I like many others heard about
the flipped classrooms movement and thought that sounds like a good idea, I
might try it. Having a performance management observation the following week,
in search of what seems to be an elusive outstanding lesson observation for
performance management, I thought I would take a risk and go for it. That was
my first big mistake, I didn't know enough about flipping my classroom yet to
actually put it into place. I jumped on a bandwagon before reading about what
other teachers had found when they had tried it. Although the lesson
observation went well, it wasn't outstanding and I knew it, and it wasn't as
good as it could have been. As the lesson drew on I was starting to kick
myself, I had made the number one mistake. Don't get me wrong flipping classrooms
is a great idea and I have used it since, but I have learnt a lot since then.
I didn't I quickly read something
on flipping classrooms and thought arrogantly I could do it. I thought it
sounded simple and why didn't I think of it before. Take a look at the info
graphic below for a starting point and flippedclassroom.com
2. Speak to Others Who Have Done the Same
Many teachers are trying flipping
their classrooms so there are lots of people out there who have experience,
especially if they teach your subject they can provide you with some
advice you can relate to on how they did it and overcame any obstacles they had.
3. Try to Find Examples From Your Subject
When I tried flipping my
classroom, I saw an example of someone doing it in geography and thought, yeah,
I could do that in PE, but I struggled with how I would do it. If I had of been
able to speak to someone who had done it in PE I would have been able to relate
what I was doing to an example that worked.
4. Start off Small
When I first tried to flip my
classroom I tried to get students to read and watch lots of videos that covered
the whole content of the lesson and expected by a miracle for the students to
know what sections they did and did not understand. Knowing what I know now I
would have started with just a small section, maybe one short video that
introduces a concept and build from there.
5. Train Your Students
You can't just spring flipping on
your students. They have been used to the more traditional learn some content
in a lesson and go away and do something with that content, to suddenly tell
them you are going to change it around and for them to be able to adjust to that
with ease is unrealistic.
6. Be Aware it Takes Time
The first screencast I created took
me hours to prepare and create, partly due to the fact that it ended up being
25 minutes long as I made the mistake of trying to put everything in. I then
rushed planning activities for the students as it took longer than I thought.
7. Plan a Variety of Activities
I found I had to create a wider
variety of activities for my students when we are flipping. It's like
differentiation gone mad with students all working on different tasks, this is
part of the reason I don't flip all the time. It allows students to work at
their own pace and students who have a firm grasp of the topic can support
other students.
8. Have a Backup Plan
Not all students are going to be able to access the internet all of the time. That's where a backup plan comes into play. I am fortunate we have staff laptops and some of my lessons are in computer rooms so I am able to get students to play catch up with the content, but when that is not possible I use students who have grasped the content to teach it to students who were unable to access the content at home.
Flipping is great and students do really learn the content well when you use it. I personally like to use it at certain times during a topic when students are learning the basic content and then go into more depth within lessons.
Created by Knewton and Column Five Media
Created by Knewton and Column Five Media
