Mr. P.: Good morning.
Today, we are going to talk about how to flip a class
and give some examples for what a flipped classroom can look like.
Here we go.
Bo: Hey guys.
Billy: Hey Bo.
Bobby: Hi Bo.
♫ (lyrics) Flipping Physics ♫
Mr. P.: We have already had a conversation
about what it means to flip a class.
Where I want to start today is talking about how to flip a class.
The first thing you need to understand is that you are not alone.
There are all sorts of other teachers out there
who are flipping their classes and all sorts of resources online
to help you to flip your class.
The first resource I want to talk about
is the Flipped Learning Network at flippedlearning.org.
(whooshing sound)
This is an awesome online community,
worldwide online community of teachers
who are all flipping their classrooms
and having conversations about it and helping one another out.
You definitely need to go there and start communicating
with other teachers.
Any web resource I refer to in this lesson
will be in the description of this video.
(writing sounds)
Next, please use other teachers' online resources.
A lot of teachers feel daunted about the prospect
of flipping their classes, because they feel
like they now have to make videos
of every single one of their lectures.
Please, don't do this.
(writing sounds)
There are all sorts of people like me at Flipping Physics
who have already created a plethora
of free online content for you to use.
(adventurous music)
Bo: Awesome.
Billy: Yeah, awesome.
Mr. P.: Thanks guys.
As teachers, generally, you didn't write your own textbook.
You don't write you own labs, you don't write your own worksheets,
you don't write your own quizzes, projects, homework problems.
Sure, you write some of them, but in general,
you borrow other teachers' stuff and use it.
You also shouldn't feel like you need to create
all your own video lectures.
To that end, here is a partial list of online resources
(whooshing sound) where you can find other teachers' video lectures.
YouTube edu, Knowmia, WatchKnowLearn, ShowMe,
Educreations, Kahn Academy, tedED, edX, MentorMob,
just to name a few.
Bobby: Uh, you didn't name any individual
YouTube edu channels, like Amor Sciendi for art history.
Billy: Or Bozeman Biology for biology.
Bo: Or mathapptician or smarter every day.
Billy: Or Yay Math! or Keith Hughes.
Bobby: Or Veritasium or Minute Physics.
Mr. P.: Right, right, guys.
The point is that there are a lot of online resources
and I will be keeping an updated list in the description of this video.
Vsauce.
Back to the point.
The point is to use other teachers' free online videos.
I would start with one of the main curated aggregators
of online educational videos, like Knowmia or WatchKnowLearn.
Both of these websites have tools you can use
to organize the videos into playlists,
which you can share with your students
and if you find a video somewhere else on the internet,
you can link to it on Knowmia or WatchKnowLearn.
Bo: But how do teachers know how to use those websites?
Mr. P.: Trust me, these websites are business
that want to make sure you use their website.
Therefore, they have all sorts of information
to make it easy for you to understand how to use their websites.
Bo: I guess that makes sense.
Mr. P.: Now, invariably, you will have to make some of your own videos.
Either there'll be a gap in the content available online
or you'll have a specific lecture that you are particularly fond of.
Again, there are plenty of resources online to help you out.
ShowMe and Educreations both have iPad apps
that you can use to do a screen capture
of what you see on the iPad.
For example, here we have my Flipping Physics website.
There it is.
And if you tap on shop, you can see it opens up a tab,
where you can then go through and purchase
Flipping Physics T-shirts or hoodies,
(music)
just as an example.
Bo: Was that a product placement?
Bobby: Sure was.
Geneve: A pretty egregious one, too.
Ryan: Shameless. (car horn)
Mr. P.: You can use various programs like SnagIt or Screenr
or Screencast-O-Matic to create a screencast of your computer,
in other words, to create a video of what you see
on your computer's screen.
And you can use that camera that's built into many laptops
to create that oh so popular talking head in the corner of the screen.
For example, you can screencast to convert
a PowerPoint presentation to a flipped video.
Please enjoy this thrilling oration
about the unusual texting habits of the rock hyrax.
(nature sounds)
And if you do create a few videos about topics
that you're really passionate about and you know a lot about,
then other teachers will be able to use your videos.
Together we are creating a huge, free, worldwide resource
of educational content and Bo: all your students are individuals
and they can all benefit from learning
from different teachers in different ways.
Billy: Definitely true.
Bobby: Yep.
Mr. P.: And don't worry if you don't have
professional equipment like this stuff.
Bobby: Hmm, what do you think he means by that?
Billy: I don't know, beats me.
Bo: Ha, heck if I know.
Mr. P.: What I mean is very simple.
Don't feel like you need to buy a green screen
and then paste yourself on various backgrounds
doing various things, I don't even know what.
Let other people do that and then you can use their materials.
Because chances are good most teachers don't know how
to make the video clip I'm about to show you.
However, most students could really benefit from seeing it.
Welcome.
Today, we are going to create this positions
of function of time graph by dropping this yellow ball
and using stop motion photography.
Here we go. (bang)
Next, please don't flip everything.
Many teachers, myself included, decided to flip every lesson
in every class, all at the same time.
This is not a good idea.
Please, start small. (writing sounds)
Pick a few lessons and flip those.
Learn what works and what doesn't and then flip a few more.
Slowly, you can learn what works best for your students,
your subject, and you.
Bo: Yeah, I think some of your AP physics students
thought you actually should've flipped less.
Billy: Yeah.
Mr. P.: Yeah, I'll admit that this is probably true.
Okay, so let's say that you are ready to flip.
You have all your videos set up and you are ready.
Before you flip, remember to get your students
and your parents ready, as well.
Surprisingly, it is easier for students
to sit through the lecture at school than it is
for the students to engage with the lecture at home.
Bo: You ain't kidding.
Mr. P.: Flipping is a paradigm shift.
Students are used to coming to school
and nonchalantly sitting through lectures in class.
Flipping switches the ownership of the learning
from the teacher to the student, which is awesome.
However, it takes some getting used to
for both the students and the parents. (writing sounds)
So, you need to have a handout and a video
to prepare everybody for the flip.
Conveniently, I have a video you're more than welcome to use
and a handout, as well.
Don't just expect everyone to hop on the bandwagon.
You need to convince them.
Next, class, what was the biggest concern of students
when I presented the flip to my classes?
Bo: Oh, I got it, it was definitely,
"Does this mean we're going to be doing more work?" (laughter)
Billy: Yeah, I know I asked that one.
Bobby: I did, too.
Bo: Actually, so did I.
Mr. P.: Yes, my biggest pushback from students
was a concern that we're going to be doing more work.
So, please, just because you're flipping your classes
doesn't mean that you need to create new assignments.
(writing sounds) In fact, you can stress to your students
that they should be more efficient with their time
and therefore, actually should spend less time working
to learn the same amount of material.
Bobby: But then, what do we do in class?
Mr. P.: Great question, Bobby.
What are we going to do in class?
This is a major concern of teachers and we're almost there.
There's one thing we need to talk about first.
That is as students, you need to be taught how to learn from videos.
Because if you're not taught, chances are good
that you'll end up studying like this.
(television and computer playing)
Bo: Hey, dude, yeah.
I don't understand this stuff at all.
I watched this first video three times.
Yeah.
Have you watched Famous Chairs?
I watched a whole season today.
It's awesome.
Television: ... Sat on by Sir William III,
before he was beheaded several times,
which is very complicated, but nonetheless. (laughter)
We have always, we must have a rocking chair.
Don't you love to rock in a rocking chair?
Mr. P.: You have to teach the students to put away
all forms of distraction.
This includes and i device, TVs, any communication with friends,
and other tabs on their browsers.
They have to engage with the material by taking notes
and pausing and rewinding when necessary.
Billy: No iPhone?
Bo: No, can't, can't take my phone.
Billy: What do you mean, "no iPhone"?
Mr. P.: Yes, no iPhone.
It gets back to efficiency.
The less distracted you are and the more engaged you are
with the material, the more easily you will learn
and the less time it will take. (writing sounds)
Back to your question, Bobby.
Well then, what do we do in class?
Through talking with other teachers and personal experience,
I know that this is a very real concern.
However, I also know that it probably shouldn't be,
because I found that giving students control over their learning
meant that they were more focused
and more committed to their own learning.
Bobby: Great, but you still haven't answered the question.
Mr. P.: Right, that is true.
So, let's start answering that question
by talking about an example schedule from a traditional class
that I taught and comparing that to a schedule
for the class when I flipped it.
(erasing and writing sounds)
We're going to talk about the traditional schedule first.
We'll talk about the flipped schedule in just a minute.
On the first class period for a new concept, in general,
we would actually start with a quiz on the previous concept.
After that, we would do a lecture about the new concept.
Then the students would go home and they would have
a homework assignment to do problems from the book
or book work problems.
Bear in mind that my classes were 87 minutes long,
which meant that there was time for both a quiz and a lecture.
(writing sounds)
At the start of the second class about a new concept,
we would have a little bit more lecture
and then we would work on a lab,
where we would collect data.
Then the students would go home and as homework,
they would analyze the data, they would finish up the lab
and then at the very beginning of the next class,
that lab would be due.
Then we would have a review lecture and a worksheet
that's due at the end of that third class. (writing sounds)
The students would then go home and study
the solutions to the worksheet that they just turned in
and they would also have a practice quiz
that they could study to get ready for the quiz
that the next class would start with.
You can then see how the cycle would repeat itself.
Not all the concepts have the exact same schedule,
but this is a good example schedule of my traditional class.
(writing sounds)
Now, let's take a look at how that schedule changed
when I flipped my classes.
Now, before we even have a class about the new concepts,
students learn about that new concept via video lectures at home,
(writing sounds) which means the first class
for a new concept under the flipped model,
the students would start out in groups,
talking about the lecture and working on book work problems.
While they're doing that, I would wander around
and answer any questions they have about the lecture,
the new concept, or any of the book work problems.
Then, after we've taken about as much time
as we took to take the quiz under the traditional model,
we would then move on and do the same lab
that we did under the traditional model,
where we would collect the data.
The students then go home and learn
from the video lectures as homework. (writing sounds)
The second class period would be dedicated to two things.
Analyzing the data from the lab and working on the worksheet
that is due at the end of class. (writing sounds)
Then, at home, students would learn from the review lecture
and study either the worksheet solutions or the practice quiz.
(writing sounds)
The third class ends with a quiz and the time
before the quiz is pretty open.
The students can work to finish up the lab,
which is now due at any point in that class before the quiz
and they can work on the worksheet solutions
and they can work on the practice quiz.
You take a step back and look at it,
by taking these lectures and putting them at home,
we now have students in class working to understand the lectures,
working on the homework or book work problems,
working to analyze the lab, and studying for the quiz.
All with me, the teacher, right there to answer questions.
Believe you me, students are much more interested
in studying for the quiz, much more motivated
in studying for the quiz in class right before they take the quiz
than at home the night before when they're by themselves.
When they're in class right before they take the quiz,
studying for the quiz, I'm there, the teacher, to answer their questions.
Billy: And we have a lot of questions.
Bo: A lot of questions.
Mr. P.: You can see in the flipped model,
the majority of what the students do at home
is learn from the video lectures.
There's a little bit of optional study time,
but for the most part, it is just learn from the lectures.
Everything else has been moved into the classroom, where it should be.
All right, let's take a moment and look at the way
another flipped class works. (erasing sounds)
A colleague of mine from Boston, Mr. Margolis,
teaches an eighth grade flipped science classroom
and his approach is very different than mine.
(writing sounds) He gives his students a roadmap
to explore the new topic and the roadmap consists of three questions.
(writing sounds)
What do I know?
What have I learned?
And what will I find out and discover?
The roadmap has all sorts of activities
to help a student learn about the new topic.
Some of those activities are required
and many of those activities are optional.
However, a total number of activities must be completed
so the students end up doing the required activities
and some of the optional activities.
This is what I would call an asynchronous classroom,
where not all the students are working
on the same thing at the same time.
You have different students working on different assignments
and different topics all at the same time.
Now, this must be awesome for the students' learning.
However, I can imagine that this is also very hectic
for the teacher to organize.
Bobby: You mean everybody isn't working
on the same thing at the same time?
Bo: That's actually pretty cool.
I don't think I've ever taken a class like that.
Mr. P.: Another flipping example I want to talk about
is actually very different than the two we just talked about
and addresses a concern or question
that some teacher education students had
that I was recently conversing with and that is,
"What do you do if the students don't do their homework
"and don't watch the videos?"
Billy: That is a good question, if you know what I mean.
(writing sounds)
Mr. P.: Mrs. Kirch is a high school math teacher
from southern California who has flipped a lot of her classes.
Only this year, two of her classes, she is concerned
that they wouldn't be successful if she were to send them home
with videos to watch.
So, she is doing what I'm calling an internal flip.
(writing sounds)
She is providing them with video lectures to watch in class
either individually or in small groups,
instead of having her present to the entire class at the board.
(writing sounds) This allows students to work at their own pace
and allows Mrs. Kirch to be available to individual students
at the exact moment they need her help.
She has found that this keeps students more on task
and less distracted by one another
and I think it's a very interesting and useful approach
to using technology to increase the effectiveness
of the teacher and increase student learning, the internal flip.
Bobby: And kids always like to use a computer or iPad, right?
Mr. P.: Absolutely, students love to use technology.
Let's get back to the list we were working on.
Now, when you start flipping,
just take what was previously done at home
and now do it in school.
Don't make more work.
It's a great place to start.
As you get farther into the flip, as you get more comfortable,
as your students get more comfortable,
sure, you can start to make changes,
but again, just start out by taking the stuff
that was done at home and do it in class.
(writing sounds)
Now again, as you get further into flipping,
you could start to make changes, because you'll learn more,
because you're interacting more with the students.
You'll learn more about what they need,
what's working and what isn't working.
I started flipping after almost 13 years of teaching
and I started getting questions from students
I had never heard before.
It was absolutely amazing. (writing sounds)
As this happens, you can begin to tailor your class
to better meet the needs of your students
as Mr. Margolis and Mrs. Kirch have done
and you could begin to cull out the less effective assignments
and bring in more time consuming student centered assignments.
(writing sounds) Some examples would be collaborative group projects,
student created content, and more reflection on their own learning.
There it is.
That's my lecture on how to flip a classroom inside and out.
Let's do a quick review.
Absolutely make sure you are interacting
with other flipping teachers.
There are all sorts of us out there.
Use other teachers' lectures.
Considering there are so many of us,
there's so much free content that you should use.
Start small, only start with a few lectures.
Prepare your students and parents, not just yourself.
Everybody needs to be prepared.
Don't increase the student workload.
Keep the workload about the same.
Teach your students how to study the videos.
You have to teach them how to study the videos.
They can't just do it on their own.
Do in class what was traditionally done at home.
Take what was done at home and bring it into the classroom.
That's the best place to start.
Then, be amazed.
It is absolutely amazing.
Hopefully you will eventually get to where you can shift
towards student centered assignments.
Thank you very much for learning with me today.
I enjoyed learning with you.