well after a successful day yesterday, today was more of a challenge...Day 1 since most had time to take part or all their notes in class most had them completed them so for day 1 of practice it was awesome to see them working and getting their questions answered. Today had just the opposite outcome, most didn't have their notes done. The students that did have their notes done did well and were able to do their assignments and finish it with no problems. My frustration lies with finding the right tool that motivates them to do their homework, whether it be traditional practice problems or taking notes. What makes this different from every other teacher in America?
Why? did I decide to flip my class again? I don't know if I can continue...maybe Monday will be better...
Saturday, February 2, 2013
New Unit new hope....
Well, Unit 7 was short and kind of crazy. I was getting a little frustrated with the amount of people who weren't doing their notes on time. They only had 2 nights of notes over the course of 6 days. Course my own life was kind of crazy, I started my last semester of grad school-which means I started my last class on Tuesday and my internship on Wednesday. Needless to say I was a tad overwhelmed for a bit.
But after looking around on a few other blogs, one of them being Flipping with Kirch, and realizing if I'm going to survive this semester and teach my students something I needed to be more organized and thoughtful on my planning. Instead of giving them the titles as we went or a couple at a time where they write them down I decided what I needed to do to help me and help them was pre-fill it for them with the dates and titles of the notes. I also am giving them a quiz online over their notes, this I had done before but didn't tie a grade to it, now they are getting a grade. For this first part of unit 8 there are 3 different notes they have to take so there will be 3 different quizzes in the grade book. I probably won't give them a grade for every one next time, I do an average of the quiz grades for the unit next time or just pick a random quiz to record.
We tested on Unit 7 and we ended up needing 2 days to test, so what I did was section off my room for testers and note takers so they could go ahead and start watching the notes for the next days lesson. It went really well, I had to send some of them in the hall to watch the since not everyone had head phones. In class today I asked who still needed to complete their notes, and although there were a few in each class there were way fewer around the computers. :) I then had the ones ready for the practice problems categorize their comfort level 1-4. 1) you were completely lost and can't tell me what a base and exponent are. 2) you get it but need a few more examples. 3) I totally get it and I'm good on my own. 4) I know it so well, I can teach it to someone else. I got this idea after seeing a poster in the pictures Crystal Kirch posted on her blog. I started at the 1's with my whiteboard. The day went well! I made it to every table and clarified their confusions. Mostly on the negative exponents.
But after looking around on a few other blogs, one of them being Flipping with Kirch, and realizing if I'm going to survive this semester and teach my students something I needed to be more organized and thoughtful on my planning. Instead of giving them the titles as we went or a couple at a time where they write them down I decided what I needed to do to help me and help them was pre-fill it for them with the dates and titles of the notes. I also am giving them a quiz online over their notes, this I had done before but didn't tie a grade to it, now they are getting a grade. For this first part of unit 8 there are 3 different notes they have to take so there will be 3 different quizzes in the grade book. I probably won't give them a grade for every one next time, I do an average of the quiz grades for the unit next time or just pick a random quiz to record.
We tested on Unit 7 and we ended up needing 2 days to test, so what I did was section off my room for testers and note takers so they could go ahead and start watching the notes for the next days lesson. It went really well, I had to send some of them in the hall to watch the since not everyone had head phones. In class today I asked who still needed to complete their notes, and although there were a few in each class there were way fewer around the computers. :) I then had the ones ready for the practice problems categorize their comfort level 1-4. 1) you were completely lost and can't tell me what a base and exponent are. 2) you get it but need a few more examples. 3) I totally get it and I'm good on my own. 4) I know it so well, I can teach it to someone else. I got this idea after seeing a poster in the pictures Crystal Kirch posted on her blog. I started at the 1's with my whiteboard. The day went well! I made it to every table and clarified their confusions. Mostly on the negative exponents.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
After 2 units
ok. So, I had started flipping with unit 5, which ended up with 4 video notes on linear functions. I did the reteach of Unit 4 with videos, and unit 6 had 2- one over solving systems by graphing and the other by substitution. I'll start with the good, even though the material is over the same general topics their test grades have improved 10-15%. So I don't know how much I can contribute that to the flipping as to just the consistency of the material.
The challenging part has been getting to consistently watch the notes before class time. And not just watch them but take complete and detailed notes. I think with the start of second semester and unit 7, I am going to reteach how to accurately take notes from the videos and illustrate how to use them to find help with the practice problems.
There is another teacher, Biology, who has flipped his class and he says he gives online quizzes over the notes and they can retake them as many times as needed and use their notes. I do this, but it's not a grade in the grade book, so this might be something else I try to incorporate into the note taking process.
At this point, I don't think the stress of teaching using this model is any different than teaching a traditional model. What I do think, is that it definitely has helped the students get the notes from when they're absent-especially those with the flu that are out for a week or more at a time. I think it has helped with me being able to spend more time in class helping students who are struggling. Although, I feel that we don't get as much accomplished. But on the other hand the at home practice they would have had to do in a traditional setting most likely wouldn't have been completed either. This way at least they are getting more engaging time to practice the problems.
I'm trying to go to the Flipping Learning Network Conference in Minnesota this summer, I hope the funding comes through. I feel I can really learn a lot and then also be able to bring it back to my campus/district to teach others.
I know there are several ways to record the lessons, but I have found it so convenient to use my iPad and the ShowMe App and then upload it to the ProProfs website and use that to quiz them. I can do it at home, at work, anywhere with internet and that's quiet. With my busy schedule with kids and grad school in the mix this has been a life saver from the way I did it last year recording myself in the front of my classroom.
The challenging part has been getting to consistently watch the notes before class time. And not just watch them but take complete and detailed notes. I think with the start of second semester and unit 7, I am going to reteach how to accurately take notes from the videos and illustrate how to use them to find help with the practice problems.
There is another teacher, Biology, who has flipped his class and he says he gives online quizzes over the notes and they can retake them as many times as needed and use their notes. I do this, but it's not a grade in the grade book, so this might be something else I try to incorporate into the note taking process.
At this point, I don't think the stress of teaching using this model is any different than teaching a traditional model. What I do think, is that it definitely has helped the students get the notes from when they're absent-especially those with the flu that are out for a week or more at a time. I think it has helped with me being able to spend more time in class helping students who are struggling. Although, I feel that we don't get as much accomplished. But on the other hand the at home practice they would have had to do in a traditional setting most likely wouldn't have been completed either. This way at least they are getting more engaging time to practice the problems.
I'm trying to go to the Flipping Learning Network Conference in Minnesota this summer, I hope the funding comes through. I feel I can really learn a lot and then also be able to bring it back to my campus/district to teach others.
I know there are several ways to record the lessons, but I have found it so convenient to use my iPad and the ShowMe App and then upload it to the ProProfs website and use that to quiz them. I can do it at home, at work, anywhere with internet and that's quiet. With my busy schedule with kids and grad school in the mix this has been a life saver from the way I did it last year recording myself in the front of my classroom.
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