The primary goal in flipping my classroom is to maximise student outcomes by utilising the face-to-face time I have with my students. In this blog post I have used Bloom’s Taxonomy as a visual representation of what I wish to achieve in my flipped classroom.
Blooms taxonomy challenges educators to get students to go beyond content knowledge, acquisition and memorising and draw upon higher order thinking skills.
Unfortunately in my traditional maths classroom [diagram 1] I spent too much class time delivering the content. This meant the students didn’t have as much time to explore the mathematical concepts at a higher level in class with the support of their teacher. Usually they were instructed to complete the high order problem solving questions that required them to critically explore the mathematical concepts on their own for homework.
[diagram 1]
The goal of my flipped classroom is to change what the students spend their time doing in class where they have access to their best learning tool, their teacher. In the flipped model [diagram 2] the content delivery is completed for homework through pre-recorded lectures. This allows the student and teacher to utilise the time spent in class on deepening the students understanding of the mathematical concepts through examining more complex problems.
[diagram 2]
The flipped classroom model I have newly employed in my maths class has meant I can make better use of the face-to-face time I have with my students.
I am no longer the presenter of information out the front of the class. Instead, I spend most of my time working WITH the students to help deepen their understanding of the material. I now have the time in class to assist students who are struggling and extend others.
The following table compares how I previously spent my time in my traditional classroom and how I now spend my time in my flipped classroom. This comparison follows the same format as Bergmann and Sams used in their book Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day.
* or not at all which was often the case
In my traditional classroom I spent most of the time giving teacher directed lectures on the material. This led to the students not having enough class time to fully engage with the activities that allow them to gain a deep understanding of the material.
In my flipped classroom after the students have settled, I question the students on the previous nights video. This ensures the students understood the content and highlights any areas they may require further assistance with. After this, we get on with the learning and this is the real advantage of the flipped classroom. The students get to maximise the time they spend engaging with the knowledge, concepts, processes and problem solving. While the teacher can divide their time between those who require assistance and those who are looking to be extended.
Flipping the classroom doesn’t replace, or lessen the importance of the role of the teacher. What it does is allow the teacher to increase the student-teacher interactions within the school.
The simplest definition I can think of: a flipped classroom is where students do for homework what they would traditionally do in the classroom, and they do in the classroom what they would traditionally do at home.
Here’s a better definition
Flip teaching is a form of blended learning which encompasses any use of Internet technology to leverage the learning in a classroom, so a teacher can spend more time interacting with students instead of lecturing. This is most commonly being done using teacher created videos that students view outside of class time. It is also known as backwards classroom, reverse instruction and reverse teaching - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_teaching
Traditionally in my Maths classes I would give a “lecture style” lesson to the students to front load them with required knowledge and process. The students would then practice this in the class with what ever class time was left, with an expectation that their learning would continue at home where they would do more exercises to help reinforce the concepts.
In my current flipped model I create a “lecture style” lesson that students access online and watch for homework BEFORE the lesson. This allows students to come into class already front loaded with the required knowledge and processes. We can then utilise the classroom time to work on the exercises that allows students to gain a deeper understanding of the mathematical and problem solving concepts.
The traditional model of the maths classroom has a number of flaws due to the lecture style delivery of content to the entire class meaning it is difficult to personalise the lesson. Let’s consider some types of students in my class:
The A student
My traditional classroom: While I was lecturing, this student was getting bored. He/she understood the material in a short amount of time and sat through the rest of the lecture while I was either answering other student’s questions or giving more examples to ensure other students understood the material.
My flipped classroom: The student watches the lecture for homework like the rest of the class. The student uses class time to demonstrate his understanding and then has the time to be extended. He/she no longer needs to slowed down by the rest of the class.
The struggling student
My traditional classroom: Often this student would comment that I was moving too fast or they found it difficult to take notes and pay attention to what I was saying. Sometimes the struggling student complains that they haven’t finished writing down the material on the board before I am ready to move on. This student would usually struggle with homework as they required the teachers assistance in completing the exercises that were set.
My flipped classroom: The student watches the lecture for homework with the ability the pause, rewind and re-watch as many times as they like. This allows them to follow the lecture at their pace. One student commented that she like the fact that she could “press pause when ever she liked and not slow done the rest of the class”. When the student arrives in class we can work on ensuring they understood the lecture and continue with the exercises that allows them to gain a deeper understanding. The real advantage for this student is the time the student gets in class to complete the exercises with the teachers assistance.
The absent student
My traditional classroom: Students are often absent from class. This could be due to illness or extra curricular activities. In the past I have found that students with heavy sporting commitments often miss classes due to training or sporting events. These students find it difficult to catch up on missed work when they have missed the classroom lecture.
My flipped classroom: Now students who miss classes can still keep up with the work by watching the online lectures. This also works for students who wish to go back and review previous lectures, something they aren’t able to do in the traditional classroom.
There is no specific methodology to be replicated, no checklist to follow that leads to guaranteed results. Flipping the classroom is more about a mind set: redirecting attention away from the teacher and putting attention on the learner and the learning. – Flip Your Classroom [pg 11]
I have decided to flip my year 11 mathematics class and will document my journey in this blog.
I am using the “Flipped Classroom” category to help document my journey. A link to all of the blog posts in this category can be found on the right-hand menu.
My first blog post in this journey will be “what is a flipped classroom”. I look forward to the challenges that this adventure will bring over the next 6 months, and into the future.
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