My Story

Background

I freely admit that when I pictured myself as a teacher(particularly in math) I was picturing the next generation of those who taught me. They stayed up front showing examples and we just got it. That's the picture in my head of "teaching." But when I reflect on why I wanted to be a teacher it wasn't about that, it was about the thrill of watching the younger scouts I worked with, learning to tie knots or putting bandages on me, get it after trying and trying. I can't put down my teachers, because they created me and I think it worked quite well, but I was blessed to be in a program filled with the best of the best so it probably wouldn't have mattered much what our teachers did, we would figure it out. So when my students aren't carbon copies of me what can I do to help them be the best them? My best answer so far is to teach in the flipped learning style.

My Big Reasons

I was attracted to flipped learning because I felt like every day I was having to make a choice about which group of students I would help. Would I push further to help the students who flew so high they were hitting the ceiling? Would I slow us down to give time for the students who were just getting off the ground? Would I focus on the largest group of students who were flying but not yet soaring? And over and over I felt I was choosing some students over others and I became the chooser of who wins and who loses. A flipped model gave options to meet students one on one and in small groups like when I tutored which meant I could modify my vocabulary and instruction to the direct needs of that student.

I was also drawn to the idea that my instruction would be available at home and for students to watch and re-watch as often as they like. This helps address absent students, who no longer need to miss out or just copy notes from someone without any context. I also know this can help the students who try really hard, but simply need things repeated several times to get them and simultaneously helps the students who are sick of hearing teachers repeating the same things for that previous group of students. This part of flipped learning was important to me, because it put each student in the driver seat and provided an opportunity for all of them to practice responsibility. It creates a greater ownership of the learning process so that they can feel that it isn't something I am doing to them, they are a part of it.

What I Did

I began the transition to a flipped classroom with individual lessons that were flipped. This helped build up my confidence and gave me experience with designing more intricate lessons. I say more intricate, because part of flipped learning is that I am not at the front of the class with the ability to improvise. This means I have to put in more thought into where students may go awry and how I can assist them when they do. The first one I intentionally made as a trial for flipping was a review assignment on right triangle trigonometry. The assignment gave students a week to complete knowing that there wouldn't be class time devoted to it, but it did give them freedom to plan when they wanted to. The assignment included some instruction along with practice and application. I continued to find opportunities to include more flipped learning in my classroom. It was these individual lessons that truly won me over, because I could see what my teaching could become. My concern was how would I keep that going day after day. So to test what my daily routine would look like, I picked a unit and planned out how to implement this. I ran this unit as a trial so that I could ensure my plan would work and to try out some of the details. I carried out this plan in February of 2015.

The short version is that it was a moderate success as evidenced through my trial. Overall the trial showed that as a group the scores were effectively unaffected, which given a major change during 2nd semester of senior year with students resistant to change, I viewed as positive sign. Individually there were notable changes in scores, however, there were as large increases as there were decreases which told me that had more to do with the individual students than the teaching method itself. I complied a report on my trial which you can read if desired, the report was largely a way for me to analyze and reflect on what I did. One great benefit was that I got experience in how to improve my structure before going all year, some of the places I wanted to change and have are given in the report's reflection and conclusion.

The success of the trial gave me the confidence to fully flip the next school year. So starting with 2015-2016 Precalculus at Marian has been flipped. I knew that creating a fully flipped classroom would be time consuming so I only fully flipped one course that year. Since then, I have also flipped Algebra starting in 2018-2019.

My Flipped Classroom So Far

It shouldn't be a surprise that my first year students were reluctant to accept a new method of teaching. Students seemed to act under the thought that if they resisted enough I would give up and go back to a traditional routine. However, what students didn't understand was that I was watching their success and despite their outward complaints they were succeeding more than previous students. This was cemented by their semester exam where the class averages were approximately 20% higher raw scores than either of the previous two years when I had taught in the "traditional" style up front. This showed that even with a group of students not utilizing class time well and waiting until the last minute to complete their notes and work, there was still a major increase in their actual success with the material. At this point I knew I could never go back to the way I had been taught.

That sort of active resistance to the course only lasted one year. And while each year there are still students who like to claim that I "don't teach" they still participate (mostly) which means they get more out of it than if I were to simply lecture. To the claim about "not teaching," I find that students confuse "lecturing" with "teaching." I instead try to use the verb "learning" so that it is focused on the students rather than I me. I tell students and parents that the learning happens in my room when students are working on practice and not at home when they are watching my instruction. I tell parents that students who do what I ask on time should be earning at least a B (more on that here).

So what does my classroom look like on a typical day? Most days students have watched video instruction before class on Edpuzzle where I can track what they've watched and include questions in the video and most importantly they can't skip ahead. When they come to class the first thing they do is a Daily Notecard, which gives every student a chance to ask a question about the video/notes they took. Students then begin the in class practice which mirrors what used to be homework. The students are grouped from 2-4 together students with desks facing all directions; here's a picture of last year's room. As students work, I walk around to create proximity and be available to help. I also go through the Daily Notecards and find students with questions written down so I can answer them, trying to prioritize students with direct questions on the work or based on when I think they will get to related material. Almost everyday there is music playing in the background, I enjoy the background and it also serves as volume control (if I can't hear the music it means students are too loud). This work time takes up the majority of class giving time for almost all students to complete the work and the class ends with any announcements/reminders I have to give them. If you walk by my room you might find me in the back corner facing away working with a group of students or standing around waiting for students to have questions or even sitting at my desk getting small bits of work done (such as this, in fact the previous two paragraphs were done during class) while students are working independently because they don't need me.

This year I am also teaching Algebra 1 again and have flipped the instruction for this course as well. For these younger students I am taking advantage of guided notes, so the videos are structured around their notes rather than more free form. I also take the first part of class to do some notes with students so I can still interact with the whole class to give them some further clarification after the majority of notes are done at home. This is also to help them transition with some familiarity and because the age and class does not lend itself to such a long time on only 1 task.

Improving as I Go

The course and style continue to evolve. I created a much improved website for precalculus and changed my verb from students doing things "after class" to "before class." This change alone really helped to organize things by clarifying what is the student responsibility to be ready for class and lined up what they had to do outside of the class with what would be done in class. Previously I had separate sites for each unit which made it harder for students to go back and continue to use the available resources. I have also been looking to develop lessons that are not video based and give students the ability to explore and come up with their own methods and ideas rather than watch and practice. This adds to my arsenal of lesson styles and provides a better mix for students throughout the course.

Part of creating a class that puts more responsibility on students was creating a space for independence. This year I rearranged items in the classroom to create a student area with the in class materials they might need (paper clips, Daily Notecards, calculator charger, bin with extras, etc). I've tried several arrangements of desks to provide some different feel so more students can find something that fits them, perhaps being near the window or sitting side by side with partner instead of across. My hope is that these seemingly small details will help students feel a bigger ownership of the classroom and in doing so feel a greater ownership of their learning.

Going Digital

As part of how I flipped, my classroom became very digital. Specifically I created a website (originally several) for the class which contains the unit calendars of what is being done before and during class each day. While all the math is still done on paper, some things I really like about having gone digital:

I don't make extra copies. None. Because the class website/calendar has the assignments with links if students loose something or want an clean copy they can print their own. I do keep the unused in a bin labeled for extras so absent students (or absent minded ones) can grab what they missed.
I have less to track and remember. When students ask what we're doing or when something is due or when the quiz is, I just say check the calendar largely because I don't have to remember, the calendar remembers for me.
Students can access it anywhere. Absent students don't have a good excuse for not knowing what's going on, because they can see all the same things. Students who are prearranging absences, I can say do what the calendar says.
Next year's plan is already ready. To start the 2018-2019 school year all I really had to do was delete last year's dates. Each unit I plan any changes before we start and when it begins I can plug in the dates for this year, checking for days off and making small updates for any odd days. Done. I don't need to copy down from one lesson book to another or retype plans, because the calendar is already made.
Hyperlinks. I really like that I can put links directly into resources, as I've done throughout My Story. If students are going to be using a website like Desmos or Formative, I can put the links they need directly on the calendar for ease of students getting to the correct site. It also means absent students can complete the activities too, because they have access to the same information.

My End Game

In the end it is largely about style. There is more than one way to teach and for students to learn; for me having a flipped classroom has proven to be the best mix of how I wish things worked and what actually works for students. I do firmly believe that as educators we need to leave behind the traditional lecture, where one person delivers a bunch of information that everyone is supposed to remember. There is probably a place for it in our society, but sparingly at best in k-12 education. Flipped learning helps accomplish this by taking away the group experience of a lecture and putting emphasis on a process that students undertake rather than the oratory skills of a teacher.