Blended

After attending VSS this past week, I am overwhelmed with the many definitions of the word blended. Yet while being overwhelmed, I am also excited and proud. Integrating the online environment with the brick and mortar is something that I have been doing for a while. In fact, the Flipped Classroom teachers have all been doing something similar to this. But no matter where or what you teach, it is so amazing to see teachers exploring options and the essential question - what is the best use of my classroom time in order to help students succeed.

Reflection on Flipping

This week, I am pondering the FAQs and possible pitfalls of the flipped classroom as Troy and I prepare for the first webinar on this matter. So I decided to be a tad bit reflective ( very IB of me don't you know) and share my thoughts:

• time - yes it does take time - lots of time. I research my script, then I write my script, then I create a keynote for the presentation with music and a works consulted page so that I am modeling what I expect from my students
• feedback - doing the videos without feedback can be very frustrating. How do you make sure that they kids are watching the videos? Here are some ideas:
• open note quizzes - punitive but effective
• reflection journal - online in google docs is easy to read, but still time consuming
• note check- I use Cornel to help introduce students to at least one method of taking notes before they leave high school, it is time consuming to check in class
• project based on information - great application but trying to create a project for every video makes me tired just thinking about it
• quality - this is a big one - I spent a lot of time initially on it, and then backed off and now I have found a happy medium. I make the presentations have few words and close caption the videos, include a song from freemusicarchieve.com that is constant for the unit and goes with the theme of the unit, and I use nifty transition
• length - keep it under 8 minutes! I know that breaking them up is a pain, but you will get better results
• ownership - I still have a really hard time using other people's videos - I feel like I am slacking off - but as I get older, I realize that my friends and colleagues from the world over thanks to youtube are sharing their knowledge with me and I need to take it