Flipped Content Video assignment

I am a 5th grade teacher and I have created a modified version of the flipped classroom. Because I have 25 students, and because I have my kids all day long, I have my students watch the instructional videos I have created in groups of 5-5 kids each. While say group 1 is watching a math video, I am totally freed up to work with the other kids in my class. Then, after group 1 is done watching that math video, they go back to their desks and start working on their assignment. Group 2 now goes over to watch that same math video. I am still totally freed up to work with the group 1 kids on their math assignment. We actually do this all day long, and for every subject as well. I love this model. It is the single most powerful, overnight change in education I have experienced in my 16 years in the classroom.

In my classroom, the kids watch the videos in class in small groups, because I teach 5^th grade, as I mentioned in the above post. For junior high and high school students who are going to watch the videos outside of class, the teacher can put them on a flash drive, cd, dvd, or even on “old-school” vhs. They don’t need to be only on the Internet. The important thing to remember, is that instructional videos are a tool, they are to help give the kids the basic concepts, therefore practicing and mastering those concepts still happens in the classroom. In fact, that is the power of the video. It frees the teacher up to become a tutor or coach to individually help their students even more, rather than having to spend so much time in front of the class delivering a one size fits all lesson/lecture. In science for example, the teacher would have the kids watch the lesson the night before, therefore allowing way more time to do the lab experiment the next day and allowing the teacher to be totally available to help the kids with that experiment, because they would have received the basic information the night before in the video. For anyone interested, I have created a short video introducing this flipped classroom concept a little more. You can find it at

http://www.mrrbrown.org/videos.htm

Late assignment blog #9....Haiku Learning Project

Taking EDCS 480 with Dr. K gives me great opportunities to learn so much, I am fortunate to learn Haiku Learning Systems provides a creative, relaxed environment that fosters good work. Thank you Dr. K for making teaching and learning online as easy as possible—whether it's in a blended or virtual classroom. Technology has the power to expand and extend education

Haiku LMS tell us what they want to accomplish, we share ideas with them, and the result is a learning management system that evolves to do what teachers and students need in a simple way. Haiku LMS is the most elegant means to extend our teaching onto the web, and we work hard to keep it that way. EDCS 480 class with Dr. K make sure we're providing the most value to those who use Haiku and it is definitely a great teaching tool to implement in the 21^st century learning era.

This lesson plan is designed for teachers and students alike. Slideshows, worksheets, and other "Downloads for Teachers" may be customized and used in any setting. Teachers may then direct students to this website, which provides follow-up questions, assignment options, and other content for students to work on independently.

For teachers: Download customizable Powerpoints, lesson plans, activities, and worksheets for your classroom. Direct your students to the follow-up activities and questions on this website. 

For students: Explore Abstract Expressionism on your own using the following resources:

•    Audio guide content

•    Discussion questions and activities

•    Tips for thinking about and learning with art

•    Videos that explore the artists' processes and materials

Art Terms in Action: a video glossary demonstrating important art terms

Blog for Final Action for Research Prezi

Purpose/Objective

When I was in Elementary, cooperative learning has been a great strategy my teachers used to teach us.
The results showed when teachers are trained to use specific communication skills during cooperative learning, they engage in more mediated-learning interactions, ask more questions, and make fewer disciplinary comments than teachers who have been trained to implement cooperative group work only (Gillies, 2004). I have noticed that some of my peers really like to learn from each other. Even myself, I opened up and talk more with my peers about a certain subject, rather than have my teacher teach. As I became a teacher, I was thinking of this way too. Most students learn best from each other. They prefer talking to their peers than their teachers. Therefore, I would like to do a research paper on my students about the advantages and the importance of this strategy. Cooperative learning can instill in adolescents a sense of belonging. Adolescence is a crucial period for a student or child’s life. This is a period of physical, emotional and psychological development for adolescents. In order to foster acceptance, self-confidence, learning, and achievement, teachers need to make the classroom a haven for children, create meaningful learning situations for their students, and never give up on them. (Thompson, 2000). During this stage of adolescence, some students have not found their comfort zone with their peers. It is very hard for them to speak their minds or share their thoughts out loud, especially in front of an entire class. Having students work cooperatively in groups will increase their self-confidence and self-expression. Also, the students will have more time to speak just as much as the teacher. (Lucas, 2000) As a teacher, I plan to develop and incorporate activities into my lessons to encourage an appreciation for diversity among my students. I find ways to celebrate diversity of all students to: enrich learning; foster peer relationships; create respect for differences; and instill a sense of belonging. I encourage them to share any personal experiences with the class that they feel comfortable sharing and to also maintain a personal journal about themselves and their experiences. Students repeated practice with reciprocal teaching might lead to independent use of each strategy. (Frey, Fisher and Everlove, 2008) To provide for individual accountability, group members share jobs and make group presentations. Group members are tested individually and/or as a group to ensure that each person has mastered the required learning. (www.debbiesilver.com) Develop self-confidence and open communication when working in groups. Cooperative learning has the potential to meet more learning style of the time than individualized direct instruction (Shindler, 2004). My students tend to speak more openly when they work in groups than participating in our class discussion, so I Have them work cooperatively in groups or pair work activities so as to increase their self-confidence and self-expression in front of the whole class. After we discuss a lesson, I put my class in groups of four or five. I then provide different questions or responsibility to each student in the group. They will work together to find answers to the questions. I also remind them if they do not perform or do their part in any given task, then the group as a whole will have to deal with the consequences. reason being is that I want my students to see how valuable he or she is in the group of learning to work together an experiencing opportunity of a TEAM WORK.

Methods:

This method can be an effective way to present content. Students learn to become experts and to teach to others. With large numbers it can be more efficient than presentations. The mechanics of the jigsaw are rather tricky at first, and will always require precise coordination of the teacher. Assessment is difficult in that the teacher cannot observe each presentation of content, so must use some other means to ensure quality (Gunter et al, 2007) Graffiti Model.
Groups are given a question or topic. For a set amount of time each group writes answers to the question on a sheet of paper. Groups then rotate to the next sheet of paper. When all groups have completed each station, the original group summarizes the findings for their question or topic. Groups are exposed to each question in the process. Insights from other groups help reinforce the benefits of working collaboratively. Each answer is completed with a depth that no single group could have accomplished. Logistics need to be clearly established or groups may be confused. Groups need to be encouraged to think independently, or they tend to replicate the comments of previous groups (Gunter et al, 2007).
Collaborative Assessment. Groups are given a task and can work together to produce one product or independent products depending on the choice of the teacher. The quality of the outcome is usually better. The process itself promotes learning and deeper processing of the material. Can be done soundly and reliably (Shindler, 2004). Collaborative exams are only recommended for groups who have demonstrated advanced cooperative learning skills and levels of responsibility. Having individuals turn in independent products can be a useful compromise design. Collaborative Group Work. Students complete independent assignments, but are allowed to talk to one another and give and receive assistance and peer tutoring. Students learn how to teach one another and explain material in their own words. Students are free to interact as much or as little as they need to in an attempt to meet their goals and needs. Some students may use the time to socialize rather than attend to the academic task. Expectations need to be in place for what qualifies as an appropriate noise level, what constitutes cheating, and what actions qualify as an abuse of the privilege.

Methods 
The participants of this study will be my fifth grade students. I will work and observe eight students for this study. In this class, there are three girls and five boys. Students will divide into 2 groups of 4. They will corporately work together as a team in groups throughout 8 weeks. I will have all the assignments and my lesson plan ready for each group and make sure that each students in the group has something to do. (Brandt, 2002) suggests that in a cooperative learning lesson, the role of the teacher with the cooperation of the students becomes as the task setter.

Method 1: 
I will use for this study is collect students responses on a survey. The responses I will get from my students will help me see which teaching strategy to implement that will promote cooperative learning in my classroom. Therefore, my goal became to learn how to implement collaborative learning successfully, rather than just putting students together and expecting them to learn. Having the learning process assess how well things worked together and discuss how they can improve their functioning and performance.

Method 2: 
I will collect each of the groups work for evidence for their portfolio. At the end of the school year as part of cooperative learning, I will have my students critique if there were any advantages of working as a group by examining each of their group’s portfolio.

Method 3:
I will prepare a test by the end of each week. Each student will be tested individually. Finding out if cooperative learning is effective increasing students learning skills. Reviewing the test will inform me “ who are the students failing” the course. Reflecting whether cooperative learning is suitable in the classroom.In addition, I will also be observing group discussions and keep a record of group assignments or presentations to evaluate if cooperative learning is taking place or not. To record this data I will use technologies such as; digital camera and camcorder to record the different events taken place during school discussion or group discussions. The names and other information about the participants will remain confidential.

In Conclusion: 
Cooperative learning will be structure in the English Language Curriculum. Student will be observed throughout 8 weeks on the following areas of participation; being on task, contributing ideas, helping classmates, and asking for help. I will reinforce and develop social skills, which is cooperative learning or group working during the weeks study.

Reference 

Abdullah, M. et al. (2002). Promoting Cooperative learning at primary school.

Teaching TESL/TEFL Journal, volume.7 No 4 Baumgartner, J (2008)

A step-by-step guide to brainstorming. ISixSigma. Retrieved on 03/15/2013 from http://www.isixsigma.com/tt/brainstorming/ Brandt, M. et al. (2002).

Improving student social skills through the use of cooperative learning, problem solving, and direct instruction. M. A. Thesis. Faculty of Education.
Saint Xavier University. Foster, (2008).

Center for Instructional Development and Research. Foster Equitable Class Participation. Washington, DC. Retrieved on 03/15/2103 from http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/inclusive/foster.html

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Ever love, S. (2009). Productive group work: How to engage students, builds teamwork, and promotes understanding. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Gibbs, J. (2006).

 Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities. Center Source Systems. Windsor, CA. Gillies, R. M. (2004). The effects of communication training on teachers’ and students’ verbal behaviors during cooperative learning. International Journal of Educational Research, Volume 41, Issue 3, p 257-279. Lotan, R.A. (2006)

Managing group work in the heterogeneous classroom. In C.M. Everson & C.S. Weinstein, (Eds.) Handbook of classroom management. (pp. 525-540).

Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Rubin, B.C. (2003) unpacking detracting: When progressive pedagogy meets students’ social world. American Educational Research Journal, 40(2), 539-573. Shindler, J. (2004)

Teaching for the Success of all Learning Styles: Five Principles for Promoting Greater Teacher Effectiveness and Higher Student Achievement for all Students.

Available on line from Paragon Consulting. Retrieved 03/16/2013 from www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/ls Watson, M., & Battistich, V. (2006)

Building and sustaining caring communities. In C.M. Everson & C.S. Weinstein, (Eds.) Handbook of classroom management. (pp. 253-279). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.