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This week in the Teacher Tip series, we'll be taking a look at the flipped classroom.
Now, the flipped classroom is simply an ideology that allows us
to utilize a lot of educational technologies to help push student achievement.
We're going to break it down into three steps. One, what is the flipped classroom?
Two, how can I modify my current lesson plan? And three, where can I find additional resources?
Let's go ahead and dive right in with understanding what exactly
is the flipped classroom. For most teachers in a traditional
classroom environment, when students come to
class the first thing they do is get introduced to a new content.
And then, the second half of class we reinforce that concept to help the students
master it. This typically takes place through a variety
of extension activities. We have small group, or projects, papers,
and even worksheets and problem sets. And then, to help reinforce the content, we
send homework home with the student. In a flip classroom, these two elements are
actually going to flip. The homework is going to become the introduction
to the new content. It happens before the class that deals with
that particular subject, not after. Classroom time then is 100% dedicated to active
learning experiences Where students dive into the content.
And you the teacher come along side the student to help them master it.
Now that seems very simple in practice, but can get fairly complex
when we start breaking down exactly how it plays out in our classroom.
When it comes to the students, there's a lot of benefits to the flip classroom model.
First off, it focuses on active learning during class.
The student takes their passive learning of watching you
present the material, and they do that at home.
Furthermore, we find that students that don't complete
homework are more likely to watch a video. Or do something that's passive learning.
One reason that students don't complete homework is they don't understand
the homework. In a flipped classroom, if the student doesn't
understand the homework they can simply watch it a second
time. The flip classroom also allows for more one
on one time with the teacher. So if a student is struggling with the concept
and they come to class, instead of being one of 30 students
listening to a presentation. They're immediately involved in group work,
where they can get peer to peer assistance, or they can seek out help
from the teacher one on one or in a small group.
It will also help increase differentiated learning.
When students come to class they no longer have to sit in a lecture
style format, they can go into a variety of group work or problem-based learning.
And those groups are easy to differentiate based on skill level.
This way, you the teacher can give the student exactly the environment they need
to be successful. It also helps students become self learners
at home. This goes back to the common core state standards
of helping our students become college and career ready, and the flip classroom
also transforms your class time to be 100% student-centered.
So instead of starting class with this very teacher-centric model of us talking to our
students, we get to flip it around, where students
are the one teaching themselves and teaching others.
Research has shown us that this student-centric model really pushes content
mastery. And even though the flipped classroom is really
beneficial to students, there's also some great benefits
to teachers. For example, it's going to increase student
mastery of content. I know a lot of teachers that are really worried
about state exams. The flipped classroom's really going to help
you the teacher put your expertise on helping students
master content. Another benefit to teachers is less time preaching
and more time teaching. What I mean by this is educators are going
to have the ability to work one on one with students to help them
master content. So instead of just being the
teacher in the front of the room who is talking. Actively seeking out what students need, reflecting
and adjusting your practices to meet the needs of those
students. This will also allow you to increase
your one-on-one interactions with your individual class.
You can build deeper relationships, understand your students better, and
ultimately know what your students need in order to be successful.
If your entire class is group work, you're going to
quickly come to know what students work well together.
How to differentiate your class to get the most out of your group work time.
And there's also thousands of lessons already online.
There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Now, later on, we will talk about how you,
yourself, can create online resources to send to your students if you
can't find the perfect lesson. But we're also going to explore a variety
of ways that you can quickly find a lesson that your students
can watch at home. Now that we have a general concept of
what the flip classroom is, and how it's beneficial, let's take a look at how this plays out in
our lesson plans.