In today’s world, our students are surrounded by technology. Â More times than not, they are more familiar with an iPad than many adults. Â Over the last few years, I have attempted to put my students’ interest in technology to use by implementing a flipped classroom model! What is a flipped classroom, you ask? Â It is a method of teaching where teachers record video lessons for their students to watch as homework. Â On the following day, students return to school prepared to practice the skill in class.
Check out this fun video below to further explain and demonstrate what a flipped classroom looks like. Â I usually show this to my parents on back to school night to allow them to see how and why I am implementing a flipped classroom.
If this sounds like something that you might be interested in, you’ll need to consider how to make and share videos for your students. Â I use Educreations. Â It is simple and free, and it can be accessed without the internet! Â I have a full post sharing how I make my videos {here}.
Each day before dismissal, my students go to our classroom blog. Â On our blog, my teaching partner and I share our daily homework so our students know exactly what is expected of them that evening. Â Included in the homework list is a link to their math video for the evening. Â We also love this because our parents can subscribe to our blog and receive email updates each day!
At home, the students will watch the video and record their own notes for the content provided. Â I require my students to write down any definitions that I provide. Â However, from there, I am fairly flexible when it comes to the examples that I work out throughout the video. Â Personally, I am a terrible note-taker. Â When I attend conferences myself, I might write reminders to myself like, “Don’t forget to sign up for…” but I don’t write detailed notes. Â Therefore, I really try to allow my students to watch the video in a way that suits their learning styles. Â I would rather them not be stressed about recording every single number or letter that I do and instead actually absorb the content. Â I enjoy this because I really get to witness my students learning about themselves throughout the school year.
By this point, you may be wondering, “What do we actually do during our math block?”  We practice and extend our learning on the skill from the previous night.  I can use the exit tickets from above to determine with which  areas small groups of students are struggling.  Then, I utilize task cards and math centers to allow my students plenty of opportunities to practice with the help of a teacher, assistant, or peer.
I could seriously ramble about the advantages all. day. long. Â Instead, I’ll say this. Â Since I began flipping my classroom, I have been able to maximize instructional time while avoiding giving students dreaded homework pages that often lead to frustration for students, as well as parents. Â I love how this empowers students to work hard, to do their best, and to take charge of their own learning. Â You are sending home “the teacher” with each of your students every night. Â Does it get any better than that?!
This leaves kids at a disadvantage when they don't have access to this technology at home or causes problems for parents who try to limit technology in the evenings.
I have tried this several times and the students really like it. I do too. However, there is always one or two students without internet, making it difficult to do. I have tried workarounds such as putting the video on a flash drive for them to watch on a computer, but most recently I had a student without a computer at all. I tried burning the videos to a DVD, but the student said his player wasn't reading them. We gave up after just a couple of weeks, even though the kids and parents loved it.
I would love to know how people handle it when one or two students do not have computer or Internet access.
When using the Educreations app, students can open the app at school and can still watch it at home. Are you in a 1:1 school?
Wr have 1:1 in grades 3 and 4, but they have chromebooks and do not bring them home.
I am trying this on a few things to get my feet wet. Yes, there are kids that do not have computers but their parents do have smartphones. You may not be able to reach all kids but for those you can and whose parents see the good in it – it will be worth it. The other kids are the ones you will just have to find the time to work with. It is the same with everything we do.
Our school policy is that if they cannot all do it, we can't require it. We can give suggested activities, but doing the flipped classroom for homework would not be allowed if they cannot all do it.