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

Flipped=Time

My state, like many others, has passed legislation for what how it will measure an effective teacher. I am by no way saying that I agree with my state, but at this point I have to figure out how I can keep my job and keep moving my students.

So I was sitting in a meeting and listening to all the things that the administration wants me to do:

• As an English teacher, I am the ONLY content area that is tested twice (reading and writing) so they want us to have TWO goals - one for reading and writing.
• Since apparently we are the only area that teaches both (which is a joke), we have to track all of our students in growth in those two areas.
• One of the mandated areas for growth is the CSAPs - which are our state tests that do not effect our students in any way, but now can impact our job. It is high stakes testing with no buy-in from the students and too much from the teachers. Have you read Freakonomics???
• They want us to grow all students a certain percentage. This may be easier for the average level kids,  but it is the highest and lowest kids that are really going to make a teacher seem ineffective. So all of your good teachers will be teaching the average kids and not wanting to jeopardize their jobs by teaching the high and low ends which is exactly where you want your good teachers to be.

In any case, I was sitting there so glad for the class time that I have carved out by flipping my classroom. To be honest, I can't imagine how I could do the things that are being asked of me and not have flipped my classroom. I now have time to talk to students and have discussions about their writing. I can walk around and see and talk to every student - so no one can hide. I think that moving forward, teachers are going to have to seriously consider flipping the classroom for two reasons:

1. It really is the best use of class time and the best thing for your students.
2. Your jobs may depend on it.

Intellectual Property in the 21st Century and Beyond

So it has come to my attention that there is a nagging problem that many people are ignoring when it comes to the flipped classroom; who owns the material. I have read many articles ( see article here).  So if we are creating materials as teachers to use in the classroom, then how owns them? Do schools have the right to sell the material that we have created for a profit? And if we are creating them on our own time and on our own computers, those of us who teach in an online school as well as on land school, where do we stand? Can we use materials in the classroom that we have created and then sell them on our own? Many teachers have done that in the past so why does this new video concept differ?

ISTE and Tech Overload!

I just got back from ISTE and what an incredible conference! I am still in tech overload but am so glad to have spoken and shared and learned from people much smarter than I am! I am still very shocked that humanities has not done more flipping and they are the ones who seem most resistant to it. If you are a humanities teacher and have some questions, please let me know how I can help! I have some pretty big goals for July - I want to create two vodcasts and get them on Itunes ( more information to follow), as well as get my next two scripts in to Ted Ed so that they can animate them and get them posted. I also have some updating to do on my online World Literature class and my poor MacBook officially crashed yesterday so I am having to limp along and only ask it to do one thing at a time. Maybe I will get an early birthday present..... I would like to leave you with one thought - if you could change one thing in your classroom that will make your job easier, what would you do? What is stopping you? Will update more as July goes on..,

Heading to TIE!

I am very excited to speak at TIE this year about the blended classroom and using it to make a difference in my student's writing!

I also have created an Edmodo group called Rocky Mountain Flippers (group join code is sdghe0). If you are in the Rocky Mountain area and are part of this educational movement, please join the group and the discussion!

Standards Based Grading

We have been piloting this in the English department for two years at our high school and the kids and parents love it. I just attended a presentation by Dr. Marzano and my decision to stay with standards based was further solidified. We have a great technical document and powerpoint that we have given to our parents and students. I will post them if anyone is interested. But I do believe that this is the way to go in education. It is not inflated grades, but a snapshot of how a student is progressing towards mastery of a standard. It has changed our conversations about students and education and to be honest, you could not pay me to go back.

Standards based grading document

Standards Based Grading PPT

New Links and Resources

Due to popular demand, I have uploaded some of my videos that I have used in my blended classroom to my webpage. Please check them out and give me some feedback!