The Flipped Model with Needs-Based Grouping

Keep in mind a few things while going through these steps to “flip” your instruction and set up a working model of differentiation in your Hybrid A/B class

First, realize that this can work in any subject area. In order for it to work successfully, a teacher must come up with clear objectives on what students need to know, and how they will demonstrate that knowledge. You’ll also have to be able to teach the main concept through video, and students will need a way to access that video at home (or at the beginning of the class period).

Second, don’t spend too much time thinking about the resources you use to make the video. Often teachers get stuck in the technical side of things instead of just making it and getting better with production over time. It doesn’t have to be fancy.

Third, make sure you use this strategy to find out what your students know and what they are missing, then get them to a place where they can demonstrate that understanding. When you pre-assess students, the goal is not to see “who did the homework” but instead how your instruction can meet students where they are at in their current level of understanding.

Getting Started Flipping Your Instruction

Here are 10 steps (some longer than others) to get this model working with your class:

1. Teachers identify a particular concept or skill to focus their instruction (often dictated by your curriculum).

2. Teachers create a short video screencast (using Canvas Studio) walking students through the concept, explaining the reasoning and steps, providing examples of the skill in action.

3. Teachers edit and upload the video to Youtube or Vimeo.

4. Students watch the video the night/day before class and take notes or answer some quick comprehension questions.

5. When students arrive at class the following day, the teacher hands out (or gives digitally) a short 5 question pre-assessment based on the video and instruction from the night before.

6. Students answer the questions to the best of their abilities and then score a partner’s (or self-score their own assessment).

   1. Students end up in three groups based on the pre-assessment score.

      1. Score a 0-1 and you are in Tier A.

      2. Score a 2-3 and you are in Tier B.

      3. Score a 4-5 and you are in Tier C.

7. The goal for all students is to end up in Tier C by the end of class.

8. The first third of class:

   1. Tier A sits down and re-watches the video from the night before with a teacher-created handout with new questions.

   2. The teacher gets Tier B into groups (or partners) to work on refining some of the skills and concepts together. They can use the video as a guide and call on the teacher to help during their group work.

   3. Tier C is given a higher-level application challenge.

9. The second third of class:

   1. Teacher heads over to Tier A after the video is complete to answer any questions they might have on the concept and give the entire group some questions to answer. Then they answer questions individually. They move onto Tier B.

   2. Tier B takes another short formative assessment (individually) to show their understanding after the group work on the concept. Those that score a 4-5 move onto Tier C.

   3. Tier C continues to work on the challenge or completes it and begins to help new students coming into their group.

10. Last third of class:

    1. Tier B students work in partners or groups and take the next formative assessment when they are ready. Teacher floats between Tier B and Tier C helping and challenging as seen fit.

    2. Tier C students finish the challenge and work to create a challenge for the following class (or next year’s class).

    3. Tier B students are helped by classmates and teacher to move to Tier C before the end of the class.

Let’s recap:

First, you start with some type of work at home or at the beginning of class. Then you assess quickly on base knowledge of that concept. The pre-assessment separates your class into three tiers of understanding. The goal is to move students through tiers and provide different levels of support. With all students landing at the final tier for a challenging activity by the end of class.

The trick to making this successful is to embed choices into the activities during class. Allow students to pick partners and groups. Give students multiple types of questions to answer and activities to complete. Give the second-tier options on how they are assessed before moving to the final tier. Provide the final tier with options and choice to challenge their understanding and move past the application to a higher level of thinking.

I would personally start with a concept or skill that some students typically master quicker than others. In this case, you’ll have experienced the frustration of having students at all different levels of understanding, and know that there has to be a better way to go about instructing the entire class.

Start small with a short video, and quick activities at each of the levels. This way, when you move into bigger units of study, students will be familiar with the process and expectations. It’s amazing to watch the negative “snowball” effect of students falling behind stop immediately. In this model, there is no “falling too far behind” because students are all expected to reach a certain level of mastery by the end of the class.