Flipping my Thinking
The Flipped Classroom Approach in a nutshell consists of having students watch videos or complete other learning activities at home prior to the lesson. When they come to school, the time is spent having them explore the concepts, rather than sitting down to a teacher-directed lecture. With increasing class sizes making it a challenge to support my class, I decided to venture into an experiment using this approach in math.
I recorded a video of myself teaching math lessons using my iPad and the ShowMe app. I had my students watch the video for homework and when they came to school, they immediately started working on the math. I had students that hadn’t watched the video, or felt they needed to re-watch do that first. What ended up happening surprised me, for the first time in ages I was able to check-in and help EVERY SINGLE STUDENT. On top of that I gave my student’s a survey and they loved having more time to work, and something as simple as not having my hand in their way!
While I am just beginning to experiment with the Flipped Classroom, I am excited for the possibilities for myself and my students.