However, when it comes to Jon Palmer's talk about flipping the classroom (for Physics), although I am also intrigued by "flipping," I am less certain about its implication for its use in my Social Studies classes than Google Docs and BYOD. Moreover, Jon admitted that the students who were taking his flipped class (at least for one semester) were taking an elective (Physics), which had easier content to learn during the second semester and fewer students due to those who dropped the class. The idea of flipping is appealing, and with more time to reflect since all of our guest speakers, "Tech Tool" presentations, and, just recently, peer webinars, I can better imagine the possibility of flipping my Social Studies (most likely History) class. But, I am not yet ready to commit to flipping the classroom. For, as Griffin said after Jon's presentation, providing students with readings and other assignments (e.g., videos) at home that provide students with information prior to entering the class, as was the case for him (and for me), that already seems as if it could be, to a degree, a way of flipping the classroom.
In a vanderbilt.edu site, the section “What are the key elements of the flipped classroom?” seems to second Griffin's sentiment: “The pre-class exposure doesn’t have to be high-tech, however; in the Deslauriers, Schelew, and Wieman study described above, students simply completed pre-class reading assignments.” Nevertheless, I am still trying to keep an open mind about flipping a Social Studies classroom, but I am not yet sold on what it could/should look like. Instead of staying flipped, I feel more like I might be doing cartwheels and land back on my feet until I can better envision a flipped Social Studies classroom. But, for my Social Studies colleagues (or anyone else), see the video(s) below for some ideas.
Are you talking about me behind my back, Mr. Griffiths?
ReplyDeleteThis pretty much sums up how I feel about Google Docs, BYOD, and flipping. I think I'll be using Google Docs (or some version of shared documents) a lot in my future classroom, probably as a place for students to draft and edit papers, as well as work collaboratively on projects. BYOD just makes sense to me - Liz's presentation made a strong impact on me as an educator, and seeing students use their cell phones at 10x the speed I can makes me think that once procedures are in place, they might be a huge timesaver.
As for doubts about flipping (thanks for the shout-out), I've been trying to think more critically about the idea, and I've come to a strange conclusion. Isn't flipping what traditional teachers have always wanted? Students come into class having done their work, and the class can get started immediately on deeper discussion. Perhaps it's the goal now of college courses (which may be a point in flipping's favor...prepping students for the rigors of college coursework), but I still think flipping is filling a non-existent niche. I think, like Jon said, the solution to getting students to engage in work at home and coming to class prepared is in the trust and expectations established by the teacher. Any thoughts?
I agree with your thoughts on trust and expectations. As I said in our Methods course tonight with Darin, I believe that what Bob Bain was trying to demonstrate to us is that these heuristics (cognitive tools) that we can use to engage students and engender in them through meaningful experiential learning should be scaffolded from the beginning of the year. Having read about "first days" in both Ritchhart's Intellectual Character and Lemov's Teaching Like a Champion, and having adopted scaffolding especially toward the end of my teaching career prior to entering the MAC program, I can attest to the its value and think that it applies to utilizing these heuristics, such as sourcing, corroborating, and contextualizing sources. What this program has given me thus far is the language to describe what I have done in the past that I know works, as well as new cognitive tools to impart to my students that seem like they might work. My last takeaway from the night in our discussion with Darin after Bob is the idea that we, as teachers, have to realize that part of being practitioners (Ball and Cohen) is acknowledging and accepting what we do not do well so that we can do something better (or different) next time for our own personal growth as well as for the benefit of our students.
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