March 27, 2013

Ford and I have decided that we have reached the point that there really isn't a lot to say about the flipped classroom at this time.

We are going to spend the remaining PLC time this year looking at the AG3 class to determine the big ideas and how we will approach those. We are going to try and organize the course around these ideas in a way that makes sense and flows well.

What next?

Andrew and I talked today about the desire to have the students apply their learning as they work on projects.

We both feel that this is the next direction to go. However, the students are still not good at time on task, organization or time management. Katie suggested that a project might drive the learning in these areas, and that instead of waiting, we go ahead and involve them in projects.

We also discussed the common core aligned benchmarks that the Missouri schools have been working on with Jim and Dennis and  how these would be helpful in allowing students to demonstrate learning. (Susan Engleman is suppose to be getting me a copy of these.)

Things that we would like to try:
Common assessments
Benchmark system blended with pacing guide
Projects
Look at changes in Khan

Successful vs. Not Successful Students

What characteristics separate successful students from non-successful students?

Perseverance

Time management

Organization

2/20/13

Carolyn Clark was off for surgery and Sarah Fromberg had a meeting so we didn't meet as a PLC today.

My reflections over our PLC work:

 Several of the students have stated that they like the videos.

I have looked at the students' notes over the videos and most of the students are taking good notes (better than I have seen in the past from lectures).

Using ixl reports and schoolloop as data points  I have had numerous conversations with students about their grades, their time on task and their plan for improving/maintaining their grades. These conversations have had positive effects on the behavior/work ethic of several of the students.

The students are better at articulating what they do not understand and asking questions.

Students are taking more responsibility for their learning and know where to go and what to do to check on their grades and assignments and determine what they need to do to raise their grades.

I feel that the flipped class has helped in teaching not only math but the skills necessary to be successful in college or future careers. It is easier to incorporate the college and career goals with content in the flipped classroom.

Continuing lessons from a flipped class

Our group spent both this week and last week discussing lessons learned from last semester and things that we are tweaking this semester.

Kathy is embedding videos and google forms into a class blog and linking that blog in edmodo. The intent is to help empower students to take charge of their own learning.

Andrew is also using google forms this semester and we discussed how to make a quiz in google forms and have flubaru grade the quiz.

Kathy is also working this semester on adding projects to the class in addition to the videos and ixl practice.

As I have used the videos and ixl more to help the students develop independence, I have noticed that one of the greatest lessons learned by the students is time management. It is a real struggle because the students seem to be used to determining the pace of the classroom. With the flipped class, they have a certain amount of content  that they must master. They frequently have a hard time with this because they want to spent time on FB and face time.  Learning to manage their time will be an important life lesson if I can successfully teach it as we learn math.