Flipping the classroom - I think!
I have read lots of really interesting twitter posts, blogs and articles about two concepts lately - SOLO taxonomy and the flipped classroom. One of the things that I am painfully aware of is that although I know what great teaching is, I am not always a good example of it especially with my A level philosophy classes. Sometimes my best intentions get lost in the content-heavy, examination panic and I find myself doing an awful lot of spoon-feeding which I know is bad teaching.
So... enough is enough and it is time for a change. My year 12s return from study leave on Monday and I want to do things a little differently. I was trying to decide whether to go SOLO or flip out and I found myself getting lost amongst all the amazing ideas about hexagon learning and SOLO stations and flipped lessons and so on. So I have decided to worry less about the name for what I am doing and just have a go at doing something different. It may not be exactly flipped learning or a good example of SOLO but it should be better teaching and learning which ultimately is all that matters.
I have started by taking my content heavy ppt which we tend to spend time reading and discussing and turned it into a voicethread that students will watch and take notes from for homework. This will hopefully get them thinking for themselves rather than being spoon-fed the information or passively observing others engage with the information. The connection activity for the lesson then requires students to start by putting the questions they have come up with on the whiteboard at the front of the room - the board will be divided into three sections - questions about the material that they need answers to, questions about the material that they think other people might need answers to and questions that came into their head when they were working with this material. The idea will be that over the duration of the triple lesson, we will attempt to address all of these questions.
Students will then choose their own starting point for the lesson based on differentiated objectives - if as I talk through the objectives/outcome for the lessons, students feel they can already do it, they start on the next point up. Some will work with me on understanding the basic concepts and identifying relevant thinkers, the next step up will be to sort ideas and thinkers so that they can identify who said what and why, the next step is to create a fishbone of arguments for and against looking at who could go up against who and the final strand is to engage with extension material. Students will work at their own pace on the areas that they most need. I am hoping to run a twiducate feed on the board whilst we work so that students can help and support one another in a more 21st century way.
I have no idea if it will work, I am slightly concerned that the students will hate it - I think perhaps they will because they will have to do all of the thinking but then that I believe is a good thing and something they will have to get used to. I worry that half won't do the homework so the impact will be lost and I worry that maybe I am doing it all wrong. BUT it is only by taking a chance that you discover better ways of doing things and hopefully I will take something from this - whether it is a success or a failure. Fingers crossed...
So... enough is enough and it is time for a change. My year 12s return from study leave on Monday and I want to do things a little differently. I was trying to decide whether to go SOLO or flip out and I found myself getting lost amongst all the amazing ideas about hexagon learning and SOLO stations and flipped lessons and so on. So I have decided to worry less about the name for what I am doing and just have a go at doing something different. It may not be exactly flipped learning or a good example of SOLO but it should be better teaching and learning which ultimately is all that matters.
I have started by taking my content heavy ppt which we tend to spend time reading and discussing and turned it into a voicethread that students will watch and take notes from for homework. This will hopefully get them thinking for themselves rather than being spoon-fed the information or passively observing others engage with the information. The connection activity for the lesson then requires students to start by putting the questions they have come up with on the whiteboard at the front of the room - the board will be divided into three sections - questions about the material that they need answers to, questions about the material that they think other people might need answers to and questions that came into their head when they were working with this material. The idea will be that over the duration of the triple lesson, we will attempt to address all of these questions.
Students will then choose their own starting point for the lesson based on differentiated objectives - if as I talk through the objectives/outcome for the lessons, students feel they can already do it, they start on the next point up. Some will work with me on understanding the basic concepts and identifying relevant thinkers, the next step up will be to sort ideas and thinkers so that they can identify who said what and why, the next step is to create a fishbone of arguments for and against looking at who could go up against who and the final strand is to engage with extension material. Students will work at their own pace on the areas that they most need. I am hoping to run a twiducate feed on the board whilst we work so that students can help and support one another in a more 21st century way.
I have no idea if it will work, I am slightly concerned that the students will hate it - I think perhaps they will because they will have to do all of the thinking but then that I believe is a good thing and something they will have to get used to. I worry that half won't do the homework so the impact will be lost and I worry that maybe I am doing it all wrong. BUT it is only by taking a chance that you discover better ways of doing things and hopefully I will take something from this - whether it is a success or a failure. Fingers crossed...
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