Flipping My Classroom

It has been a very long time since my last update. I am currently 8 months pregnant and frantically getting ready for my long term sub.

I did, however, want to post a little update on something that I have been doing in my classroom this year: flipping.  For the uninformed, flipping is the process of making the lecture/learning portion of the class period homework and then making the practice (used to be homework) portion in the classroom.

So far, it is going very well. I am currently flipping the grammar portion of my language arts block. I have found that it is giving me more time to help students understand the material.  Here is a little run-down of how it works in my classroom:

Twice Weekly Video Assignments
- I assign two videos a week. I currently assign videos on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Assignment videos are posted to YouTube and our school homework pages.  I tell the kids on Monday the videos for the week if they want to work ahead.  Many do!

Question and Answer Sessions
- I assign a Your Turn assignment that is much like an exit slip.  Students that watch the video know what the assignment is and show it to me in their notebook the next day.
- I ask if anyone needs clarification on the previous evening's assignment before moving to the in class work.
- Students that did not complete the assignment or forgot their Your Turn assignment are required to watch the lesson during the question and answer session.  I also reduce the points given.
- I circulate around the room and answer questions during the in class assignment time.

Pros
- I have found that I have more time to answer student questions.
- Students are able to stop and rewind the videos as many times as they want.  Pause even helps!
- Parent feedback has been great.  I have only heard one complaint and that was through another teacher.
- Students seem to enjoy the method, and they know how to access the videos on their own.
- Student scores are the same or better than previous years.

Cons
- I have about 5% of students that routinely do not complete the assignments. Their grades definitely reflect this.  I am brainstorming ideas on how to get them to work on it at home.

Method of delivery:
I use the ScreenCastify.com screen recording service. I then share the videos to YouTube and download the video to my PC to upload to our homework site.  I have half go to YouTube and the other half accesses the videos from the homework site.

Video slides are created with Google Slides. I use Google Slides, because I can access between home computers, as well as, my school computer.  Execution is easy as long as I don't get interrupted by my two year old or the occasional visitor.  I was a perfectionist at first, but I think that students should see that I am human and make mistakes just as much as the next person.  I leave my flubbering and fix my typos right during the presentation. I point out my mistakes or ask the kids if they can figure them out.  I will go back and fix those mistakes next year.

Overall, I have been pleasantly surprised with the results.  Sometimes, I find it hard to keep up with the videos, but it's really the slide creation that takes the most time.

Do you flip your class in any way?  How is it working for you?

Colleen