The
main problem I am trying to resolve deals with mainstream students. Considering I teach a core class in Social Studies,
I feel this is the best possible way to influence the most students. I really want to work on raising the level of
student engagement in my classroom. This
is not an issue with just a certain segment of the students in my room. The issue
tends to move around and settle within different groups at different
times. I am hoping by implementing a
flipped classroom model I will be able to increase the level of buy-in within
my room.
In
order for my plan to work well I will need to bring in a functional team.. I
would hope to bring in some fellow teachers from within my area of study to aid
in the process. I would also seek out
the aid of teachers within the school who have used the flipped classroom in
the past as a sounding board for ideas.
The majority of the workload would fall onto me. Seeing as this change will deal almost
exclusively with my classes and my room, I would be the leader of this group. The idea would be to let my administration in
on what is going on and the changes made, but they would be on the periphery.
The
great part about introducing the flipped classroom is students are given some
freedom to work on at their own pace when it comes to the online portion of the
lessons. I really like the idea of
giving kids the choice to view lessons at their own pace and to choose the path
they take viewing them. That said, I am
not totally looking to give up all of the control in my room as to the pace,
which students operate. As much as I enjoy
the idea of freedom outside the class, I also like the idea of being able to
have a place for them to return to as a collective group and holding them
accountable for staying with the rest of the class. Students are expected to return to class, which
will provide them the opportunity to transition back to the collective pace.
As
a teacher the flipped classroom would allow me to facilitate learning in my
room without using a majority of the time relaying information to
students. I would be able to provide tutoring
and guidance in addition to the online learning. Essentially, I would be there for students
when they have any questions or concerns, while at the same time students have
the ability to complete classwork in an environment, which provides structure and
guidance. By eliminating homework in its
current form, I am able to provide a place for students to ask questions and
get immediate feedback on their performance.
It real is a win-win scenario for both the kids and me. I now longer have to worry about presenting information
and making sure they are attentive during lectures, and students have the opportunity
to avoid the stresses that come along with daily homework and scheduling time
to get things done.
When
it comes to how my classroom is going to look, there really will not be much
change from its current set up. In my current classroom, I have roughly 25
desks and they are arrange in traditional rows.
I have experimented in the past with different ways to set them up, but
with the amount of space and the configuration of the room, I always seem to
bring the set up back to the one I have now.
I do have a classroom set of laptops I plan to employ when students may
need them, although at the current time there is not a way for students to
check them out to take home. A lot of
the flipped classroom relies on the idea students will have access to the
internet at their homes. While I know
there are students who fall into this category, I plan to be as accommodating as
I can when it comes to students who need to use time in school to view
videos. There is a computer lab in addition
to the cart in my room and we have seminar everyday if needed to catch up on
lessons they may have missed.
Luckily,
as I alluded to in the previous paragraph I do have the luxury of a cart of
Chromebooks in my classroom. There are
25 computers in the cart and my largest class contains 25 students, so the
numbers work out well. This gives me the ability to provide enough computers
for my students throughout the class period.
I am going to have to rely on the tools students have in their
possession for watching videos outside of the classroom. The best thing about much of the technology
today is the fact most students can watch video on their phones anywhere they
are and for those students, who may have difficulty finding a way to view the
videos, simply letting me know and I can easily give them other options.
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