N.B. I wrote this as a reflection after a learning day at school.
Friday was a
professional development day at my school, and to my delight, we got some
choice. I began the day with iBook Author, since I am planning to create my own
British Literature textbook to take advantage of the 1-1 iPad initiative. I
enjoyed my hour of screencasting, since the earlier tools I had used were
outdated and limited in features. Screencast-o-matic
is going to be great. So next I chose a webinar discussing student engagement
and flipped learning. The presenters are well-known practitioners, having
penned several “how tos” over the past 10 years, so it seemed like a good
follow up to my screencasting workshop. I like the idea of flipped learning,
because it gives students control by definition, but could never see how it
would be much different than my traditional English classroom. Kids read at
home, and then come to school and we discuss or make projects or write. What
could be different about flipped learning for me? I knew that Khan Academy was
not flipped learning, though videos were involved. So my plan was to listen to
the webinar to discover more about flipping.
Jonathan Bergmann
and Aaron Sams began by noting that flipped learning depended on relationships,
and relationships meant engagement. The discussion was organized around the
principles of engagement, the techniques to implement, the hurdles to success
and training the teacher AND the children. They noted that fewer children
arrive at school from “educationally privileged” households in 2015, so schools
must work differently to capture those students and “meet them where they are.”
This is not true at St. Mark’s, but even at our school, I have noticed less
support of the academic mission at home over the past 5-6 years—no time?
My most important
takeaway might have been their point about the Bloom’s taxonomy and how teachers
approach it: if a teacher sends a child home to do the hard stuff alone
(analyze, evaluate, create) then the teacher has relinquished her strongest
learning tool. We should be doing the hard stuff together, in school. That is
why students need me! I am feeling good about reading “A Modest Proposal” aloud
in class together last week and then having students work on questions
independently. What I modeled as we read was how to pick out particular
strategies and how they complemented purpose. My independent practice questions
required the rehearsal of that skill.
The second point
that rang true came when they discussed curated versus created content. This is
where the screencasting will come in: the learning that happens at home must be
tailored by the teacher for her particular students. This is not a tough point
for me. Once I decided to eschew textbooks for anthologies a few years ago, I
was forced to create my own ancillary materials. Even now, my students are
always more successful when I tweak the curriculum and projects to fit the
students I have, instead of the students I have had. If I am going to flip a
class, the videos for independent learning must be mine. I am always surprised
when teachers use boilerplate lessons or materials and then are irritated that
students do not succeed. The only downside to created content? It takes time.
Overall, this was a
good introduction to flipped learning delivered by two experts. It was an
overview of the purpose and process. Both speakers noted at the conclusion that
they were planning more subject and grade level specific books in the future. I
will check in on their website. To date, no one has done anything really good
for secondary reading and writing in a flipped manner.
Flipped Learning:
Gateway to Student Engagement
with Jonathan
Bergmann and Aaron Sams
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