In June 2012, Chris Faist and I
first heard about “The Flipped Classroom".
We had begun a paperless science notebook option in our 7th
grade science classes at CVMS that spring and had promising
results. We thought the flip might be
a nice compliment given the "tech savviness" of our students and we were ripe for a change. If you are not familiar with the premise of the flipped classroom, the basic idea is that which is traditionally done in the class is done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class.
Chris and I worked over the
summer on conceptualizing the changes we would have to make and launched our
pilot this 2012 school year. We have
been attempting to collect some data along the way; besides Unit Test and ELO
Assessment data, we have surveyed our parents once and just finished collecting
student qualitative data. We are getting better at navigating the paradigm shift of
assigning homework ahead of time to prepare students before they come to class.
We have been utilizing video creation apps like Educreations and Explain Everything and websites like Goanimate and Powtoon for our lectures, Google surveys and scripts like Flubaroo to
assess, and websites like our own You Tube channel, Brainpop, Edcanvas and TED for accessing and posting content. We have also had students create their own instructional videos and have seen some amazing student projects. We plan to continue with the flip throughout the school year and are
interested in collaborating with other teachers. If you have
"flipped" your classroom, or maybe a few lessons here or there, or
are interested in learning more and would like to chat, please contact us.
