The following is a summary of
an email exchange with Ed Mass of
CrazyForEducation.com of which
Ed posted on CrazyForEducation.com.
Ed asked, “Why don’t other
departments in your school Flip since all five math department teachers have
Flip and have had some success with Flipping?”
I reply that, “I do not know why they have not Flipped. However, I will offer some possible ideas.”
My responses (listed in order
of the most likely reasons to the least likely reasons):
·
Many teachers are resistant to change. They teach
the way they were taught. Whether new, or teaching the same way for decades,
they don't adapt easily to changes.
Response: If there is a resistance to change, I ask,
"Why?" How does the resistance to change serve you? How does it serve
your students?
·
Some teachers like being "in control."
They feel that if their students are quiet, they are in control of the
classroom. They also like being the center of attention (the power) and
being the source of information. It gives them a sense of importance.
Response:
As a teacher, are we here for our own ego and self-worth or are we here to help
students learn and do what is best for our students? If you answer to help
students learn and do what is best for them, consider Flipping.
·
It
takes time to record the lessons up front and some teachers do not want to take
that time.
Response: What they do not realize,
even if we have told them, is that you get that time back when you are Flipping
because you do not have students in your room before and after school nearly as
much as prior to Flipping.
·
Some
teachers are so busy just trying to keep their head above water that they do
not have time to think about ways to change.
Response: If you are so
overwhelmed, then you should look at ways to change and improve, that make you
more efficient with your time and effective in both teaching and your students'
learning.
·
If
I Flip my lessons, what will I do in class?
Response: This is a great question. The
possibilities are endless but some teachers are afraid to answer the question.
·
Some
teachers have the myth that if I Flip then my students will not need me.
Response: I have experienced the
opposite and my students have told me the same. That is, in a Flipped Classroom
the teacher is even more important. It's easy to replace a lecture. However, a
teacher that engages students and makes the classroom fun, while enhancing
students' learning, is highly valued by students and administrators, and much
more difficult to replace.
·
Some
teachers view my math department as a little crazy or "just out
there" and they do not want to be like us.
Response: Why not? What is better than
higher student outcomes while students take more responsibility for their own
learning and have more fun while doing so?
·
Some
teachers are not comfortable having their lessons online where anyone could
look at them including their principal or fellow teachers. In other words, they
are insecure about their own teaching ability or lessons.
Response: What better way to learn, and
improve our lessons and teaching, than from the critique/feedback of other
professionals? Plus, you have the opportunity to view other teachers' lessons
and learn from them. You can do this whether you Flip or choose not to Flip.
·
Some
teachers are not comfortable with learning the technology to record and post
lessons.
Response: It is fairly easy whether you
use the SMART Recorder software or the Ink2Go
software recommended by
CrazyForEducation. It is super easy to upload them and use all the enhanced
features in the CrazyForEducation system. You can post them on YouTube but then
you have all those ads and uncontrolled content that don't exist anywhere in
the CrazyForEducation system. They are totally ad-free.
·
Flipping
is just a math department thing. Some teachers do not
understand how they could flip their subject.
Response: I have ideas on how they
could Flip their subject and I could help some teachers generate ideas. Here
are several thoughts to get you started:
* Have students learn about Art
outside of class so they can spend class time creating Art pieces.
* Have students learn about
different physical activities/games (PE) outside of class so the students can
use class time engaging in those physical activities/games.
* Have students learn about
Spanish outside of class so they can spend class time reading Spanish, writing
Spanish, speaking Spanish.
* Have students learn about
science outside of class so that students can have more time to actually do science; play with stuff to get
first hand experience and better understand science; conduct more science
experiments.
* Have students learn about
cooking outside of class so they can spend class time actually cooking.
* In social studies, have
students learn the basics of different topics in history outside of class so
that in class the students can be in large group discussions with the teacher
about the material, and in small groups creating projects related to what they
learned outside of class.
* In English, Flip the grammar
rules, Flip basic writing techniques, so in class the students can practice
writing with the teacher there to guide them. Flip citation formats; Flip the
student writers conference, where the teacher either audio records, or video records
while showing the student's paper, their thoughts and comments about the
student's work.
* In music, Flip the following:
how to play a particular note, background of a musical piece, sing/play a
particular style.
* In our school, the foods
teacher is having his students record themselves making a particular food at
home.
* Our music teachers are having
students record themselves playing/singing a particular piece outside of class.
·
Some
teachers are not comfortable with having their voice/image online.
Response: Whether you like it or not
there is already a lot of material online about us.
One last note: Typically
Special Education teachers like a Flipped Classroom because the teachers can
either a) watch the lessons themselves to better help their students and/or b)
they can have the students watch, and replay, the video lessons to better
understand the material. Teachers also watch the lessons with the students to
help them learn how to engage in the lesson, pausing and replaying, and taking
notes. A Flipped Classroom gives Special Education teachers more options to
assist their students in learning processes.
