A Flipped Classroom in Action

Photo credit jnpoulos

I love it when I hear about something so exciting that it makes me want to go back in the classroom to try it. I first heard about "flipping classrooms" at the beginning of the school year. However,  since I came to a new school this year, I was inundated with new information and couldn’t pay much attention back then. Fortunately, I heard it described in more detail yesterday by Steve Hegwood, a teacher at our school. The more I heard, the more fascinated I became.

What is a Flipped Classroom?

In the traditional setting, a teacher will lecture/present a lesson during class and assign homework for the student to practice and learn the material at home. Students are passive while in class and active at home doing the practice/homework. Furthermore, while a student is practicing something like math or chemistry at home on their own, they’re more likely to have questions. But no one is there to help. To make matters worse, sometimes a student practices something incorrectly over and over and it becomes “cemented” in their brain wrong.

But a flipped classroom is the exact opposite. A teacher records the lecture/lesson for students to watch on video for homework. Then the students come to class the next day having already heard the lecture/lesson, so they’re ready to practice what they learned. And the teacher is there to help and to discuss their learning. So, the passive portion of learning is at home and the active portion is at school with the expert on hand.

This is makes so much sense that I wonder why we didn’t begin this ages ago!

The idea was pioneered by two teachers in Colorado who began with simply videoing their lessons because so many students were absent. Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams say they began for selfish reasons, because of the time it takes to “catch up” students who are absent. After they began posting their lessons online, the feedback was tremendous. Not only were absent students benefiting, but other students who were present for the first lecture began re-watching the lectures on video. Also, students found them helpful in reviewing for tests. Their journey is detailed here at The Flipped Class Blog.

Back to my school where teacher Steve Hegwood began flipping his classroom at the beginning of the school year. I got a summary from Steve at a faculty meeting, but I wanted to learn more about how he and his students were doing with this approach, so I asked him. He graciously agreed to be interviewed.

How did you hear about flipping classrooms?
After attending the November Learning BLC conference in Boston for two consecutive years, I was poking around on the Internet looking for ideas of practical applications of technology to enhance student learning (one thing I despise is the trend in the implementation of technology for technology’s sake – you wouldn’t buy a hammer and then go looking for nails to hit). I stumbled across the vodcasting.ning.com community site last December or January. I attended the conference in June.

Were students intrigued or hesitant at the beginning of the year?
If I could go back and change how I presented the approach to the students I would. Sometimes more information is not better. I was very excited about what I had planned for my classes so I spelled out every detail on the first day of school. For the most part my explanation was met with blank stares and looks of terror. To the students, it was as if I was about to take everything that they had grown accustomed to over the last 10 years of their education and throw it out the window. They all became very defensive and I could no longer convince them that I wasn’t changing anything other than where they would be listening to lectures.

How do they feel about watching videos for homework?
Initially they were not to sure about it – they thought I was crazy. Their biggest apprehensions were centered on the inability to ask questions. Now that they realize that many of the questions they would normally ask early in a traditional lecture are usually answered later in the same lecture, many have developed the patience to wait until the end to see if they still have questions. Even when I take time in class for a traditional lecture I find that I am being interrupted much less frequently than in the past. I also encourage them to write down their questions as they watch and then ask when they return to class. They also love the fact that the videos have “pause” and “rewind” buttons the average teacher doesn’t have.

How are they doing with the in-class work? Do they like having you there for their practice time?
As I was slowly implementing the approach, providing a mix of video and traditional lectures, the early apprehension quickly faded as students began asking me if they could have another “work day” and wanting to know when the next videos would be posted. The students are finding that the homework is much “easier” when they have someone present who can explain how to work through problems instead of relying only on their own class notes.

Overall, how do you think the process benefits student learning? The questions that are being asked in class are much more advanced than what I am used to receiving from my first year students – many of the questions are what I might expect early in the year from my AP Chemistry students. Average test scores have increased by 6 to 10 percentage points. Not only are scores higher than in the past, but the students seem to have a better appreciation for and understanding of the material.

Since I write about technology here, perhaps you can tell us what software you use to record your slideshows?
I am using Camtasia Studio 7.1 to record and produce the videos. I host them on a Moodle site that I maintain myself. So far, my videos have been voiceovers of my working my way through PowerPoint presentations.

And the name of the nifty gadget you use to make your marks on the screen?
While making the recordings of my PowerPoint presentations, I occasionally use a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet to make handwritten annotations throughout the presentation. The Intuos 4 is Wacom’s midrange tablet, but they make a wide range of tablets from the entry level Bamboo to a series of professional grade tablets. As a technophile myself, this is a personal item that I already happened to have, but there are a number of similar products on the market. Interactive whiteboards are also great for this.

If a teacher is interested in learning more, do you have a website to refer them to?
I would strongly recommend that anyone wanting information visit, and consider joining, the vodcasting.ning.com community site and start sifting through the wealth of information and ask questions.

Wow, so much to think about. Thanks so much! I love to share innovative teaching ideas that enhance students learning. I’ll be interested to see how the year progresses. I'll do a status update at the end of the year.

Here is the link for the first time flippers group at the vodcasting ning that Steve mentioned:
Check it out!

First Time Flippers - Teacher Vodcasting and Flipped Classroom Network via kwout

Barbara Hall. THE NOAH CONFESSIONS

Lynnie attends Hillsboro School for girls, where everyone gets a car on their sixteenth birthday. So, when Lynnie's father gives her an old charm bracelet with birds on it for her birthday, she's disappointed and confused. Her father tells her that it belonged to her mother, who passed away when she was little. That consoles her somewhat.

Then her father gives her another present. A letter from her mom. Lynnie learns a lot about her mother's life growing up, as well as the story of how her mother and father met. But she also learns some scary secrets about her mother's family. She wonders if her image of her mother has been correct. She wonders how this will affect her relationship with her father. Finally, she wonders how this will affect her image of herself.

This was an intriguing story. Barbara Hall is an amazing storyteller. The story kept getting deeper and more interesting the more I read. The story ended up being pretty complex, yet the author pulls it off seamlessly. I really enjoyed the fully formed characters and the story!

This book came out several years back. I'm not really sure how I stumbled across it, but I'm glad I did. When I researched the author, I found out that she's written several books, but she also writes for TV. She wrote for several successful shows, including Joan of Arcadia, Judging Amy, Army Wives, and Northern Exposure. I'm not too surprised, since she has a gift for storytelling.

I'll have to keep an eye out for more books by Barbara Hall in the future!

Need Inspiration?

If you need a big, giant bucket of inspiration, check out the just published Ebook:

SCHOOL LIBRARIES: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come

It's a collection of 100 essays written by respected librarians, teachers, publishers, and library vendors on the subject of School Libraries.  It was edited by Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton. Foreword by R. David Lankes. Photographs by Diane Cordell."

The authors were asked to write about the future of libraries and librarians. Where are we headed? Where should we be headed? The topics range from learning, teaching, multiple literacies, collection development, the digital and the physical library, collaboration and professional learning. Each essay  beings personal experience to the learning happening in school libraries. Each has a different, but inspiring perspective. This is a must read for every school librarian! And, it's FREE. Go for it!

Smashwords - School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come - A book by Kristin Fontichiaro via kwout

Curation and Storytelling

I've been following the curation trend recently. At the same time, I've been pondering the importance of storytelling in every aspect of our culture. So when I came across Storify, which is sort of a combination of the two, I was thrilled at the possibilities! What a cool way to take an event or trend and make your own story. Watch the video below:

                                         Storify demo from Burt Herman on Vimeo.

Now look at an example of a story someone created about Al Davis, who just passed away:

I could embed the whole thing here, but it's really long, so click here to see it.

This is a really cool way to tell a story in your own way using multi-media and social networking. But it's also collaborative storytelling, because it's telling a story with input from everyday people who may be at the event, people who may be involved in some way, or maybe just people who have ideas and opinions and your topic/event. 

You'll see on the dashboard that you can choose which networks to pull information from. You can access Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Google, and RSS feeds, etc. When you find something pertinent, you drag & drop it into your stream. You can add your own text, reorder the items and more to tell the story you want to tell.

In the classroom, this is a great way for students to document an event - whether it's a natural disaster, an election primary, or the hub-bub surrounding the long-anticipated movie opening. 

The ideas are limitless! 

Elizabeth Scott. AS I WAKE

I've read almost all of Elizabeth Scott's books, and lately I've noticed she's branching off into some unusual territory. (Check out my other reviews here.) This one reminds me of GRACE, because it's so inventive.

Ava wakes up with no memory of who she is, where she is, or anything about her past. Her "mom" tells her that she was in an accident and has lost her memory. But when Ava goes to sleep, she dreams of another place - a place that seems more real that where she is now. After she is re-acquainted with her "friends," she begins dreaming of them in this other world. She wakes up in one place, then wakes up in another. Which world is real? Who is the real Ava? And why does she have this heavy sense of fear while everyone else seems so carefree. The mystery really gets complicated when a boy called Morgan finds her one day and tells her that he knew they would find each other again.

This is one of those books that brings up way more questions than it answers. I'm not saying that the plot isn't resolved, because it is for the most part. But I'm saying that all these other questions come up while exploring this plot.
For example, what if there are multiple worlds and therefore multiple people exactly like us in these worlds. I begin to wonder things like...

• Would you have different personalities in other worlds?
• How would you survive in different worlds, within different societal challenges?
• Would you be drawn to he same people? 
• Would you love the same?
• Would your ambitions and desires be the same?
• and the mother of all questions - Would your fate be the same? Would you die in the same manner, at the same age?

Anyway, Elizabeth Scott continues to impress! The book is a combination thriller, science fiction, and love story all at once, believe it or not! Click below to read a little about the story behind the story and this idea of modal realism from her website:

Elizabeth Scott via kwout

Veronica Roth. DIVERGENT

Wow! I love being blown away by an intriguing, well-written book! At first, this will seems similar to HUNGER GAMES, but it turns our to be very much its own thrilling tale.

In a futuristic dystopian Chicago, the society is divided up into five factions. Each society is founded on a particular virtue - Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Candor (honesty), Amity (kindness), Erudite (knowledge). At sixteen, teens must choose which faction to align with. First, they take an aptitude test to see which faction they most belong in, then they can decide to follow those results or choose another faction. If they leave their home faction, they never see their family again.

Beatrice Prior gets some unusual results at her aptitude test. The test proctor tells her that her results are inconclusive - that she is part Abnegation, part Dauntless, but really neither. The proctor whispers that she is "Divergent," and she should not tell anyone. It's dangerous. So the proctor deletes the results and enters the results manually as "Abnegation." Beatrice tries to get more information, but she's shushed out of the room and told to be very careful.

After much thought and boredom with her home faction of Abnegation, Beatrice decides to leave Abnegation. She has never really felt like she belonged in her home faction. The strict selflessness, which includes bland food, bland clothing, and lack of excitement, has driven her to the wild looking Dauntless faction. She has watched the kids from Dauntless as they laughingly jump on and off moving trains. Even if their life seems foolish, constantly displaying wild acts of courage, it has an excitement that she craves.

The new recruits to Dauntless must undergo a stringent initiation process. It's brutal and forces Beatrice to face fears she didn't even know she had. Plus, the recruits are in competition with each other, which brings out the cruelty in people. Beatrice must fight others and compete with herself to get through initiation to become a full Dauntless faction member.

This is thrilling, suspenseful, gritty, and thoughtful. It's a roller coaster ride, and I was so sad for it to end! The writing is impeccable. The characters are amazing! You will NOT be able to put it down.

I'm thrilled to hear that it has a sequel. It's going to be a trilogy. In fact, the cover for the sequel was just revealed. Check it out:

And you probably don't need more convincing, but just in case, check out the trailer below: