to go to AASSA conference. I've officially flipped math lessons for a week. I am loving it and my students are too! Here are some of their comments about what they like most about flipping:
5A Students say... "What I like more of the flipped learning videos is that is very flexible because you can do it every time and everywhere you want to remember something of the last lesson or you can study too so that is what I like more from the flipped learning videos." "I really like looking at the videos you make with the Prezi because it is more fun than just hearing you. Also because I can go back and check the meaning of words. For example, magnitude." "I like flipped learning because we can watch the video how much times we want." "My favorite part of flipped learning is that you could just go at your pace and not make other people wait and start talking and you could just go on if you understood everything. Also, I like the fact that you could just see the part you did not understand as many times as you want." "The thing that I like the most is that we see things that we are going to learn in the next day of school, just to warm up." "My favorite thing in flipped learning is that we don't just get a worksheet for homework and just doing it, instead its more easy to see the video and learn new staff." "I like that we do our homework in class and we do our work at home." "I like the idea of flipping schoolwork and homework, and watching a video instead of actually listening to the teacher, because when you don't understand, you would have to ask your teacher about it, and it would disturb the class. With flipped learning, we can just go back to the part we didn't understand and just watch it again!" "My favorite thing about flipped learning is that you can view the videos as many times as you want, and that if somebody does not get it, and you got it you don't have to listen to the teacher saying the same thing." "I´m loving everything in flipped learning because I don´t like writing because my hand hurts and I don´t forget sheets of homework, so for my that's better and that's what I like about Flipped learning." Now here's what I am loving about flipping our class... -All students are engaged -Easy to differentiate and meet kids where they are -Students questions about the lesson and quick check questions recorded for documentation -I can work individually with students without leaving other students hanging -Students have choice -My lessons are more focused and concise -Absent students don't have to ask me what they missed -Students are gaining knowledge about their learning styles, who they work well with, and how to reflect on what they truly understand -Immediate feedback for me through the Google form -Students are responsible and working collaboratively to check and teach each other |
AuthorMrs. K has been teaching for eight years. She has taught in three different countries and loves each one for its uniqueness. Archives
October 2014
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