Reflection
As I continue to learn and investigate flipped classrooms, I become excited about implementing this into my classroom. I also realize how many resources there are, and I start to become overwhelmed. I am convinced this is a more appropriate way of instruction and will capture student’s attention more than the traditional way of instructing. After the fall semester, I took my higher class and instead of paper and pencil test they completed projects at the end of each chapter. I saw them problem solve, learn from their mistakes, and work cooperatively in a group. They continued to ask me when they could complete another project. I saw this class learn so much more than just working problems out of the book. I understand this was not a true flipped class, but I wanted to see how they would handle projects as I continued to learn how to flip my class.
Student Population
I work at a private school for children with learning differences. I have some students who are on grade level, but they suffer from dyslexia. The majority of my students have low IQ, a processing issue, or expressive receptive issues; therefore, most of my curriculum is below grade level. The latter group of students has issues with reading and any kind of abstract thought. Unless information is specifically given to them, they are unable to discern and pull information together.
Next Year
I will be teaching 4 sections of 7th grade math and 1 section of 8th grade math. The 8th grade class is a group of highly intelligent students who have some degree of dyslexia; therefore, I was planning on flipping this class next year. My feeling is this class will be able to handle this kind of learning.
On a personal note, this 8th grade class is the high 7th grade class that I have this past school year. They specifically went to the principal and asked to have me as a teacher for their 8th grade year. I attribute that request to the difference I saw in that class during the spring semester.
Concerns
With all of the technology available, how do I narrow my focus to making flipping my class beneficial to my students?
Given the population of students I work with, how can I flip all of my classes or should I just flip the high groups?
Flipped Classroom Outline
· I will create lessons using Screencast-o-matic and upload to you tube. The SES of my students is middle, upper middle, to wealthy. Therefore, each student has access to the Internet at home. If I do not create my own lessons, then I will find lessons on the Internet and link them to my website.
· After the students watch the lesson, then each student will have to answer a question/questions.
· Their answer/answers need to be posted onto Sophia (group will be created before school and during first week each student will need to join group).
· Next day, discussion will occur and confusion will be clarified.
· Students will then work on some kind of lesson to demonstrate their understanding. Lessons will come in form of using menus, QR codes, or projects. Items will either be created using computer programs or models created in class.
· I need to figure out how to incorporate twitter and instagram. These are two pieces of technology that my students love. Maybe for twitter, each student can find an article on related topic and tweet it out. Any suggestions would greatly appreciated!
According to information I read about flipped classrooms, videos need to be 1 to 1 ½ minutes per grade level. Therefore, my videos will be between 8 and 12 minutes long. Some videos will be shorter depending on the topic.
Given this is math; I need to be able to determine that each student can solve problems. So my thinking is that the lesson will be done via video but not every day will be projects. Some days, the students will need to work out of the book. Thoughts?
I still plan on making every assessment project based.
For Example
My first lesson will be over real numbers. My video will be created in Screencast-o-matic. The video will state the definition of real numbers and give examples. The students will need to write down the definition in their spiral notebook. Then the students will be instructed to go to a specific website to learn more about real numbers. Specifically, there are two groups of numbers that are not considered real. The students will need to identify those two groups of numbers not considered real numbers and tell me why they think those groups are not considered real numbers. The students will need to post their answers on Sophia. The next day, I will facilitate discussion of answers.
Project: TSW go to Zooburst and create a pop up book that explains real numbers to kindergartens.
As I continue to learn and investigate flipped classrooms, I become excited about implementing this into my classroom. I also realize how many resources there are, and I start to become overwhelmed. I am convinced this is a more appropriate way of instruction and will capture student’s attention more than the traditional way of instructing. After the fall semester, I took my higher class and instead of paper and pencil test they completed projects at the end of each chapter. I saw them problem solve, learn from their mistakes, and work cooperatively in a group. They continued to ask me when they could complete another project. I saw this class learn so much more than just working problems out of the book. I understand this was not a true flipped class, but I wanted to see how they would handle projects as I continued to learn how to flip my class.
Student Population
I work at a private school for children with learning differences. I have some students who are on grade level, but they suffer from dyslexia. The majority of my students have low IQ, a processing issue, or expressive receptive issues; therefore, most of my curriculum is below grade level. The latter group of students has issues with reading and any kind of abstract thought. Unless information is specifically given to them, they are unable to discern and pull information together.
Next Year
I will be teaching 4 sections of 7th grade math and 1 section of 8th grade math. The 8th grade class is a group of highly intelligent students who have some degree of dyslexia; therefore, I was planning on flipping this class next year. My feeling is this class will be able to handle this kind of learning.
On a personal note, this 8th grade class is the high 7th grade class that I have this past school year. They specifically went to the principal and asked to have me as a teacher for their 8th grade year. I attribute that request to the difference I saw in that class during the spring semester.
Concerns
With all of the technology available, how do I narrow my focus to making flipping my class beneficial to my students?
Given the population of students I work with, how can I flip all of my classes or should I just flip the high groups?
Flipped Classroom Outline
· I will create lessons using Screencast-o-matic and upload to you tube. The SES of my students is middle, upper middle, to wealthy. Therefore, each student has access to the Internet at home. If I do not create my own lessons, then I will find lessons on the Internet and link them to my website.
· After the students watch the lesson, then each student will have to answer a question/questions.
· Their answer/answers need to be posted onto Sophia (group will be created before school and during first week each student will need to join group).
· Next day, discussion will occur and confusion will be clarified.
· Students will then work on some kind of lesson to demonstrate their understanding. Lessons will come in form of using menus, QR codes, or projects. Items will either be created using computer programs or models created in class.
· I need to figure out how to incorporate twitter and instagram. These are two pieces of technology that my students love. Maybe for twitter, each student can find an article on related topic and tweet it out. Any suggestions would greatly appreciated!
According to information I read about flipped classrooms, videos need to be 1 to 1 ½ minutes per grade level. Therefore, my videos will be between 8 and 12 minutes long. Some videos will be shorter depending on the topic.
Given this is math; I need to be able to determine that each student can solve problems. So my thinking is that the lesson will be done via video but not every day will be projects. Some days, the students will need to work out of the book. Thoughts?
I still plan on making every assessment project based.
For Example
My first lesson will be over real numbers. My video will be created in Screencast-o-matic. The video will state the definition of real numbers and give examples. The students will need to write down the definition in their spiral notebook. Then the students will be instructed to go to a specific website to learn more about real numbers. Specifically, there are two groups of numbers that are not considered real. The students will need to identify those two groups of numbers not considered real numbers and tell me why they think those groups are not considered real numbers. The students will need to post their answers on Sophia. The next day, I will facilitate discussion of answers.
Project: TSW go to Zooburst and create a pop up book that explains real numbers to kindergartens.