24seven Teaching
Flipped Teaching Introduction
Defining the Flipped Classroom
- Providing direct instruction outside of the classroom
- Typical lessons can be screencasts, video lectures, interactive presentations, and podcasts.
Blended Learning:
- Providing direct instruction in the classroom, however, it is not coming from the present teacher
- Typical lessons can be screencasts, video lectures, interactive presentations, and podcasts.
My story
I decided to flip my classroom to increase the opportunities to provide small group instruction in my classroom. I found flipped and blended learning as a way to provide my students with basic content knowledge without me to allow for more time to instruct in small groups and explore independently.
The first night was weird. I am sitting at home with my wife knowing that I'm teaching my students. I'm wondering, how is it going? Are they learning? Are they blowing it off? Did I make any sense? After a while, it is just the norm, and it is great!
I have found it to be so versatile and flexible. I truly believe I am delivering basic content MUCH better and more students are grasping concepts the first time compared to when I was teaching in a whole class environment. The level of engagement is much higher. They are more focused during lessons and more involved in their own learning.
My favorite part is the flexibility. The more I explore with flipped learning, the more I find I love.
Tools for Creating Lessons
Touchcast Multimedia Recording
- This is an excellent app for making simple videos that are easy to publish directly on the Touchcast website, youtube, or right to your iPad photo album.
- You can make professional looking recordings including greenscreens, using a teleprompter, bottom third titles, and over 15 vApps that can pop in and out of the screen.
- Additionally you can add screencasts and videos from other apps and media.
- The best part...it is COMPLETELY free!
- Here are some of my favorites...
Nearpod - Self paced interactive presentations
- You create the presentation, students navigate through the presentation at their own pace on any device, at any time, in any location
- You can embed websites to navigate, videos to watch, and collect data on multiple choice questions, open ended responses, and drawing features.
- Any PowerPoint can instantly be uploaded into Nearpod to become an interactive presentation!
Explain Everything - Advanced screen casting
- Great way to have students focus on a particular process and focus on the content
- Powerful tool to embed writing, text, pictures, videos, and web links.
- A great feature is saving the videos to your camera roll and embedding them in other videos.
- Some examples...
Preparing Students and Families
Upfront and Honest
- I told my students and parents at the beginning of the school year that we would be learning in a whole new way
- I told them why I chose to do this
- I was very honest about it being a whole new challenge for me and I didn't know what to expect. What I knew was that I believed in the principles and I would work as hard as I possible could to make it beneficial for them.
The first assignment:
- The first day of class we went through a Nearpod slide show with information on a flipped classroom and the first videos.
- Then, their instructions were to watch it at home with a family member.
Pedagogy of a Flipped Classroom
Culture vs. Discipline
- Do you want your students to fear the discipline, or desire to learn?
- I value learning over consequences, and have not disciplined students for missing homework.
- When your students are engaged in learning, should they always be independent and silent?
- Do we want our students to learn how to complete tasks with groups?
- Flipped classrooms build in more opportunities for these great possibilities.
Homework Policy
- I will start by saying that my philosophy may not work exactly well in your class depending on your age-level, demographic of students, etc. However, I would challenge you to try it.
- If students do not do the homework, they are to inform me in the morning not when they get to class. The reason is not important to me. My response is "do it at lunch or recess".
- Even if they come to me at the beginning of class my response is "go do it in the hallway"
- All that matters to me is they are getting the material and learning, not hammering down on students for missing homework. To this day, I do not have one frequent flyer in my 3 math classes of 90 students. The frequency of missed homework is very uncommon.
Amazing moment for me: When I asked my classes "why do you think I let you do homework when you miss it and why don't I even always check to see if you do it?" 75% of the students raised their hands, the first one I called on responded "cause you trust us". Almost every student put their hand down. To me, that is one of the most powerful and meaningful connections I have ever made with my students.
Your class now in action
- Facilitate project based learning
- Participate in experiments
- Provide opportunity for discovery learning
- Teach through centers and provide more independent
What does a whole unit look like?
- Students are not engaged in flipped homework every night
- When they are learning new skills, they have homework
- It has been an average of 2-3 assignments per week
- Beyond that, my class looks like the bullets above
Flexibility offers differentiation
- Effective differentiation was my main reasoning for implementing a flipped classroom
- I can more effectively allow students to walk into class and immediately engage in independent work on the previous night's lesson. I think systematically pull students in most need of support through to my students requiring enrichment. Before flipping I had to come up with alternative assignments to the topic until they met with me, learned the new skill, then they could effectively engage in independent work.
Really interesting differentiation:
- Students were learning multiplication with decimals, they already knew multi-digit multiplication. After the introduction students were then given a choice to finish watching the lesson in lattice, traditional, or partial-products. This way they learned in the method of comfort and familiarity. Check it out
Flexibility through blended learning
Common uses:
- Learning centers where one "station" is a short instructional flipped lesson
- Students engage in flipped lesson at beginning of class as anticipatory set
Interesting Twist on Centers:
- Students participated in virtual learning centers on concepts they learned in fourth grade but needed reteaching. They "rotated" through different centers that were posted online. Each center was a lesson and activity to follow. One activity was an online game, one was partner practice, and one was a small practice worksheet. The fourth station was meeting with the teacher for practice.
- In one class students received 4 mini-lessons from me, pretty powerful.
Flexibility with Discovery learning
Flexibility gives you more time!
Learning Management Systems
Edmodo
- This is more of a social learning system, but has great benefits.
- This is the system I use with my students this year.
- It is fast, easy, and simple to use.
- The downside, there is a lack of organization and control.
Schoology
- This is a great and robust system to use.
- It requires more set-up and preparation
- Once it is created, managing is very simple.
- You have a lot of control and ability to organize.
- I use this to teach my iPad graduate course and will use it next year for my elementary math class.
Canvas
- Very similar to Schoology, with small differences.
- I have tested this system, it is very robust. Personally I felt it was less visually organized than Schoology, but it is just a personal preference.
Your First Lesson
How will this fit my class and content?
Ken Ehrmann
- 24seven Teaching: Focus on developing innovative ways to enhance your classroom, communication with parents, and professional development through flipped classroom principles.
- I am a fifth grade teacher in Pennridge School District
- Additionally I am a graduate class instructor for PD Campus.
Email: kennethjehrmann@verizon.net
Website: www.24seventteaching.wordpress.com
Phone: 215-499-6934
Twitter: @KenEhrmann
PD Campus
Email: info@pdcampus.org
Website: pdcampus.org
Location: PO Box 6762 Wyomissing, PA 19610
Phone: 484-639-9120
Twitter: @pdcampusedu
Teaching with iPads - April/May 2016
- Attend a dynamic, career impacting graduate course, and to top it off you get a free iPad!
- Ken Ehrmann will be your instructor.
- Running at the Bucks County IU in Doylestown
- Wednesday April 14th 4:30 - 8:30 PM
- Saturday April 16th 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
- Saturday April 30th 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
- Thursday May 12th 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM