As our district has transitioned to a one-to-one model and we continue moving toward the take home model, we need to start to evaluate concepts like Flipped Classrooms and Blended Classrooms. We need to be asking ourselves intentional questions, such as: what are they, how can we use them, what benefits do these ideas have, what are some of the negatives, why would we make this change?

Flipped Classroom is an instructional teaching strategy for running your classroom. Essentially, a flipped classroom reverses the traditional teaching model, allowing students to have instructional content taught outside the classroom. The student would be given an assignment at home, most likely a video, PowerPoint or a document to read. After completing their assignment at home, they would return to class the next day and engage with the content in the classroom through group collaboration, create meaningful learning opportunities, and foster the ability to have active learning happening in the classroom. This active learning could include using math manipulatives, in-depth laboratory experiments, debate or speech presentation, and applicable discussions. Many of the activities can be differentiated within the class, which leads to having more time that can be spent on skills such as problem finding, collaboration, design and problem solving for difficult problems, working in groups, and ample research time.

Check out this video on the possibilities of a flipped classroom.

While the Flipped Classroom model does require a fair amount of preparation by the teacher, there are several benefits to this approach, such as:  

• Student’s gain autonomy within the classroom, as they become more responsible for their own learning. By having all your teaching materials readily available to students, they then have more freedom to learn at their own pace. If you use a 7-minute video, a student can watch it multiple times, pause it, and write down questions that they can bring back to the classroom. For some people, it only takes listening or watching a concept once and then they understand  and can apply the new information to what they are doing. Alternatively, for those students that need to, they can spend extra time after a class reviewing lessons and concepts to fully understand them.

• Class time allows for more collaboration between the students, and one could even plan to have more authentic, project-based learning activities for the students. This could completely change the way the students learn and retain knowledge. In the coming weeks, I will be writing about different types of project-based learning and different projects that can be done. Much of the time, we wish we had more time in the classroom to explore concepts and allow the collaboration and flipped classroom.

• This model also provides access for both students and parents to what is happening in the classroom. Many times, we have had parents tell us this common story: When my child comes home, they don’t know what they did in school today. Parents have also directly mentioned to teachers that they would like to know what was happening in school. In the past many teachers would write a monthly newsletter stating what was going in the classroom. With a flipped classroom now parents and students have access to the class at any time and students can share what they are doing in the classroom and even learn concepts at home. Parents who always complain they don’t understand new math, for example, now have access to everything that the students have.

• Teachthought.com also states that the flipped classroom model can be more efficient. By having the students receive the “I do” teaching at home in a short 5-10-minute lesson and then applying, it reduces the need for lengthy lessons. In short, a flipped classroom allows students to have more time to be kids. Many studies have continually showed that children need free time and active time, both of which are tough to find in a traditional classroom model.  Different studies have different amounts of time children spend doing homework and it’s a lot. One study that Teachthought.com mentions that 9-12^thgraders spend an average of 38 hours a week, which breaks down to 5 hours a night average. Based off of those numbers, these children are not getting rest or play which both allows their minds to breathe, relax and retain the information they learn.

All of this sounds as though it would be easy to create a culture of learning in the classroom through the flipped classroom model but is it worth it? I can’t answer that question for you, since everyone has a different teaching style and way they run their classroom. However, in order to maintain a fair and balanced view, I also wanted to include some downsides because in this blog we are fair and balanced. Check out the list below:

1.       Preparation: To do a flipped classroom well you need to do a large about of work in advance. I mean a lot! You need to either make or find content that students can access at home that meets the lecture part of their learning requirements. This takes time and prep, and for many teachers who are not the biggest fan of this idea, they site this as one of the reasons. However, as a proponent I would point out that after year one, you have the general layout of your class for the future.

3.      Lack of Technology at Home: This could be a big hurdle because in order to do the flipped model the students need to access to technology. For some students you would need to provide them a way to access the same content that their classmates have access to. There are ways to solve this one too, but it would make it difficult for students who don’t have the means.

4.      Screen Time: This is often a touchy subject with parents who are afraid of giving their children another reason to be looking at a screen. If every class a student takes moves to a flipped classroom model, the student will have extended time in front of a screen. I think the benefit of have an 8-10-minute lesson instead of hours of homework is a way to quell this one.

On the whole,  I really like this teaching strategy and how it can transform your classroom. If your not ready for going all in with the flipped classroom, check out next week’s post where we focus on a blended classroom looks like. Let me know of your thoughts on this strategy.  Do you use it? What things stop you from wanting to move to a flipped classroom? Leave a comment below or find me on twitter!