My Flipped Classroom

Taking a deep breath

2012-03-04T13:25:00.002-08:00

I've realized that my recent posts have been a bit of a downer. For some reason I was under the impression that because so many students haven't been doing their homework, that the flipped classroom wasn't working. I decided to check the data, because whether I like it or not, the numbers are what count. I just posted my results thus far, and you can find them here. Here is the short & sweet version. Some of the tests, last year's class did better on, but most of them this year's class has performed better. On average the flipped classroom has averaged 5% higher than last year's class.

There are a few things I also need to take into consideration. First, as mentioned previously, I have a large number of students who aren't consistent with their video viewing. I truly believe that plays a major role in their success (or lack of). Second, this is my first year flipping. I need to remember that, and not be too hard on myself. I have a tendency to expect perfection from myself, and that is pretty unrealistic. To me, teaching is too important of a job to not take seriously, so when all doesn't go to plan it can be frustrating. Finally, my school has a large (70%) free/reduced lunch population. Many students don't have computers at home. I have just (this week) gotten all my recording/burning/duplicating technology working as it should be. I'm crossing my fingers that it will help.

I want to end this week's post with a few positives. First, I was asked to present at our MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) conference this coming Friday. I plan on stealing and tweaking Crystal Kirch's prezi in my presentation. Anyone interested in flipping (at the high school level especially) should check out her blog. I'm presenting because I won an Action Research Award for utilizing technology in my flipped classroom. I have an entire post that has my proposal for the award located here.

My second positive has to do with a student...and it gives me goosebumps thinking of it. I've mentioned a student before in my blog who watches the videos every night with her mom. Her mom is using the videos as a way to practice her English (she is a native Spanish speaker). Anyhow, this week in the teacher's lounge one of the 4th grade teachers asked about this girl because she had actually considered retaining her last year. Apparently she was struggling across the board, all subject areas. I proudly let her former teacher know that on her last two tests she got a 94% and a 91%. I am SO proud of this girl! She is the reason I do this, she is the reason I needed to make a change.

So taking all that into consideration, I am taking a deep breath this week and enjoying the fact that this whole journey (while not perfect) is working.

For all you dataheads :-)

2012-03-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

A breakdown of this year's test results...so far

Unit 1 - Addition & Subtraction
Traditional Classroom Unit 1 Average: 82%
Flipped Classroom Unit 1 Average: 90%
Difference: + 8%
However, I also gauged the amount of growth in each class and found the from pre-test to post-test, the flipped classroom averaged 12% more growth than the traditional group.

Unit 2 - Area & Perimeter
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 2 Average: 92%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 2 Average: 79%
Difference: + 13%

Unit 3 - Decimals
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 3 Average: 87.5%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 3 Average: 95%
Difference: - 7.5%

Unit 4 - Geometry
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 4 Average: 90%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 4 Average: 91%
Difference: - 1%

Unit 5 - Fractions
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 5 Average: 80%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 5 Average: 69%
Difference: + 11%

Not perfect, but it's certainly a lot of progress :-)

Action Research Award Winner :)

2012-02-27T06:22:00.000-08:00

I was just notified that I am one of the recipients of the MACUL Action Research Award. I've been asked to give a short (15 minutes) presentation of my findings during our the MACUL conference that is being held on March 9th.

MACUL is "Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning". I had applied for this award back in January, since I was collecting so much data anyway, I figured, "why not?" I guess that was a good decision because I won! Below I have posted my submission, for those of you who are interested.

Action Research Award Proposal

Briefly describe your research project
I am flipping my math classroom this academic school year (2011-2012). In brief, a flipped classroom is when students watch the lecture at home (via their home computer). During the lecture viewing, the students are required to follow along in their workbooks or journals (depending on what the lesson requires). When they arrive at class the next day they work on what would have been their homework in the past. The teacher is then given time to work one-on-one with students that may have struggled during the lecture.

State the research question(s)
How will flipping my math classroom effect student achievement in mathematics? What impact will using technology to teach mathematics have on an “at-risk” population?

Explain why this question(s) is important for teaching with technology.
Technology is at the core of teaching in a flipped classroom. Some of technology that I utilize in my flipped classroom are: web 2.0 tools (Edmodo, Schooltube, Googledocs), a doc camera, a DVD burner, flash drives, Khan Academy and lastly, computers! My questions are both tied to student achievement, utilizing technology, therefore I feel that that are of utmost importance.

In this section, explain how you investigated your question(s). You should describe the data you collected, the method of collection, and how you interpreted the data.
Thus far, I have gathered data on three mathematics assessments. I compared last year’s 5th grade class to this year’s 5th grade class. It is important to see how the two different groups of students compared on something they both had to take, but had nothing to do with my math teaching. Therefore, I chose to compare their MAP test scores. The 5th graders last year averaged 202 on the MAP test, the 5th graders this year averaged 206 on the MAP test. A slight difference, but nothing significant.

Unit 1 - Addition & Subtraction
For the first unit I flipped only 1 of the 2 flipped classes. I made every effort to teach the “traditional” group to the best of my ability, as to not sway the findings.

Unit 2 - Area & Perimeter
Unit 2 was the most difficult assessment last year, so I decided to compare last year’s group to this year’s group for unit 2.

Unit 3 - Decimals
Unit 3 was not something that I had anticipated being difficult for my students, since last year’s group averaged 89%. What I found was that my students were having a more difficult time understanding the concepts than last year’s class. I thought it may have had something to do with my students not being as consistent with their homework viewing on this unit as past units. In fact, I actually split the results based on kids who did their homework 90% of the time, and those who did their homework less than 90% of the time. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of students who viewed the videos prior to coming to class. However, upon speaking with the 4th grade teachers in my building, I found out that this group of 5th graders did not have decimals in 4th grade (that unit was skipped due to a new math program being implemented and lack of time to get through all material). I feel this contributed to their not as strong (but still good) performance.

In this section, explain the results or findings from your research. Discuss the evidence to support your conclusions. Also include how the results will affect your future teaching.

Unit 1 - Addition & Subtraction
Traditional Classroom Unit 1 Average: 82%
Flipped Classroom Unit 1 Average: 90%
Difference: + 8%
However, I also gauged the amount of growth in each class and found the from pre-test to post-test, the flipped classroom averaged 12% more growth than the traditional group.

Unit 2 - Area & Perimeter
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 2 Average: 92%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 2 Average: 79%
Difference: + 13%

Unit 3 - Decimals
This Year’s Flipped Classroom Unit 2 Average: 87.5%
Last Year’s Traditional Classroom Unit 2 Average: 95%
Difference: - 7.5%

Conclusions / Evidence from my results
I have had mixed results with implementing the flipped classroom. What I have found so far is that when students are truly doing what they are supposed to be doing (viewing the videos at night, and coming to class prepared), the success rate is very high. However, as the newness has worn off and the students aren’t following the model, the scores drop.

I also find that the students who do not come to school prepared are often hindered by not having access to technology at home. Within the past month I was notified that I received a grant to help fund my flipped classroom. With the grant I will be able to purchase a DVD burner that will hopefully help me overcome the technology barrier.

Due to our computer labs being used for MAP testing, I have had a few weeks where I have had to revert to the traditional model. I found that the number of students who don’t do their homework with the traditional model goes up considerably over the number who don’t do their homework in the flipped model.

How will this change my teaching
When I began flipping my classroom I decided to start blogging. In the past I had very little experience blogging, but I figured that others might benefit from my experiences (successes and failures). I have recently hit the 3,500 mark on my blog (www.flippedclassroom.blogspot.com). Just knowing that I will be blogging weekly is keeping me focused on the data, as it is a huge part of my reflection.

I have also become a member of several networks, that are now part of my P.L.N. Through those networks I have interacted with many teachers, and we are learning from each other. I feel that me utilizing this flipped classroom has got the ball rolling with many connections all over the country.

In addition, I have been learning with each and every assessment my students take. I am constantly looking at the numbers and reflecting on what went wrong and what went right. Already I have implemented several changes that seem to be helping. For example, upon finding the students were being a little untrustworthy when completing the in class “homework”, I began a little game called “prove it”. Before the students can move on to extension projects they must prove they understand the big idea of the lesson...in front of me...with no help. I has really opened my eyes to who is truly understanding, and who is struggling.

What to do? What to do?

2012-02-26T10:56:00.001-08:00

As I've mentioned in the past, getting the students to come to class prepared is a huge part of the flipped model. Lately it seems like I am having more and more students not coming prepared. This is exceedingly frustrating because they are automatically behind if they aren't ready for the day's lesson. I've tried posting homework for all to see, I've tried contacting parents, I've tried with-holding fun activities, and still I am getting many students unprepared. So what do I do? Do I go back to traditional? I don't think that's the answer because I am seeing many students who weren't successful last year becoming more and more confident. I've considered doing both models. This means more planning for me, but I need to do whatever I think is right for the kids. Therefore, I decided to list some pro's and con's in regards to teaching one traditional and one flipped class.

Pro's

Students who come prepared will be able to progress as quickly as they can, which will allow time for some extension projects.
Students who don't watch the videos at night will be getting the direct instruction (regardless of whether they do the homework or not).
My flipped class would go much more smoothly, and as intended

Cons

Students who don't watch the video for homework aren't likely to do the traditional homework either.
For the most part, the students who don't do their homework are also the students who are the lowest in the first place...would switching back to traditional further separate the achievement gap?
My traditional class would definitely not go as smoothly, as the students who are the biggest behavior issues are also the ones who don't do their homework

I am yet to come to a decision on this problem & I'd love to hear your opinions. We are wrapping up another unit this week, and will begin our seventh unit towards the end of the week. Let me know...what do you think would benefit all the students the most?

Taking Some Responsibility (gasp)!

2012-02-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

Last week I posted about my fractions test scores. This week I want to post about some changes I've made to how I handle retesting. In the past, it has always been our (my school and grade level) policy that any student who doesn't pass (below 80%) the test the first time around must do a retest. Our math program has 2 versions of the same test: version A is short answer, version B is multiple choice. You'd think the students would do substantially better on version B, right? Wrong! The kids who end up needing to retest typically don't do any studying and do just as poorly (often times worse because they don't think they need to show their work) on version B. This has been very irritating to me in the past, so I decided to make some changes.

Before our fractions test, I let the students know that retesting is no longer mandatory. It is now a privilege that they must earn through hard work (aka studying). I gave the students their test results on a Thursday, and gave them until the following Friday to put in 2 days of studying with me during their lunch recess. After they put in at least 2 days of studying with me (many chose to do more than 2 days), they were allowed to retest. It was encouraging to me that so many of the kids who didn't pass the first time around came in and studied during their lunch. Every student who came in to study with me improved their scores. Not everyone improved their scores enough to pass, but they all went up by at least 10 percent.

While I was pleased with the number of students who did come in a put forth the effort. I was disappointed by the number who did terrible on the test, but chose to not come in. Those students will be explaining to their parents why they chose to go out to recess, instead of coming in to study.

Overall, this is a strategy I plan to continue in my next unit. In the meantime, I am certainly looking forward to having lunch to myself next week. The unit we are currently studying is on volume and the students will test on it this coming Friday. Next week I hope to have preliminary volume scores for you, as well as finalized fractions test scores.

Proud or Disappointed...a little of both?

2012-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

This week my students took the dreaded fractions test. Before I go into their results, I want to give some background knowledge on this unit and these kids.

First, fractions was by far the most difficult unit of the year last year. My class (even after the retest) averaged a 64%. This is not something I was proud of last year, and that hasn't changed. I have been anticipating and dreading this unit all year. I dread it because it is really hard and frustrating for the kids! I have been anticipating it because if there is going to be evidence of flipping success, then it will probably come from this unit.

Secondly, this group of 5th graders did not get fractions in 3rd or 4th grade (due to new curriculum/textbooks, those units got skipped) and were quite a bit behind from the start.

As always, I will always be honest in my blog. With that in mind, I think it is important that I also disclose that this year we altered the assessment we gave the students. We added a question on converting fractions that wasn't there last year, and we shortened the questions on putting fractions/decimals/mixed numbers in order from 5 numbers to 3. That being said, we sent the new assessment to our "math guru" who approved it, saying that it was still a valid test.

Okay, on to the results. I've had a lot of inner turmoil in regards to whether I should be excited with the results, or disappointed. My class averaged a 79% on their first attempt at the fractions test. The other 5th grade class averaged a 73% on their first attempt, making our total 5th grade average a 76%.

I see the number 76% and I think...hmmm, they didn't do very well. Then I look at where my group was last year. The difference between the classes is 12%...and that's before they had the chance to retest!

So I've come to an executive decision. I am going to go ahead and be happy with these scores. With some hard work on their part, next week I'll be able to report even higher percentages.

A Couple of Observations

2012-02-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

This week has been one of the first back since we finished up our MAP testing & I've reclaimed our computer lab. I've found a couple of trends.

Trend #1:
There are still many students not watching the videos before class, which is incredibly frustrating to me. Especially when they have the opportunity to watch them in the lab at before school, at lunch, during recess, etc. I began flipping my classroom because I felt that many of my students would "tune out" when I was doing a more lecture style lesson (even when I use whiteboards, hands on tools, etc.) I wanted something that would allow me to help them more individually. What I am finding is that many of the students who tuned me out are the ones who are also not viewing the videos, and are therefore spending the bulk of class watching the lesson, and not getting the one-on-one help they need....sort of defeats the purpose, huh.

Trend #2:
That being said, I have found that several of the students who were not doing their homework for our two week trip back to the traditional method are doing the videos. I would say that on average I have 5-10 students who consistently don't watch the videos. When I look at their scores on their tests they correlate to very poor performances (not surprising at all). So what's the deal? Are they not watching the videos because they are uncomfortable with the math & don't think they'll be successful? Or are they not doing well in math because they aren't watching the videos? It's the age old question: What came first, the chicken or the egg? I wish there was a way to get them to really put in 100% for a unit and see what happens. Our next unit is going to be relatively short, so perhaps some bribery is in order. It goes against all that I believe in as a teacher to bribe students to do what they should be doing anyway, but if I can just get them to give it a real shot, I think they might surprise themselves.

A Couple of Positives
I hate to have a post with a bunch of negatives, as I'm typically an overly optimistic person, so I have to add a few cool stories that happened recently. I was talking with a student of mine (one who typically won't do traditional homework and who struggles in math) about why she didn't do her traditional homework, but she almost always does the video homework. She told me that her mom watches all the videos with her and is using those videos to help her learn English (and a little bit of math too). A totally unintended consequence, but very cool none-the-less.

On another positive note having nothing to do with flipping my classroom, but a lot to do with technology integration which I view as incredibly important, I recently found out that I have been approved to take four of my students to the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) conference. There is a student showcase that happens every year during the conference where students get to show off how they use technology in the classroom. My students are going to be showing how they have been creating Weebly Websites as an e-portfolio. I told my students this week about the conference. I let them know about how I chose the four based on everything they had put into their webpages so far. This announcement happened to coincide with the day of our school carnival, where I got to sell tickets all evening, and I had two of the students approach me with their parents so that I could tell them about it. One word to sum up their expressions...pride.

Sample Videos

2012-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

One of my goals when I decided to write this blog was to give myself time to reflect, and to help others who are thinking of flipping. That being said, I have recently had a lot of people who want to see some example videos. Therefore, I am embedding several examples of different videos I've made this year. They range from early on (when we didn't have all our current technology), to my most recent where I am using slideshows.

This first video is one of the first that I made. When I first started flipping I was using i-movie, then trying to attach it to my Edmodo site. I also did not have our doc/camera hooked to the computer with the right software, so I was dragging my computer into the middle of the room & using my built in camera to video tape our projector screen. I was finding that the pictures were very small, and they skipped a lot. The quality...not great.

Lesson 1-1 Solving Comparison Problems

The second video is once I discovered Schooltube, which in turn compressed the videos for me & also made the screen larger with less wait time for the kids...bonus!

Lesson 3-1 Fraction/Decimal Comparison

Eventually I got all the correct software loaded onto my computer & I was able to record straight off my computer (Yeah! No more dragging my computer into the middle of the room).

Lesson 4-3 Review & Recognize Congruent Shapes

The final video I am going to post is the kind of video I made when I have enough time to create a slideshow (usually this coincides with vacations b/c otherwise I just can't fit it in!) I use screencast-o-matic to record my screen, then I upload that recording to Schooltube (for all the same reasons I said before).

Lesson 5-13 Finding missing numerators & denominators

For my next post I'll talk about the process of making the videos, and the pro's and con's to different programs I've used.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2012-01-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

For the past two weeks our school has been administering the NWEA MAP test, which requires the use of all our computer labs. That being said, I was unable to run our flipped math, and had to revert to the traditional method. Reverting back to traditional was quite an eye opener for myself and my students. I, personally, found it much more difficult to determine whether my kids were truly understanding the material. I thought they got it, then they went home to do their homework & they clearly didn't get it. I also found the lessons took much longer than I was now used to.

My students have also had a bit of a rude awakening. While I have averaged around 5 students per class who weren't watching the videos during our flipped class. The average of students not completing their homework more than doubled. The number of students who were turning in work that showed misunderstandings was even higher than that.

I actually overheard a few grumbling about how they wish they could do videos again. I figured it wouldn't have been very professional to say "I told you so", so I just smiled & said I was glad they enjoyed flipped math (kudos to me because I really wanted to scream it from the roof tops). Next week we will be moving back to the flipped method, and I am seriously excited to get back into the swing of things!

Positive P.R.

2012-01-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I mentioned being interviewed by our local paper. This week our the article came out and low-and-behold, we made the front page! My students were kind of in awe. They are also in awe of the fact that so many people are reading this blog. I mention to them periodically how many "hits" I have and they always drop their jaws :)

I've attached a link to the article here, so please bask in it's glory like I am!

In addition to the newspaper article, I was also recognized at our High School basketball game for receiving a grant. Just today I started spending - and I'm not going to lie, I thoroughly enjoyed it! With my grant money I am going to be able to purchase a DVD burner/duplicator, 3 i-pod touches and all the cases & protective gear to go with them. Thank you again Kenowa Hill Education Foundation!

Reflection

2012-01-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

This was my first week back to school after the break, and we went right back into flipping on Tuesday. I took my two weeks off as a time for some reflection on how things are going in my flipped classroom experience because I don't feel like I ever have the time to just sit and reflect. I warn you in advance - I always promise to be honest in my posts, and unfortunately, this post is brutaly honest.

One the causes for my reflection is looking back at my past 2 test scores. When comparing them to last year's class, they were (for the first time all year) lower. I asked myself, "what happened?" First, I found out that one of the units (decimals) had been skipped the previous year, so the students were farther behind than the previous year's class (excuse #1). Then what happened with the test after that? I thought the kids understood what was being taught. Well, they hadn't done very well getting their homework done on that unit (excuse #2). It was also right before Christmas (excuse #3). Upon looking all this over, I realized how disappointed I was in myself for making excuses. While those were certainly factors contributing to the students difficulty, I should have caught that long before the test.

One thing I love about reflection, is that I always feel like I have a plan on how to improve when I am done. In my classroom, I have been noticing a trend of students doing their "homework" with their friends (which I am okay with when they are actually working collaboratively), but then not truly understanding the material. Therefore, we have now begun a little game in class called "prove it". Prove it is simple, I have questions on the board that come from the most important part of the lesson, and they must prove that they understand the material before they can move on to extensions...if they don't get it right independently, I help them, then they have to try a new problem until they can solve it correctly. This allows me to double check that they really do understand the work before I let them move on. Last week was our first week of trying this, and I feel like it is going well...time will tell :)

A Couple of Exciting Events!

2011-12-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

The last week of break brought two interesting and exciting events to my flipped classroom. First, I found out that I received $1,100 from our Kenowa Hills Education Foundation to help purchase technology for my flipped classroom. My original intent was to purchase some i-pod touches for students without internet access at home. I intended to download the videos as podcasts and go from there. I am, however, open to other suggestions. If anyone has recommendations on how to make that whole process run smoothly I would greatly appreciate your feedback (is there a different resource that would be better than i-pod touches?) Again, my goal with this grant was to get students access to the videos if they don't have any other access available. This is really exciting, and I want to give a huge THANK YOU to the Kenowa Hills Education Foundation for approving my grant!

The second bit of excitement happened within hours of finding out my grant was approved. I was in my class, when my principal & another gentleman entered. My principal asked if he could cover my room the last 15 minutes until lunch because, as I come to find out, the gentleman with him was a reporter from our local newspaper. He had heard about my flipped classroom and wanted to know more. I ended up talking to him for over an hour. As it turns out, he used to be a math teacher, so he was very well versed in what works in education. He was very positive and excited about what I was doing. We talked a lot about how the flipped classroom runs, but also the theory behind it, and why it works.

As we were talking about how I found out about the flipped classroom, he brought up how lucky I am to have a supportive administration (which I am) because not every school would take a risk like this. He then asked about how long I'd been teaching (10 years), and where I went to school (Michigan State). Then I told him I also went to Grand Valley for my Master's Degree, and Grand Valley again for my Ed. Specialist Degree. I'm not sure the right word for it, but he seemed surprised and pleased to hear how educated I was. He actually referred to me as a "highly educated nerd"....I took it as a compliment! The reason he was pleased is because he was glad that the district was taking a risk with someone who knows what they're doing, and is so well educated. I appreciate the vote of confidence because sometimes I feel like I don't have a clue what I'm doing ;)

He will be coming back in January to take some pictures and talk some more. I intend to post the article once he writes it.

The "Talk"

2011-12-04T18:09:00.001-08:00

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.

Parent Feedback

2011-11-26T08:29:00.001-08:00

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had parents fill out a survey in regards to how they think math is going for their child. I decided to dedicate a whole post with their short answer responses. These are direct quotes from the surveys I had the families fill out.

What positives are you noticing about the flipped classroom?
~ I think it is a great program. It informs parents as well as gives you time to help those that don't understand.
~ She seems to learn more.
~ Math has always been a subject my daughter struggled in, but this year she has done 100% better with it. I think the flipped classroom has given her the time and help she needed to understand the assignments.
~ My son has really improved in math as compared to last year.
~ I believe it's a great idea because the kids can pause and rewind the explanation of how to do their homework. I even watch it with my son sometimes to keep myself up to date.
~ I think that having the homework on the computer actually gets my daughter excited to do it. I usually don't have to ask her to get her math homework done.
~ My son seems more interested and is taking the responsibility to watch/do the work.
~ It is easier for him to do the homework.
~ She is getting a lot better at math and responsibility.
~ I'm noticing a better attitude towards math, as opposed to the overwhelming feeling she had before.
~ Students really enjoy doing their homework on the computer.
~ She goes right to her computer after school to do her homework.
~ She just seems to be understanding it more.
~ He is excited to do his homework!
~ It allows teachers to help with math homework (parents don't always know how to) and it allows parents to watch the instructions.

What concerns do you have about the flipped classroom?
~ None of this is worth anything if a family is struggling and can't provide computer access.
~ She is in a hurry sometimes.
~ He doesn't have access to the internet when he goes to his dad's house.
~ We only have one computer in our household and many times in the evening all of us (4) need to get on-line and it can get too busy!
~ Is there enough time in the classroom to review assignments and check for understanding?
~ She spends too much time doing homework, and doesn't get much time for other things.
~ Students can't ask the teacher questions as they work through the problems on the video.
~ The kids who are not strong in math, and don't have the support at home may not get the questions asked on videos. Some kids might not post questions if they are confused.
~ It is a middle class practice. No ideal for poverty level families.

Do you have any changes you would recommend to make things run more smoothly?
~ Do you know of programs that help low income families get computers and low cost internet?
~ Potentially have homework time right after school for students.
~ Possibly have some DVD demonstrations for parents.

As you can see, lots of positives, and some legitimate concerns as well. It was great to hear back from so many parents, and to know that they are supportive of what we're working so hard to do in the classroom!

The Survey Says....

2011-11-26T07:51:00.001-08:00

I spent a lot of time this week talking to anyone who would listen to me about how to make the flipped classroom more successful. I heard, on more than one occasion: "Why not just scrap it. It sounds like a ton of work, and the kids aren't responding positively." My response...I can't do that. I know (and have the data to back it) that this is working. I think my problem stems from the fact that I want everyone to be happy, and to be as exciting about flipped math as I am...I think this may be an unrealistic expectation.

So I decided to survey the students and parents to see what they had to say. I expected that I would get negative comments by some the students, as they seem awfully vocal when it comes to things they don't like. I also put forth every effort to make the survey as anonymous as possible. When it came to the parents, I really wasn't sure what to expect. So without further ado, the survey said...

Student Survey Results
I feel like I understand math better in the flipped classroom.
Yes --> 35
No --> 9

I feel like I am performing better in math this year, compared to last year.
Better --> 29
Worse --> 4
Same as last year --> 10

Do you feel like the amount of homework being assigned is fair.
Yes --> 30
No --> 12

I also did some short answer responses, but almost all were overwhelmingly positive. A few recommendations that I plan to implement are: keeping the videos below 10 minutes and giving optional extension projects once the students are finished in class.

Parent Survey Results
I feel like my child understands math better in the flipped classroom (rather than traditional).
Yes --> 17
No --> 2

How is your child performing (in math) this year, compared to last year.
Better --> 12
Worse --> 0
Same as last year --> 7

Do you feel like the amount of homework being assigned is fair.
Yes --> 20
No --> 0

I also asked some short answer questions that I will feature in my next post...this one is getting lengthy :) The parent results were even more positive to me than the student results.

So now what? What can I do to get kids to do their homework? I'm going to try a couple of things. First, I plan to put up a homework sheet in our lab that shows when kids have turned in their work. Some claim they had no idea it wasn't done...hopefully this will clear it up (plus a little peer pressure never hurt anyone). Also, on Friday we spend the last 30 minutes having "Fun Friday". This is a treat for anyone who has all their homework/classwork done. What has happened in the past is that students would spend every little second on Friday trying to get caught up, in order to get to participate. From here on out, if a student had late homework, Fun Friday won't be an option...even if it's done. I don't think it's fair to the students who bring their work in consistently to reward those last second procrastinators.

I also have a few other ideas up my sleeve if this doesn't work. I'll leave you with a question many asked me through my ramblings this past week: "Do you think there are more kids not doing their homework now, than if they had traditional homework?" My answer...no way. If anything, I would probably have more students not turning in their homework if I went back to traditional teaching, and that makes me feel a little sense of satisfaction :)

Wow...that's not surprising at all!

2011-11-20T17:34:00.001-08:00

Our third math unit has come and gone, and with it I have noticed a few things:

First, some of the excitement that first accompanied the flipped experience has fizzled out a bit. I'm sad to say that only half my students are watching the videos at home, and coming to class prepared. While some of that is due to the fact that the students don't have a computer at home, there are also many who don't have that as an excuse.

Second, the relationship between student and teacher is very very powerful. I teach two sections of math: my class, and the other 5th grade teacher's class. We each have 25 students. Of my 25 students, about 16 of them consistently watch the videos at home. Of my co-teacher's class, about 9 of her 25 students return to class prepared. What's interesting is that she sees the opposite when it comes to turning in homework to her (my class turns in far less than hers). The only real difference here is that my students have a strong relationship with me, whereas hers have a relationship with her.

Third, when the students don't watch the homework videos at home, and therefore have to watch them in class, they don't perform as well on the unit assessment. I know...duh, right? What proof do I have, you ask? That brings me to our unit 3 scores. Instead of comparing class to class, I decided to compare the students who watched the videos on time (90% of the time) to those that watched the videos less than 90% of the time (usually using class time to view them). Prepare to be amazed (heavy, heavy sarcasm):
Students who came to class prepared: 93.5% average
Students who came to class having not viewed the videos: 77.5%

Wow, that's not surprising at all. I haven't totally decided what to do about it. I have scheduled a time to be "cognitively coached" by my principal on options. Next week, I hope to post about my plan.

What's a typical day look like? (part 2)

2011-11-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

First off, I apologize for not posting last week. It is my intent to post weekly, but circumstances arose (report cards and parent teacher conferences) that made it difficult for me to find any free time to blog. Now, moving on to my weekly post ;-)

As I mentioned in my last post, the students watch the video of my lecture as homework. When math class begins, I always check to see if there were any questions about the previous night's video. After answering questions, the students work on their worksheet. The worksheet is what formerly would have been taken home for homework.

At this point of class, I have 5-10 students who are finishing/watching the video (as hard as I try, there are still kids who don't do the homework...I think I could dedicate a whole post to that frustration later). The rest of the class is working on the worksheet. I am busy walking around & checking students worksheets. Of all the components of a flipped classroom, I have found this part to be the most beneficial. The time I spend checking/helping students one-on-one is something I could never seem to get to in a traditional classroom. I have been able to see mistakes kids are making before they become ingrained in their heads.

Once a child has finished their worksheet, they log on to Khan Academy and begin working on extensions (I plan to feature Khan Academy in a future post, but it plays a major role in managing the students as they finish). For those students who do not have access to internet at home, they are allowed to start their video for the following evening during class.

At the end of math class I talk very briefly about the expectations for the evening's work, and then we do it all over again the next day ;-)

What's a typical day look like?

2011-10-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is a question I've been asked more and more as the year has been progressing, so I thought I'd take this week's post to walk you through what my "typical" day looks like. Rather than make a really long post, I'm going to break it up into two different posts.

I'll start with the homework, as that is where the biggest difference lies from the traditional method of teaching. Each night, the students watch the next day's lesson on-line. Right now I am taping my lecture using my document camera into i-movie. From there I upload it to schooltube, which compresses it all for me. After it's done compressing, I post it to my classroom edmodo site. I just dropped a ton of tech lingo, so if you're unsure of any of those terms, please check their hyperlinks ;-) I have featured edmodo on my technology blog: deliabush.blogspot.com, if you're interested in hearing more about that feature specifically (believe me, it is amazing).

I have embedded an example of one of my videos below, for you those of you wondering what it might look like. Our school uses Math Expressions, so I basically go through the lesson from the book. You'll notice at the beginning of the video I have posted the students "learning goal", I do this on every video and the students are required to write it in their journal. They know that the learning goal is what is the most important thing they remember from the lesson. So for this lesson, the students really needed to come away understanding which dimensions they need to determine perimeter and area of parallelograms and triangles.

I'll post next week about what happens once the kids get to school...tune in to find out more ;-)

It's WORKING!!!

2011-10-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

This week in math we didn't "flip" as normal because we were reviewing for our 2nd test, and we had two days worth of MEAP testing to contend with. For those of you not from Michigan, MEAP testing is our state mandated testing that we take every fall, and it is a beast. As we weren't doing our normal flip, I wasn't sure if I would have much to write about this week, but boy was I wrong! I spent yesterday grading tests and looking at some of last year's data.

Let me preface this information with the knowledge that this test was, by far, the most difficult for my students last year. That being said, I decided to compare last year's class scores to this year's scores. First, I looked at their MAP testing averages (this is another assessment tool our school uses).
Last year's class average: 202
This year's class average: 206
That indicates that this year's class is slightly higher, but not by enough where I would think there would be much of a difference in overall performance.

Here's the exciting news!
Last year's class average on unit 2 - 79% (that is after they had a chance to retest)
This year's class average on unit 2 - 89% (this is without a retest opportunity yet)

I was blown away by the numbers! To be fair, part of this growth could simply be because I have now taught the subject before (last year was our first year with our new math program), and I know more of what common issues to look for. However, I can say that without a doubt, being able catch their mistakes early, and work more one-on-one has been a huge factor in their success. What's even better, the kids are so proud of themselves!

Some exciting data...

2011-10-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

For my first unit of flipped math, I experimented with flipping only one of our two math sections. Last week I mentioned that my flipped class averaged about 5% more growth than the non-flipped class. That was before I had all my tests in (there were a few absences, and a few retakes that were yet to be done). I now have all the retesting/testing complete, and the results were pleasantly surprising! My flipped class averaged 12% more growth from their pretest to their post test. Wow! While I was hoping for positive results, I didn't expect this.

As an added bonus, I also presented my flipped class to my Board of Education and they were extremely enthusiastic, giving me a ton of positive feedback. I posted about that here.

We are now into the tail end of our second unit in math (a very short unit on area and perimeter). We will be testing at the end of this week. I did not give a pretest this unit...I absolutely intended to, but we had our state mandated MEAP test, which took up a large chunk of time, and last year when I gave the pretest for this unit, my students got almost everything wrong. It is the most difficult unit of the year, and I can't wrap my head around why. Basically, the students need to know how to find the area and perimeter of parallelograms, rectangles and triangles. They are allowed to use their formula sheet on the test. On next week's blog I plan to give a brief summary of how last year's students performed on this assessment, and a breakdown of how last year's kids compare to this year's students.

This week I did experience quite a bit of frustration with the students who aren't watching the video at home. The students who don't have internet access aren't my biggest issue. They have been trying to come in right off the bus (and even during their lunch) to watch the videos, and I have been very proud of their responsibility. My issue comes from the students who have access to the computer at home, but still don't do the work. I haven't really decided what I want to do about that. I talked to the students about the issue & they recommended splitting the groups up, putting the kids who don't watch the videos in one group, and the kids who consistently watch the videos into another group...I have to admit, I have considered it, but the idea of not allowing some students to participate in flipped math goes against my core as a teacher. But on the other hand, if they aren't watching the videos as homework are they really participating in flipped math right now?

As you can see, I am having some inner conflict, but I am hopeful that I'll work out a solution soon :)

Presenting to the Board

2011-10-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back my principal asked me if I would be willing to present my flipped classroom. I was a little apprehensive, as I am just in the beginning stages of the process of flipping my classroom. I agreed, and we presented on Monday night.

Looking back, I am so glad that I agreed to present. The Board was engaged throughout the entire presentation, even interrupting a few times with questions. Some of my most memorable moments & quotes:

~ "Game-changer...that's what I thought about when I listened to you talk."

~ "We need this in every class."

~ "I wish I would have been in your class when I was in school."

~ "What can we do to help? This is the kind of innovative idea we love!"

~ And finally, my superintendent gave me two thumbs up when I was finished (and a handwritten thank you letter).

Overall it was an excellent evening that gave me a much needed (after having had a frustrating day in the computer lab) boost of spirit.

The history of a flipped classroom

2011-10-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

I think this infographic does a fantastic job explaining the history & rationale behind a flipped classroom. I found it John Medici's blog.

The first test...how it all played out

2011-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

This past week was pretty exciting in my math class. We started off by taking our first math test, which I will talk more about later in the post. This week also marked the beginning of flipping with the other 5th grade class (as I mentioned in past posts, for the first unit I am only flipping my 5th grade class, and I am teaching math the traditional way to the other 5th grade class). Finally, through a Professional Learning Network I belong to on edmodo, I found a new way to post videos that makes it easier for students to view and enlarge.

So, starting from the first event...test #1. I want to preface this post by stating that I am hesitant to share my student's test data because I don't feel that I was able to truly run my flipped classroom as intended. Rather than being able to go around and help one-on-one with student homework, I was spending a substantial amount of time trouble shooting technology problems. That being said, I can tell you that I had several students comment that they re-watched some of the videos while they were studying for their test. As far as my data goes...I started the unit with a pretest and ended with our district wide assessment. Class A (flipped class) averaged a 45% on the pretest, while Class B (traditional) averaged a 43%. After our first test, Class A's average growth from the pretest to the actual test was 44% (meaning, the average test score was close to 90%). Class B's average growth from the pretest to the actual test was 38% (their average test score was an 82%). Is this substantial...I'm not sure yet, but my gut tells me that it is. I am really looking forward to when I am actually able to spend my time not worrying about tech problems (we're getting there).

The second major event this week was Class B began flipping as well. With the exception of the large number of students who don't have access to a computer, they did very well! The kids who couldn't view the videos at home came in as soon as they got off the bus & watched them. I felt like I was finally starting to be able to do the flipped classroom as intended!

Finally, posting my videos online has been a bit of a struggle because they always showed up very small, and they took a long time to load. I have been using i-movie to create the videos, then turning that into a quicktime movie & posting it on our class edmodo site. I had a member of my P.L.N. suggest that I use schooltube, and it has been working great! The videos have been loading faster (although our old student computers keep them from loading as quickly as I'd like), and the kids can enlarge as much as they need too.

I want to end with my highlight of the week: I was walking around helping kids with their homework when I noticed that a student (who already had the video & notes done at home) was watching the video again. I asked her why she was watching it again (curiosity got the best of me), and she replied, "I forgot how to find the perimeter, so I thought I'd watch it again to help remind me". I almost did a happy dance right then and there!

Week 2 - Getting Ready for our First Test

2011-10-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

This week I was approached by our school principal to do a presentation at our monthly school board meeting on my flipped classroom. Of course, I agreed to, but I am a bit apprehensive about the whole presentation because I don't feel like I have been able to get everything running as smoothly as I'd like to.

Why not??? The real power of a flipped classroom comes from the students being able to get help on the homework . . . in class. This week I haven't been able to do that because I am constantly trouble shooting technology issues. The video didn't load, or the kids didn't have time to watch it. If they are spending their class time watching the video, then how is that any different than the traditional way of teaching? There in lies my frustration! This week I have our school curriculum night & I am hoping to get more parents to understand the value of the flipped classroom, and encourage their child to get on the computer and do their homework.

Now that I got my frustration out of the way, I will say this, the dynamic between the two different classes has been quite interesting this week. Both classes are on our math edmodo site (an aside - edmodo is the platform I am using the post videos and classroom discussions . . . it is awesome, and if you haven't used it with your classroom, you should check it out). The other 5th grade class has noticed all the videos and are wondering why they can't watch them. I let them know about what I was doing with my group, and they were a bit jealous. This weekend the student's homework is to study for their first test (coming up on Monday). I let both groups know that they could watch the videos as a review - in case they didn't understand something. The other 5th grade class was pretty excited about that. We'll have to wait and see whether they actually used them or not.

Next week I'll have the results from the "real" first test.

The First Week - Struggle and Success

2011-09-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today marks the one week anniversary of the start of my flipped classroom. As mentioned in last week's post, I spent Friday's lesson showing a sample video lecture and modeling how to write and respond in our journals. I then sent the kids home for the weekend, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.

I (being a glass-half-full kind of girl) came to school Monday hoping for my students to be super excited about how much they love the new way we are doing math. Did I get some of that? Yes! However, I also (being a realistic girl) expected to run in to some issues with students who couldn't access the video because they didn't have access to the Internet. Did I get some of that, too? You betcha.

My First Week Struggles
I found that almost 10 of my 30 students were unable to view the video (mostly because they couldn't get on the Internet. I needed to do some quick problem solving & I decided to show the video on our projector screen for those who couldn't view it at home. This worked okay but I don't want it to be a long term solution for a variety of reasons. For starters, it limits the amount of time the students have to practice their skills with me around to help them. In addition, part of the power of watching the videos at home is that the students can rewind and pause if necessary. That isn't as likely to happen if a group of students are watching at the same time (it is also a lot easier to get distracted when there is a group viewing the video).

In addition to not having computer access at home, we were also limited as to how much computer lab time we could use this week. Throughout last week and the upcoming week, our school is giving the MAP test, which is a computerized adaptive test. I mention this only because it explains why I couldn't take my students down to the computer lab. After next week, I will be teaching my math class from the computer lab. I am hopeful that will help ease some of the technology issues as well.

My First Week Successes
Even though I became easily frustrated with the computer issues, my students were relatively unphased. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I had the computer lab at the end of the day, and luckily there were no MAP tests being given at that time. Therefore, I was able to get all students an opportunity to view the videos and then work on their "homework" the next day in class. While the technology is one of the many things that can help or hinder the success of a flipped classroom, that is not what made the biggest impression on me this week. This week my successes were all about the feedback I was getting from students. I took some time to write a few of those quotes and experiences down so I could be sure to share them:

"Mrs. Bush, this is awesome! I would have totally been stuck at home, but you could help me right away and now I get it!"

"I really like this Mrs. Bush, now I don't have to worry about waiting for my parents to be home to help me."

"You know what, I totally didn't get it the first time you showed me, but I rewound it, watched again, and I think I get it now!"

Even with all those wonderful things being said, I think my biggest highlight of the week came on Thursday when the students were working in class on their homework. I was working one-on-one with a student who was confused and I happened to look up and see a group of kids working in my side room. I wasn't sure exactly what they were doing, so I walked quietly over and eavesdropped. What I heard made all the issues worth it. Two girls were working a few problems on the board & explaining how to solve them to another student (these were problems beyond the regular homework). They were teaching him, and he was actually getting it! It makes me feel all warm & fuzzy just thinking about it ;-)

This week the students will be taking their test on our first unit...I will hopefully have some data when I post next week.

Day 1 - Let the fun begin!

2011-09-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

My school has two sections of 5th grade, and I have the pleasure of teaching math to both sections. Since this is my first attempt at a flipped classroom, I would like to gather some data to show to parents who may be skeptical of the idea. Therefore, for our first unit of study I plan on using the flipped model for my class and the traditional model for the other 5th grade class.

Friday marked my first attempt with my students. My first section of math I used all my best teaching skills while giving direct instruction. Side note: I want this experiment to be a fair measurement of what works, so I absolutely will not compromise those students chances for success by giving poor direct instruction just so my flipped class will have a better showing. The lesson went quite smoothly & the kids picked up on the content pretty well. I'll be checking their homework on Monday to see if they were able to apply what they learned.

With my second section of math I showed the video I had posted on our classroom edmodo site. We watched the video together (which, by the way, is very uncomfortable to do when you are sitting there listening to yourself). I showed them how I expected them to take notes in their journal, etc. Then I assigned the next lesson's video as homework over the weekend.

I am a pretty organized and efficient person, but I had yet to video tape the 2nd lesson (due to a number of technology issues that arose), but I told the students not to worry, it would be posted by 5:00 Friday evening. By 5:00, when I posted the video, I had over 5 students already on our edmodo site waiting for me to post the video. I realize that this is something totally new, and that the excitement might wear off soon, but it was quite encouraging to me. What was even more encouraging was that a few students posted a question about the video, and other students answered it...not me! How awesome is that!

I look forward to Monday & seeing how many students were able to complete the homework, and how many didn't. There are a few potential issues that I can already see coming up...What happens if the student doesn't have internet access? What happens if a student doesn't watch the video? Will parents support this? These are all valid issues that I hope to address with this blog.

What is a flipped classroom?

2011-09-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

One of my passions in education is using technology to make curriculum come alive for students. This summer my principal (knowing my interest in technology) mentioned the idea of a flipped classroom. I hadn't heard of it, but decided to check out the video he e-mailed me on 2 teachers in Colorado who changed the way they taught. Instead of giving direct instruction during school, and assigning practice to be done at home, they flipped it. Now they video their direct instruction & the students watch that at home for homework. When they come to class, they get an opportunity to practice. Notice that the practicing happens at school, when a teacher is now readily available to help them if they get stuck.

I was hooked after watching the first video & spent the next several weeks researching flipped classrooms, joining PLN's about flipped classrooms, and trying to figure out how/if I could make it work in my 5th grade class. This blog is going to share my journey of flipping my 5th grade math class.