FlipCon13

This presentation will discuss things that need to be considered before moving forward with a flipped classroom. Moving to a flipped classroom is going to be a new experience for your students, and whenever people encounter something new and different, there might be pushback. Here we will talk about some potential issues that you may face when you decide to flip your classroom. Moving to a flipped classroom will also require you to rethink your learning space. You no longer will need to use the traditional row model to set up your class… what else can you change? How are you going to set up your flipped class? Is it still going to be teacher centered or are you doing this to move to a more student centered approach? Where do you want your flipped class to go? The flip is only the first step.

In this workshop, teachers will connect the concept of multiple intelligences to offering students choice in learning in the classroom. When students are given flipped lessons for homework, time is made available for students to work on projects of their choice in order to master content, concepts, and skills according to the teacher’s design and plan. Teachers will learn ways to create lessons for homework; to post lessons on a website and to assign it for homework, making time available to fully engage students in their classrooms using project based learning. Teachers will design a choice board for students in which learning activities are connected to multiple learning styles.

A Flipped Classroom is a powerful tool for improving learning and a major paradigm shift for teachers, students, and parents. While exploring the beauty of this learning jungle, many Allen High School teachers faced challenges and struggles and are working to turn them into successes. During our expedition we will shed some light on the dark corners of video assessment, student engagement and accountability, teacher transitions, and parent communication. Video concerns include whether and how to assess learning expectations. Parents need complete information on this teaching change, as well as re-education regarding the meaning of the word “teach”. A main pitfall for the teacher is a tendency to “re-lecture” and “re-teach” video content. This dishonors the work of those who watched the videos and cripples the flipped method because there is less time available for mentored/guided practice. Finally, we will explore approaches for corralling the creative chaos of the classroom.

Interaction in flipped classrooms must be meaningful, purposeful, and vibrant. This session on engagement and interaction covers three elements vital to creating engaging and interactive online courses: sample rubrics defining expectations, immediate and personal feedback comments, and lively discussion questions. Templates, rubrics, and samples are offered for participants to personalize in their own courses. Participants will be actively involved in learning and have opportunities to practice the tools, techniques, and strategies presented. Opportunities for questions and exchanges of information, best practices, and tools will be integrated into the session. Participants leave with their own “best practices” toolbox.

At the end of this session, participants will
• Demonstrate the ability to engage learners in the online environment
• Make use of effective online questioning techniques
• Formulate quality feedback to learners
• Create a positive presence in the online course
• Design online relationships between and with learners

In early October, 2012, I flipped my Dual Credit College Algebra classrooms. After flipping, I observed higher engagement of my students and at the end of the semester a 3.5% jump in the class averages of my students compared to last year.

In this session I will discuss what I did to make this shift successful. Key items discussed are:
• Making your mind over to flip your classroom – letting go
• Administration support – Failure is an option
• Use of Blackboard to support the flipped classroom
• Subject portfolios – Keeping students on task
• Lecture videos, Powerpoints and the textbook – Which to use?
• WeBWork –how I use this mathematics homework system
• Flipped classroom and the support of CCSS
• Results of an observational statistical study of the jump in achievement from last year

If you are on the fence of flipping your class, come listen, I may be able to convince you.

Our middle school classes are all inclusive; there’s no tracking that occurs. The result is a class that can move too slow for some and too fast for others. Therefore, we developed our own method of flipping to address this issue. This technique works best with a classroom that has access to computers or mobile devices, however it’s also possible without technology. We didn’t do it every day, we started small, and not all of our students have access to the internet at home, yet there were clear benefits for both students and the teacher. We’ll discuss how we flip and give examples from our class, as well as other subjects from our building that are doing similar work. We’ll show how resources from our regular lesson planning sessions allowed us to better meet the needs of all students and facilitate self-paced classroom activities for effective individual and small group learning.

Why don’t my kids love my videos? Why don’t my kids even watch my videos? Why am I even still doing this!? If these questions plague your planning periods, come to “I Want You to Want Me!”. This session will show you 6 powerful ways to make your videos engaging and something that your students will even look forward to. In the session, I will go in depth to explain the importance of not being a faceless voice, having and maintaining high energy throughout the video, and proper video length. I will also go in depth in discussing why it is important to utilize your technology, why your kids crave consistency, and how powerful it is to provide an outline for your students to follow along with. Lastly, I will be peppering my presentation with technology tips that will give teachers ideas of how they can integrate more technology.