Flipping the Class Makes the Whole Day Fun

For Day 11, TeachThought poses the question "What is your favorite part of the school day and why?"

I have been flipping my AP Calculus classes for the past 3.5 years and last year I finally expanded the flipped class to another class. This year, all of my classes are flipped for the first time. The best parts of my day are when the students are in the room, but not one specific time or activity, which is why the flipped class is so great. You never know what is going to happen or what may surprise you until it actually happens. Here are my reasons why a flipped class makes teaching worthwhile and fun:

1. The worst part of my day used to be information transfer from me to the students. No matter how creative I got, it always felt like it was too fast for some and too slow for others. With a flipped class, that transfer time is minimized for every student, which allows me to actually cover more material and cover it in a deeper context.

2. Students aren't afraid to ask any questions because their question isn't the center of attention. It is just them and me talking, so they don't hold back. It is a more relaxed environment for both of us.

3. Formativie assessment is easier and more effective. The homework assignments, usually videos, have embedded quizzes, which allow me to know before the students come into the room how I need to open class. I can then have a follow-up question or questions prepared after my opening activity to see if the problem is fixed. I have been using Plickers for multiple choice questions and it is working well. Besides the quizzes and follow-up questions, a flipped class is really an on-going formative assessment process. I'm interacting with every student everyday and seeing where they are all at with respect to where I would like them to be.

4. I can now do a lot of cool extra activities with class that I didn't have time to do when I was teaching in a more traditional model. We have used some cool interactive websites, I have added an iPad to class and loaded it with math apps, and we are going to be using CBRs later this semester. My favorite thing I have been able to do is have the students create videos for me to use for future flipped class. Every lesson in my AP calculus class has a video I have produced, but I have also been able to add at least one student made video for every chapter we cover too.

5. I think the most important thing for the top students in a flipped class is the opportunity they have to help other students in the class. Once the students get comfortable with the structure of the flipped class, there are long periods of time where I can just sit back and watch it go. The students help each other so much, with struggling students asking questions to the ones who get the topic. My top students have developed such a better understanding of math the past few years from having taught it to their peers and the struggling got the same information they would have if I had been answering their questions.

6. My favorite part of a flipped classroom is the ability to develop strong relationships with the students. In traditional high school math class, there isn't much time for conversation about anything other than whatever common core state standard you are covering at the time. In a flipped classroom, you get to talk to each student one-on-one every day and you really get to know them. You know instantly if something is wrong or if they are excited about something because you have had time to get to know them. These relationshps are vital in helping students grow at their own pace.

The down side of a flipped classroom is all of the time you have to put in outside of class to prepare the videos or whatever you are presenting at home, collect and analyze the data from quizzes or discussion posts or some other method, and possibly keeping track of where every student is because they are not on the same pace. Even though this is a lot of work, it is all worth it when you see the results and are acutally having fun in the classroom.

#flippedclass #sophia #edpuzzle #calculus