The Journey Begins

Flipping out.  We’ve all done it.  We’ve all gotten so frustrated or annoyed or angry and just couldn’t take it anymore that we flip out.  As teachers I think we’d all agree that we don't just flip out at home, but we occasionally also flip out at school, known as our home away from home.  (Granted at school we generally have to conceal the flip out.)  What has “gotten your goat” in the classroom that has led to “flipping out”?  Students not paying attention and asking for the gazillionth time what the directions are or where to turn a paper in?  Students not doing homework because they just forgot?  Students apparently disinterested despite the work you put in?  Parents needing you to solve their child’s problem when really what you want to say that this is a parenting issue? 

What has consistently gotten under my skin in the lack of visible evidence I have of student thinking, but also the lack of time in the classroom that seems to go hand in hand with that.  There is so much content to convey to students, I have little time to let them delve and explore the curriculum for themselves.  So I decided to look for a way to make more time for ourselves (both student and teacher) in the classroom.  One possible answer is the concept of a Flipped Classroom.

This blog will catalogue my exploration and discovery of what a Flipped Classroom looks like, acts like, and feels like as I decide if this is something that I think will work for me in my 6th grade social studies classes.  As I am just starting my Flipped journey (after 20 years in the classroom) and am curious if this will be an easy flip in thinking.  I wonder if some of the things I currently do will mesh easily and, with little effort, be incorporated into my daily routine. I wonder what the effect will be on my students.  Will I see a change in engagement?  Will I have more opportunity to see their thinking on paper?  Will I have more time to clarify concepts once I have time to identify misconceptions I didn’t know existed before?

Join me on my journey as I critically read numerous studies alongside novels by experts in the field.  Join me as I think through my 20 years of experience and seek to reconcile the two.  Join me as I try to apply what I’ve learned through my 2 years of graduate school in George Mason University’s Designing Digital Learning program.  Just join me... you may flip out too!