The "Talk"

After my meeting with my principal, I came into class on Monday and had "the talk" with the students.  One thing you need to know about my teaching style is that I don't sugar coat things for students.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not mean about what I say, I am just honest.  I feel that they are becoming adults, and need to start hearing the truth directly.  Anyhow, I have gotten a bit off topic :)

Our conversation Monday focused on the how I see things running right now, and how I envision them in my happy little dream world.  I also was very honest about what my goal is for our math class.  They responded pretty well to this.  I get pretty passionate about education, and I think that rubs off on the kids.

We also talked about how I envision the class running, when it is running perfectly.  I have them for about an hour, so in that hour I want to spend:
* 10 minutes going over questions from the video from the previous night
* 15 - 45 minutes of independent work (they work on the old homework, I walk around helping kids)
* 15 - 30 minutes of extensions

In addition, I came to a realization this past week.  When I reflected back on how things have been going, and I thought about why I am doing this, it comes down to student success.  My goal is for students to be successful in mathematics.  One thing that is hindering the student's success is that they aren't coming to class prepared.  Therefore, I made the decision to allow students to get a head start on their homework video if they finished (and have mastered) the previous night's lesson.  This has helped out considerably, in regards to kids getting their videos watched.

One issue I have found (it seems like there's always something, huh) is that students are completing their "homework", checking it, and turning it in.  However, when they check it, they don't seek out help if they got something wrong.  Therefore, I am starting another new procedure in my room next week.  I plan to have several problems on the board.  The students must finish their "homework", then answer a question on the board correctly before they can move on to extension projects.

One of these days (probably in May) I might actually have this whole flipped thing figured out!  Until then, I hope you readers are learning right along with me.