Flipped Learning for Elementary Instruction: 5 (The Flipped Learning Series) - Softcover

Bergmann, Jonathan; Sams, Aaron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1564843637 ISBN 13: 9781564843630

Verlag: International Society for Technology in Education, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

Building on their best-selling book Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, flipped education innovators Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams return with a book series that supports flipped learning in the four topic areas of science, math, English and social studies as well as the elementary classroom. In this volume the authors address how flipping your classroom can support elementary instruction.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

was a classroom teacher for 24 years. He now works with teachers, schools and corporations to help them rethink educational practice. He co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002.

Aaron Sams is an educational entrepreneur who co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He is adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA and was a chemistry teacher in Colorado and California. He was awarded the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

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Chapter 5
flipping for elementary students
Our teacher education programs have taught us that young children are in a different growth stage than older ones, with much of that research stemming from the work of Jean Piaget. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development states that 7- to 11-year-olds, or preadolescents, are in the third stage, the “concrete operational stage” (Ginsburg & Opper, 1979). This means, simply stated, that these students are concrete in their thinking but are starting to incorporate logic and inductive reasoning and problem solving.
This means that the abilities and educational needs of elementary students are different from the needs of middle- and high-school students, who are able to start thinking more abstractly. It should follow that a flipped elementary school classroom should look different from one in a secondary school.
According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Flipped Learning Network and Sophia Learning (http://tinyurl. com/pzll7lw), 80% of flipped teachers are in secondary schools, with only 15% being at the elementary school level. This may explain why there has traditionally been a lack of good resources for elementary teachers who want to flip. We know the sparse resources aren’t due to a lack of interest. Our blog’s most visited post is entitled, “Flipping the Elementary Classroom” (http:// flippedclass.com/flipping-the-elementary-classroom), so we know elementary school teachers are interested in learning more. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this book! We hope this resource will help support you in flipping for our younger students.
In a recent blog post, Jon offered some basic advice to elementary teachers interested in flipping their class:

• Think of the flipped class as another technique in your arsenal.
• Start flipping around a lesson with which your students really struggle—and make a short video on it.
• Figure out where in the instructional cycle this video will be used.
• Keep the video shorter than 10 minutes—shorter for younger students. A guide might be 1–2 minutes per grade level.
• Figure out how your students will watch the video, and anticipate any access issues.
• Plan how you will check to see if the students have watched the video. Some have their students take notes or complete a web form.
• You might not assign the video as homework, but use the video as a center or station.

Beyond the creation and use of a video, there is clearly a lot to consider when planning a flipped lesson—such as deciding on the best subject to flip first. The previously described survey shows that 71% of all flipped teachers flip math or science classes, although there is recent growth in flipping in the humanities. Most of the elementary teachers we know got their start flipping a math class. If you are just getting started with flipping, we would recommend beginning with math and expanding to other subjects. Don’t think you have to start by going “all in” and flipping all your subjects, even though some teachers do this. Some very experienced flipped teachers decide to only flip certain subjects. Just do what it takes to get started, and add to your repertoire as you gain experience and confidence with the flipped model.
effective uses of Video Knowing what we do about elementary age students, what are the most effective uses of video for them? What is the proper amount of video for them? What kinds of videos will engage them? Although we have recommended some guidelines, it really is up to the teacher to best understand his/her students, and to design videos that work for them, making modifications when necessary.
Maryland fifth grade teacher David Dulberger first started using flipped video as a remedial tool in his math class. At that time, he had his instructional assistant watch the video in class with the struggling students, calling this “guided video watching.” The instructional assistant helped students by rewatching with them the parts of the video that covered their areas of struggle, occasionally pausing it to have them practice their math and to check for comprehension.
In his second year of flipping his classes, David expanded his use of video to student-created content. He found the online educational resource Educreations (www.educreations.com), with which he had students create their own educational videos. David took the best videos and posted them for the other students to watch and to respond to with comments or questions. He also included other curated videos to provide them alternative math strategies, allowing the students to choose the ones that worked best for them. Eventually, students started becoming empowered to add their own external material into their assignments, telling David, “I hope it’s OK that I found and used this other resource.”
David also uses the videos to spark a class conversation. He will show a video in class of a current event, such as a SpaceX rocket launch, and then posts a related question. The student responses to that question serve as a discussion prompt, which promotes student engagement.
David uses an even mixture of original content and curated videos in his classes. He doesn’t think you have to reinvent the wheel on every subject, but he generally believes that teacher-created videos are the best for students. When David does use curated videos for a lesson, he will still create his own introductory video. He also tries to find innovative ways to turn common everyday occurrences into flipped videos. For example, one time he was at a hardware store and recorded a video math problem on his phone in less than a minute. Another time, he recorded a video on potential versus kinetic energy while snowboarding.
For teachers thinking of flipping their classes, David recommends starting small and building routines— using one or two videos a week and making them directly related to the curriculum. Because students may need different resources, David thinks it is important to think through who will be watching the videos, and to target a group of students who might need a particular video. He also thinks it is helpful to build a fun routine into the videos to spice them up so that he can increase the engagement of students with learning.
involving parents
Anyone who has taught in an elementary school understands that parents have a big role in their child’s education—more so than parents of students in secondary school. For most parents, flipped learning is likely a brand new approach to teaching and learning. Some parents may be interested and open to the model. Others may be uncomfortable, suspicious, or possibly even opposed to the idea. Most of the time, negative reactions are rooted in a fear of the unfamiliar. It is critical teachers understand this when they are preparing to flip a class. There will likely be a lot of education and communication necessary to gain the support and involvement of their students’ parents.
We spoke with several elementary school teachers who have understood the need to involve parents in their flipping. One is Kris Szajner, a Minnesota Technology Integration Specialist who taught kindergarten for four years. He has involved parents by creating flipped lessons specifically for them. His flipped videos explain how the school system works, and offers suggestions on the best ways to help in their child’s education.
When he first started, Kris found that parent reception was initially shaky, but eventually improved once they understood what he was attempting to accomplish through flipping. The parents then embraced the model and consistently helped him.
Family engagement is crucial to make flipped learning work, according to Assistant Principal Kirsty Tonks and Jen Devaney, sixth grade teacher and project manager for Flipped Learning, both at the Shireland Collegiate Academy in the United Kingdom. To create this engagement, they present the flipped model at a school assembly at the beginning of the school year, and also send the students home with a descriptive leaflet to share with their families. They have found that educating and involving their students’ families has resulted in more engagement at home. This also provides parents the confidence and increased ability to help in their child’s education.
According to Celeste Clemons, her students’ parents love the flipped classroom. To introduce flipping to them at the beginning of the school year, Celeste sends the parents a letter explaining the model. This letter also contains a link to her website, which provides more information about flipped learning and features a video of her explaining the nature, features, and benefits of the flipped classroom. In the parent letter, Celeste specifically addresses what the flipped classroom means for parents:

• Parents are able to be more involved in their child’s math education.
• Parents have access to video content and are able to see how lessons are taught.
• Parents are able to have meaningful, content- related discussions with their child.
• Parents can encourage their child to take their time while watching videos, and remind themto rewatch, rewind, or pause, when necessary,to make sense of what is being taught.
• Parents can watch the videos with their child to help them review for tests.
• Parents are encouraged to bring any questions or concerns to the teacher’s attention at any time.

Celeste concludes the letter by inviting the parents to meet with her to have any of their questions answered or to share with her their ideas for the flipped class. She reports that this early introduction to flipped learning has resulted in fewer negative phone calls and emails from parents.
Parental involvement is important enough that Jon wrote a blog post and dedicated an episode of his radio show to parents of students in a flipped classroom (http://bit.ly/ParentsFlip). In it, he lists his top five reasons parents should be thrilled that their child’s teacher is flipping his/her class.

1. It will increase student–teacher interaction. Flipping provides more time for the teacher to connect individually with students.
2. It will help your child better understand the homework. Parents will also be able to watch the videos along with their child to see how the lesson is taught, better equipping them to help.
3. It will decrease your child’s anxiety over homework. It is not difficult, and is often fun, for a student to watch a short video at home. The difficult work is done in the classroom with the teacher.
4. Your child will be able to pause and rewind his/ her teacher. Students learn at different speeds, and teachers often talk too fast for good note taking and comprehension.
5. It will lead your child to deeper learning. Teachers of flipped classes often start engaging their students in more advanced activities, moving the instruction beyond test preparation or busy work. Their students often become actively engaged in dynamic class assignments, enthusiastically embrace the challenges, and learn to take responsibility for their own learning.

dealing with absences
Student and teacher absences are one of the biggest barriers to learning. When students miss class, they fall behind, which makes it difficult for them to catch up to the students who were present. We notice that elementary students are not just absent because of sickness—many are pulled out of class for various reasons such as IEPs, band, orchestra, or individual assistance. Many times, there are only a few students in class. Teacher absences can also be a problem, because it is often difficult to find a substitute teacher who can adequately replace the classroom teacher. Flipped learning solves the problem of both student and teacher absences. 
When students miss class, they need an effective way to learn what they missed. The simplicity of flipped learning and its recorded lessons allows students to quickly and efficiently catch up on what they missed. Because the content is made available on the internet, many students come back to class from an absence ready to learn because they were still able to watch the video. Students who weren’t able to watch it at home could even catch up by watching it in class.
When students are absent from a flipped class, they can more readily catch up because the direct instruction is still available. The flipped classroom helps to consistently deliver content to students, even when the teacher is absent. Too often a substitute teacher comes into the classroom without knowledge of the specific lesson, or an idea of how the assigned activities connect to the curriculum. Prepared videos allow students to receive the content the way their teacher desires, and the substitute teacher has a video resource to which to refer as  he/she helps the students complete their assignments. For example, Angela Boratko’s flipped interactive workbook proved helpful when she went on maternity leave. She was able to leave clear course expectations, a grading rubric, and interaction instructions for the workbook and the flipped videos. This ensured a smooth transition to the long-term substitute teacher who took over her class.
There are many examples of how elementary school teachers have flipped their classes, for a variety of subjects. The next two chapters will explore ways to  flip elementary math, science, social studies, and  English language arts.
 

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: International Society for Technology in Education
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1564843637
• ISBN 13: 9781564843630
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 100
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar