To Flip or Not To Flip - Part 2

     Let's dive back into the flipped classroom and see how it works with the last two components of our blended learning model.
     When people think about the flipped classroom, they generally envision the teacher assigning one video for everyone in the class to watch at some point that night.  Although there is nothing innately wrong with this, there are so many other possibilities to use flipped classroom as a way to offer flexible pathways.  Let's take a look at one example.  As the teacher, instead of giving my students one video to watch, I'm going to offer different options based on levels of readiness and preferred modalities.  I'm going to offer 3 different learning levels.  You could name them something like novice, intermediate and expert levels.  At each level, you can offer students different ways to learn such as videos, articles, or even pages from the textbook.  Then let the kids choose how they want to learn and at what level.  Maybe I have no idea what a ratio is, so I start at the novice level and watch a video.  After I finish the 3 minute introduction to ratios, I want to learn more so I move up to the intermediate level.  This time I choose to read the corresponding pages in the textbook, and I can also watch the video if I want. I can choose to stop there or I can go on to the advanced level and become an expert in ratios.  Meanwhile, another student already learned ratios previously, so they might start at the intermediate level watching a quick video for a quick refresher then move on to become an expert.  Now students are able to choose their own learning path while the teacher works to support, reinforce and challenge students as they move through this journey.

Image from Meme Generator

     Finally, let's dig in and look at how data really ties all of this together in the flipped classroom environment.  I know what you might be thinking at this point.  So, all my students are out watching videos and reading articles in class, out of class... all over the place.  How will I ever know what's going on?  This is where data comes in.  Teachers still need to keep tabs on their kids to see if they are actually learning.  Using available tools such as quizzes in your LMS and online sites such EdPuzzle or PlayPosit will allow you to continually gather data each day to see which students have mastered the concepts and which students have not.  This is where all that free time you created for yourself comes into play.  If you give students a quiz as part of their flipped learning experience, then you can check the quiz grades each day.  This will guide you as you make decisions on who needs to meet with the teacher in a small group for reteaching on the concept and who can continue working at their own pace as they are progressing along nicely.  One word of caution, make sure to find time to meet even just for a few minutes with all students so that you can continue to build relationships with everyone.  The only difference is that what you do in the small group might look different.  If I pull a group of student who performed poorly on today's quiz, then I will be working to find out where misconceptions lie and reteaching the concept.  Then I might pull a group of students who scored very high on the quiz.  With this group I would challenge their thinking, ask high level Bloom's questions to make them think critically and maybe even assign them a challenging task or problem to solve.
     By combining all the elements of blended learning with flipped classroom experiences, you can offer students personalized learning experiences, establish better relationship through small group and individual interactions and not go home exhausted every night.