The Flipped Classroom model is one that I have dabbled with here and there over the course of my teaching career. While I do not think it is a model that should be used every single day for every single lesson in every single subject, I do believe it has an appropriate time and place in 21st century learning. I use it sporadically over the course of the year in my 7th grade English classroom.
With that being said, here are two ED Puzzles I have created and used with my classes this year.
ED Puzzle: MLA Citations
ED Puzzle: Clauses
The creation process for these videos is INCREDIBLY simple. ED Puzzle is user-friendly, even for the most primitive technology user. It's also fool-proof for students to use. Furthermore, it syncs directly with Google Classroom; you can seamlessly share ED Puzzle assignments with your students. Additionally, if your classes are like mine, you have a fairly high turnover rate. ED Puzzle offers a convenient "Import New Students" button that will automatically adjust your rosters based on your Google Classroom rosters.
I guess I should note that the Flipped Classroom model does not need to be so heavily dependent on technology. My district's overall goal this year, though, is to "ride the technology wave", so I've been doing my best to accomplish that. One other instance of the Flipped Classroom model that I incorporate into my classroom on a weekly basis is the article of the week (Aow). I flipped the way that Kelly Gallagher (original pioneer of the AoW) implemented it with his students. As described here, Gallagher's students began each AoW in the classroom and finished it out of the classroom; I have my students do the complete opposite. They tackle the content and base hashing out of the article outside of class, then we meet together to dig deeper into the concepts presented in the article. This requires absolutely no technology outside of the classroom, and is therefore a great way to begin implementing elements of the Flipped Classroom model with your own students even if you(r students) lack access.
The Pros:
- Students can begin to explore a topic on the surface level (read: an independent level) without using any of the 47 preciously short minutes of class time. This allows for additional time for deeper instruction in the classroom.
- With resources such as ED Puzzle, Google Classroom, and FlipGrid, designing and assigning concepts and topics for students to learn is extremely easy from the teacher's end of things. ED Puzzle is ideal as it allows the teacher to sync questions along with the video. The video automatically pauses to allow students to answer each question. Students can rewind if they missed the answer/when it was discussed. Also, the teacher can see which students went back to rewatch before answering and how many times they did so; this provides valuable formative assessment information automatically.
The Cons:
- Not all of my students have internet access at home. Despite teaching in what is considered to be a fairly wealthy school district, I have students with zero access to internet or cellular networked devices at home. This makes the Flipped Classroom model a bit of a challenge. I actually have logged into Chromebooks on my account to enable student access to the work during the school day, when they really could not complete it at home. This is, of course, in violation of my IT department's policies, but I closely monitor the student as they're working.
- My school's IT/Admin have elected to ban all access to YouTube to student accounts. So, while I can project and play anything from YouTube I would like, students can not. Therefore, if I assign an ED Puzzle that functions off of an embedded YouTube video, students can not work on that assignment during study hall or at school at all. This just further prohibits the progress/participation from my students without internet/device access at home.
With that being said, here are two ED Puzzles I have created and used with my classes this year.
ED Puzzle: MLA Citations
ED Puzzle: Clauses
The creation process for these videos is INCREDIBLY simple. ED Puzzle is user-friendly, even for the most primitive technology user. It's also fool-proof for students to use. Furthermore, it syncs directly with Google Classroom; you can seamlessly share ED Puzzle assignments with your students. Additionally, if your classes are like mine, you have a fairly high turnover rate. ED Puzzle offers a convenient "Import New Students" button that will automatically adjust your rosters based on your Google Classroom rosters.
I guess I should note that the Flipped Classroom model does not need to be so heavily dependent on technology. My district's overall goal this year, though, is to "ride the technology wave", so I've been doing my best to accomplish that. One other instance of the Flipped Classroom model that I incorporate into my classroom on a weekly basis is the article of the week (Aow). I flipped the way that Kelly Gallagher (original pioneer of the AoW) implemented it with his students. As described here, Gallagher's students began each AoW in the classroom and finished it out of the classroom; I have my students do the complete opposite. They tackle the content and base hashing out of the article outside of class, then we meet together to dig deeper into the concepts presented in the article. This requires absolutely no technology outside of the classroom, and is therefore a great way to begin implementing elements of the Flipped Classroom model with your own students even if you(r students) lack access.
Thank you for laying out the pros and cons of a flipped classroom - they are very valid and eye opening. Until I read your post, I did not think of students not being able to access the internet at home. That is an extremely important point we should have in mind. Maybe individualized instruction could play a role here - if a teacher knows the student cannot access the internet at home, give them another option of the material? This may not always be possible, but just a thought! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJessica,
DeleteStudents not having access at home is constantly on my mind with my district's push for technology integration! While I like your idea, I feel as though the rest of the class would be at a disadvantage if I were constantly instructing the same one or two students. It would also prevent those one or two students from participating with the rest of the class as a whole. Just my thoughts!
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post about Flipped Classrooms, you offer a great review of both sides of the argument for flipping a classroom!
Your AoW assignments sound amazing and seem to me that they offer a great way for students to be able to "dive deeper" into their reading and analysis. Similar to your district, I have many students without access to technology outside of the classroom and because of this I think it is imperative that educators keep that in mind when thinking about flipping their classroom; like you said not all "flips" need to be tech dependent and could have the students watching the media in class and completing an extension at home or students could take home a reading or materials that would provide them background knowledge for something that is upcoming.
Great post!
Thanks! I really enjoy the Article of the Week assignments for both their consistency and their versatility.
DeleteStouffer,
ReplyDeleteStudents not being able to access Youtube is one of my biggest pet peeves lately. I've had to make so many adjustments or accommodations to activities I've come up with because of that. Jill had a whole project that revolved around her classes watching Youtube clips of Toy Story, and it wasn't until the day of that she realized they wouldn't be able to access them. I don't understand the restriction- especially with our new tech contract. If they use Youtube inappropriately, then we can just suspend or remove their tech privileges, just like any other violation.
Do you give them your credentials so that they can watch stuff on Youtube? .... Do you think anyone in IT actually notices?
Abby
Hi Nicole!
ReplyDeleteI really do like the fact that you laid out the pros and cons of a flipped classroom. It really does help someone like me understand both sides of the coin. I'm really thinking about converting my classroom over next year to follow the flipped classroom layout, however I do want to talk to my administration about what would we do to help our students who do not have internet at home function in a flipped classroom. I think that's my biggest concern with this whole model. However, do I just start my conversion off with just recording my direct instruction videos and just present them in class? Or do I go full force knowing that this may affect the students with internet access? I don't know, but I'm sure that's something that I need to address with my administration. Thanks for sharing!