Brandi J. Clark

So..WhatchU Talkin’ About Today, Brandi?

Well…today I am talking about Flipped Classrooms.

At the heart, flipping your classroom is like flipping a house.

How so, Brandi?

Well..when renovating a house to flip it, your goal is to add value.

When flipping a classroom, you are looking to add value.

Oh!

Yes…so…What part of your instructional day needs more value?

Bergmann and Sams state (2014) “the basic premise behind the method is that direct instruction and lecture is not an effective teaching tool in the group learning space, but is effective when delivered to individuals” (p. 29).

So…Flipping a classroom is meant to be a way of adding value to instructional time…by moving direct instructional/lectures away from class time.

Then…students have the flexibility to view videos at home at their own pace.

They absorb background knowledge/skills before the next lesson.

This allows teachers the flexibility to facilitate and guide process work with individuals or small groups in the next lesson…voila..adding value.

So…it means taking a look at what you have now.

Yes!

As Bergmann and Sams state (2014) “The key is to rethink and reimagine what class time should look like” (p.30).

And…keep in mind…

“Flipped learning is not about how to use videos in your lessons. It’s about how to best use your in-class time with students.”(Bergmann & Sams, 2013,p.16)

Changes to the flip classroom have gone beyond using videos as introductory tools.

Quillen states (2013) “While using video to introduce new concepts is still the most common tactic… more educators are now choosing to use video to supplement already-learned content, or even to have students search online and report on how the videos they find build on their classroom learning” (pS10).

Research on Flipped Classrooms
Goodwin & Miller state (2013) “To date, there’s no scientific research base to indicate exactly how well flipped classrooms work” (p.78)

However there are benefits that have been noticed. (Goodwin & Miller, 2013, p. 78-79)
1. Improved Student-Teacher Interaction
2. Opportunities for Real-Time Feedback
3. Student Engagement
4. Self-Paced Learning
5. More Meaningful Homework

Two important links to check out: Flipped Classroom Survey and a Flipped Classroom Info-graphic.

Check back soon for more information on Flipped Classrooms.

With topics such as:

How to structure a flipped classroom?
How flipped classrooms support the inclusive model?
How to find videos for your Flipped Classroom?
How to “mini”-flip your classroom?
How to flip your literacy classroom?
How to flip in an elementary classroom?

So in the end, you must decide…will you flip?

Remember, it’s all about adding value…

Check out my Flipped Classroom Resource Page!
Until Next Time,
When I will be “Talkin’ About” something else…

References
Bergmann, J. & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Maximizing face time. T+D, 68(2), 28.
Bergmann, J. & Sams, A. (2013). Flip your students’ learning. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 16.
Goodwin, B. & Miller, K. (2013). Evidence on flipped classrooms is still coming in. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 78.
Quillen, I. (2013). Video transforms teaching tactics. Education Week, 32(32), S8-S10

Last November 2013, I sat down everyday, for 30 days, to answer this question:

How can I help teachers love nonfiction writing as much as I do? And closely related…

Where does everything go so terribly wrong with nonfiction writing in schools?

First, I believe children start out as writers, before formal education begins.

I am inspired by a quote from Peter Elbow.

Peter Elbow states (along with many others),

“Very young children can write before they can read, can write more than they can read, and can write more easily than they can read–because they can write anything they can say” (Calkins, 1983; Graves, 1983; Harste, Woodward, & Burke, 1984; Sowers, 1982).

This means that writing is something innate, already present within in us. Therefore it is fair to say that writing is not just a subject in school or something foreign to what we already know.

So when we approach the teaching of writing in school, we are not dealing with a tabula rasa.

Students are bringing with them a variety of experiences with making marks on paper.

We start like these images…

And then…in the middle of the primary school years…this happens…

So what happened?

I will tell you later…
Until Next Time,
Lit Maven Out!