5 Key Goals for FLIPPING Your Classroom

The most common questions asked when teachers hear I have flipped my classroom: 

Questions about Flipping Your Classroom

• What exactly is a FLIPPED classroom?

• How did you flip your classroom?

• What is this whole "video" thing (ShowMe) about?

To completely flip a classroom, teachers must have the end result in mind. 

Having a vision of how your flipped classroom will function, will allow the teacher to set small goals that are obtainable.  It is impossible to wake up and just decide to teach a flipped class without having some experience and organization in place.  

I recommend taking small steps to transition into a flipped class.  This will ensure you don't become overwhelmed and defeated.  

Take small steps to creating your FLIPPED classroom.

When I decided to flip my 6th grade math class, I started by using videos to go over homework assignments because I wanted to see how the students reacted to the videos.  The video was easy to create with the showme application on my ipad.  But, I was not completely convinced it was going to work in my class.  

When I played a prerecorded showme video going over homework during class, students immediately plugged into the video like it was the latest episode of "Sponge Bob".  This also meant students could no longer sit back and hope the teacher did not call on them because I was standing next to them looking at the work they produced. 

Students are engaged with learning!

In the future, this meant they had to really complete the assignments.... No more just writing answers.  

I quickIy realized, I JUST DUPLICATED MYSELF!  Who said you could not clone humans? I just did it!  

While a video helped students process math problems, I was given the opportunity to help students identify what they did wrong.  Within a week, educational holes had been filled with knowledge and students had improvements that reflected in weekly test results.  

Fill educational gaps in learning.

I prompted our 6th math department in our school to share the videos (why not we plan together...and do the same assignments), this allowed our 6th grade math teachers to use the 10 - 20 minutes to actually see the holes and help students instead of going over the previous nights homework. However, students still got the feedback the next day on the math assignment.  

The time we did not have to tutor was just given to us.  We finished out the 2012-2013 school year with this process.  At this point I knew I wanted more time with my students, and it was possible. 

5 Key Goals for Flipping a Classroom

      

Over the summer I had time to develop 5 key goals for flipping my class.

1.  Create more tutoring time during the class.  

2.  Give students videos that optimize the time they are watching. Duplicate what would traditionally be taught during the school day.

3.  Have a method to insure students are watching instructional videos.  Considering students that do not have online access at home.  

4.  Organize the videos to be used for reteaching and easy access for parents or colleagues.  

5.  Plan valuable activities in the classroom to use during the new time created by my flipped classroom.  

5 Key Goals for Flipping Your Classroom

My flipped classroom vision:

Students learning math at home/outside of class.  Students create a math journal documenting notes and examples. Students will access math journals to complete learning activities during class.  Teacher will facilitate activities and assist with math practice/tutoring.  

Look for more information to come on how to create your own FREE showme video and what you must include to help you stay organized. 

ShowMe tool used with Flipped classroom

                      

Hopefully this blog has given you some ideas to consider for your class.  Hope my path helps you with yours!

Have you ever tried a FLIPPED classroom?  I would love to hear from you!

~~Kati