Post #6 Flipping the Classroom

What is flipped teaching or flipped classroom?  According to Fitzpatrick of the Chronicle of Higher Education  “Is a form of blended learning in which students learn new content online by watching video lectures, usually at home, and what used to be homework (assigned problems) is now done in class with teacher offering more personalized guidance and interaction with students, instead of lecturing (Fitzpatrick, 2012).

            To my understanding it means that flipped classrooms free class time for hands-on work. Students learn by doing and asking questions. Students can also help each other, a process that benefits both the advanced and less advanced learners. Flipped classrooms use technology—online video instruction, laptops, DVDs of lessons—to reverse what students have traditionally done in class and at home to learn. Listening to lectures becomes the homework assignment so teachers can provide more one-on-one attention in class and students can work at their own pace or with other students.

            When I tried out flipped teaching in my classroom,” I faced a big obstacle, because none of my students had computers at home, and I had just one in the classroom with my 23 fifth-graders at Alofau Elementary School, fortunately in our school we have a computer lab that my students now alternate between working on the computers and working with me. So far, the strategy is showing signs of success. I use class time to tailor instruction to students who started the school year behind their classmates in reading and math, and I have seen rapid improvement.

            The only disadvantage is when our students go home after school, they don’t have the resources necessary to understand, and sometimes don’t complete their homework. Many families are not able to provide the expertise and technology needed to help with their children’s homework, so when we send kids home at the end of each day; we’re putting them into environments that are not capable of supporting their learning needs.

           By reversing our instructional procedures so that students do their homework at school, we can appropriately align our learning support and resources for all of our students, and eliminate the difference that currently outbreaks our schools. When students do homework at school, they can receive access to technology, and an overwhelming amount of support and expertise. When our students do their homework at school, we can ensure that they will be able to learn in a supportive environment that’s conducive to their education and well-being.  For the first time in history, we can provide a level playing field for students in all neighborhoods, no matter what their financial situation is.

 

Assignment #5 TEACHING AND LEARNING IN A NETWORKED WORLD

How do you currently network and learn about teaching resources?

As a long-time educator and teacher, I've been trying to find strategies to improve my skills on technologies. Not just how to set them up, but how to use them in the classroom. Taking EDCS 480 I had hopes this course would be it. I am fortunate to take this course it explained what each of the technologies (and many others) different ideas of how to use the technology. This course give excess of wonderful websites and provide online web resource for practicing the technologies such as, Blogs, Wikis, Prezi, You tube and other powerful web tools for classrooms.

Some of the popular social networking tools on the Internet are Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and social bookmarking such as Diigo.  I currently use Facebook only for close friends and family, but I can see why schools and businesses are starting to use Facebook to connect to their communities.  Instead of maintaining an old one directional webpage with Facebook  I  can contribute by asking questions and posting comments. Taking EDCS 480 I have started posting to a shared blogger not only with other teachers but with my friends as well.  I definitely have favorite blogs that I like to regularly read for new ideas and updates.

What have you learned from reading and watching the resource provided? 

Watching the resource provided becomes more extreme as platforms of connection and collaboration, the need for creating and maintaining a PLN (Professional Learning Network) becomes more pressing. As teachers and educators we are expected to be on top of the latest trends that can inform and enhance our classroom teaching as well as our professional growth. We are also expected to know the web tools that our students use and the new ones we can use with them in the future; but this is not always possible and because not all of our time constraints it becomes difficult to keep up the new releases. It is at times like these that we can call upon our PLN.

 What will you do to expand your PLN?

First I need to realize that I already have a PLN (everyone does). I have colleagues, teachers and Dr. Martin in EDCS to go to for advice or just to talk about an “idea” I am thinking about. Moreover, gaining knowledge and understanding from EDCS 480 class with Dr. Martin indicates that there are tools on the Internet that will help expand my PLN and increase the power of resources I have access to. I'd like for my students to have a PLN (Personal Learning Network) of their own within our classroom. We are living in an age where "sharing" is becoming more popular than "privacy". My students are eager to share their thoughts, their work, and their life stories.