About Flipped Classrooms

In the traditional math classroom, the teacher lectures on the new concepts at the beginning of class with a few beginning to moderate examples.  Students then practice individually or in groups.  Homework is composed of problems ranging in difficulty from simple to much more complex.  Many students do not do their math homework saying that they didn't get enough practice or they needed help and there was no one to ask. Teachers try to balance the amount of practice and lecture often mixing them together.  Additionally the lecture is too fast for some and too slow for others leaving many feeling disengaged.  Add the complexities of classroom management and the lecture will take longer leaving less time for practice.

In a flipped classroom, we move the simplest part of the lesson, the note taking to homework.  In class, we go over the reflect question and any questions that the student might have from the notes. We then start practice problems very early in class time. When possible, I put out answer keys so that students can self check their work.  I will purposely have a mistake on the key for students to find. This helps them develop confidence in their own abilities and question what is given to them.  I will be checking in with the students to check for understanding and see if there is a misconception that needs to be cleared up for the entire class.  There is still "lecture" time in the class, primarily when I am clearing up misconceptions and also making sure students get a few more rigorous examples in their notes. At the end, they receive a framework set of notes to complete for homework for the next lesson. 

Some may think that the teacher is abdicating his or her responsibility by making the student learn at home.  On the contrary, lecturing is often a very passive experience where the student receives the information. A teacher will use questioning to increase student engagement and learning but even then it's impossible to interact with everyone.  A student can just as easily take notes at home as they can in class.  And there can be a lot less distractions if the student uses headphones and doesn't have other websites up when taking notes. 

Also, contrary to popular belief, flipping a classroom increases the workload for the teacher instead of decreasing it.  I spend much more time on the framework notes to make sure that the students get what they need out of the notes.  Note taking is one of the most effective strategies to improve student learning.  By making note taking homework and accountable, it's importance is increased and the quality of notes (in particular copying examples) is increased.  As the semester progressed, I noticed that the amount of work shown on tests and quizzes increased much more than it had in the fall when the classroom was not flipped.  I then create videos around my notes and it often takes me several hours to develop the video even after creating the notes.  This year I'm going to try and make the text on videos large enough so they can be more legible on a phone since many of my students used that option last year. 

In summary here are some of the reasons I am willing to go the extra mile to create structured notes and videos to flip my classroom:

• • Students often get stuck on homework problems because they didn't get enough time to practice and absorb in class.  Now the student won't be doing the problems at home, they'll be doing them in class with me there to help them.  I'm really excited about having more one-on-one time in class to explain as needed to the students as they work.  In addition, the students will also have more time to work in pairs and small groups increasing the number of helpful resources available to them.  With the new homework, they won't be stuck since it will only involve note taking and viewing lessons.

  • Students who are absent can still experience the lesson and take notes.  Usually I have absent students copy my journal but they miss the explanations that go with the notes and they have to schedule time to come to my room to take the notes.  Additionally, if a student knows they are going to be out they can do the lessons ahead of time.  

  • When we take notes, I can only go at one speed.  It is too slow for several of my students, just right for many and too fast for some.  By taking notes at home with videos that the student can pause and rewind, this allows the student to take notes and absorb the concepts at their own pace. If a fast student wants to double time the video, that's fine too although I do go a little faster on the videos than I would in class because I know the students can now pause and rewind. Students who prefer textbooks will find their Holt Geometry book quite helpful in helping them fill in the notes about the concepts and theorems so I am referencing helpful chapters on the page for that lesson.  Those who prefer the textbook will still want to watch the videos where I work through the examples for the notes to see how to show work. 

  • It's a resources for parents and tutors.  Having professionally tutored UT students, I wish I had the time to tutor each and every one of my students but I know that is just not possible.  Now I can make sure that parents and tutors are comfortable with the lessons.  I still would love to see my students in tutorials who need that extra help.

  • Students can go back and review lessons they haven't absorbed.  They don't have to rely on the their memory of the lesson, they can actually redo it if it helps them.  

  • Students learn how to show work.  They have more practice copying down all of the steps involved in solving problems and it shows on their tests.

How can you help?

• • Please make sure your student watches the videos ahead of time.  I don't mean this weekend, except maybe to just make sure you can see the videos.  School hasn't started so there is no homework yet, but after the first day of Geometry their homework for next time will be watching the video and filling in the notes I will hand out.  You can access the videos on the class page under lessons or look for it under homework.  If they don't watch the videos they will miss on valuable classroom time for practice.  I grade homework on completion instead of accuracy although I will have a notes key in class for students who completed their homework but need to check the accuracy of their notes.

  • Let me know if you are having or will have trouble getting to the videos.   Some of the videos use flash and have built in quizzes so please be sure to update the needed drivers.  The quizzes aren't mandatory but are helpful in checking for understanding and I show the answers after the quiz is taken. 

  • If you don't have internet access at home, either have the student watch the videos with me after school OR if they can't, let me know and I can make a copy of the videos for the unit onto a DVD to take home. 

While I enjoyed teaching geometry before, I found I could really interact with more students, increasing student engagement and learning after flipping. I hope your experience with a flipped classroom this year is a positive one.