Take aways from #miflip

This weekend I had the privilege to help plan/host/present at a conference that is all about flipped classrooms.  The conference was on a Saturday...in the middle of January...for free.  Did I mention that almost 150 teachers showed up!  Crazy!  I wanted to share a few of my take-aways from the conference:

#1 Brian Bennett (@bennettscience) is an excellent keynote speaker!  He managed to weave an elephant into his keynote and leave everyone motivated and excited.

#2 Karl (@kls4711) has an infectious laugh, and I am pretty sure he was the life of the party in college.

#3 There are some AMAZING teachers in Michigan!

#4 I got to meet Erin Klein...enough said.

#5 I got to present with Brian Bennett...enough said.

#6 Most importantly, this is what PD needs to be.  We managed to weave some directed sessions (where attendees had a choice of where they wanted to go) and Edcamp sessions (where teachers signed up for what they were interested in talking/learning about) together.  Everyone left energized and motivated.

So I ask the question...why?  Why can't district PD be like this?  It was useful, energizing, and dare I say it...fun!

I hope that I am asked to help again next year...if there is a next year.  What do you think, was it worth your while?

I'll wrap up this post with some of my favorite tweets of the day.

COflipalicious

I have a confession to make...I have become a Twitter stalker.  A few months back I saw a lot of teachers that I have mad respect for start throwing around the #coflip hashtag.  I figured I missed some relevant discussion that talked about what #coflip was, but after looking back, I couldn't find anything...that was where my stalking began.

For weeks, I kept seeing #co-this and #co-that with no explanation.  Finally, in a moment of weakness I finally asked.  WTF is #coflip!  As it turns out, #coflip represents collaboration...amongst teachers...without fear of being judged, laughed at, or made to feel inadequate.

To me, collaboration has always been an important part of my teaching.  I've never been the teacher to shut my door, and I certainly don't have a problem sharing my ideas and input, so the idea of collaboration amongst teachers isn't anything new to me.  That being said, after reading Andrew Thomasson's post about a little project we've been working on, I gained some new perspective.  He mentions 3 reasons teachers are afraid to collaborate.  The first 2 aren't me, per se, but the 3rd I have certainly experienced.  He talks about being afraid to collaborate because you're afraid your ideas aren't good enough.  I think that for rookie teachers, this certainly has a ring of truth.  I felt that as a rookie flipper...still do at times.

One of the best choices I've made, however, is not letting that self-consciousness stop me from reaching out to others.  I freely admit that I don't have everything figured out...and I probably won't anytime soon.  What I do know is that by collaborating with other teachers (my flipping partner and my tweeps), I have become a better teacher...no doubt about it.

MIFlip 2013...BE THERE!

For the past few months, I have had the pleasure of helping plan the first ever Michigan Flipteaching Conference with a number of other Michigan teachers (and one from Cali...thanks Karl).  I realized this week 2 things:

1)  I haven't blogged about it yet.

2)  It's only 2 weeks away...yikes!

So here is what I can tell you so far.  The conference is going to be held on January 19th from 9:00 - 3:00 at Byron Center High School.  It is also 100% FREE!

The day will start out with a keynote from Brian Bennett (who, as an aside, I'm very excited to meet f2f).  After that, we'll have 4 different sessions.

Session 1 - This session will be a little more guided, with topics you can choose from that range from PBL to flipped class 101 to flipped class for veteran teachers, etc.

Session 2 - This session will be EdCamp style, where we'll be getting topics from the participants...so if you're coming, bring some ideas with you ;)  If you're not familiar with the EdCamp format, check out this short video from EdCamp Philly.

Session 3 - This will follow the same format as session 2...EdCamp style

Session 4 - For our final session we thought we'd do another session of "topics" you can choose from.  These will all be content specific.  I'll be talking flipped classroom from an elementary perspective, but there will be math, science, social studies, english and even administration covered in the last session.

To wrap up the day, we'll hand out some door prizes, give away some swag, etc.

In addition to the sessions that will be running all day, Techsmith will also be available to help with screencasting.

All-in-all it is going to be a most excellent day of learning & fun, so if you're in Michigan on January 19th, please join us!

To register, or for more information, please check out our website:  http://miflip.wordpress.com/

Also...spread the word!  We want to make our first MIFlip Conference a success!

Wake up call

A funny thing happened to me before I left for winter break that I want to share.  To start off, I need to give you a little background information.  

My class has been blogging with two other 5th grade classes about flipped math (I've already posted about that).  One of those classes is located in New Jersey, and they were hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy.  My class was concerned, and wanted to do something about it.  They decided to sell carnations at our music concert to raise money for some of the families that were impacted by the hurricane.  We were able to purchase $300 worth of gift cards for those families...but that's not the point of this post.  I want to tell you what happened after we sent the gift cards to the families.

The teacher in New Jersey (John Fritzky) tweeted to me because he wanted to surprise my students with pizza as a thank-you.  We chatted back & forth about where he should order from, and what time it should arrive.  We decided to have it delivered after 2nd recess as a snack.  My students were THRILLED, and completely surprised, after all that's not why they raised the money...but that is still not the point of this post.

At the end of the day we have "guided academics" which is basically RtI for math.  One of our RtI teachers (Mrs. Greemann) came down during the pizza hoopla & was talking with her group of kids.  Their conversation is the point of this post...prepare yourself, because it's funny and a little sad at the same time.  Their conversation went a little like this:

Mrs. Greemann:  Where did the pizza come from?

Student 1:  A school in New Jersey sent it to us.

Mrs. Greemann:  All the way from New Jersey?

Student 1: Yup, they mailed it all the way from New Jersey.

Yes...he really thought that the pizza was mailed to us.

Student 2: No, they didn't mail it from New Jersey, it'd be all messy...they drove it here.

Yes...he really thought that they drove the pizza here all the way from New Jersey.

At this point Mrs. Greemann is trying (with much difficulty) not to laugh.

Student 3:  Don't be dumb, they didn't drive all the way from New Jersey!  They called a pizza place here & they delivered it.

Thank goodness, right?  At least someone gets it!  WRONG.

Student 1:  Oh yeah, if they called & ordered it, then how did they pay?

Student 3:  They just put some cash in an envelope & mailed it to them.

Needless to say, Mrs. Greemann scrapped her planned lesson & they talked through how someone from New Jersey could buy pizza for someone in Michigan.

I've had a few weeks to think about this conversation, and I continue to be amazed at the lack of real world understanding the students have.  It also reaffirms my belief that I need to continue making the student's learning applicable to the real world.  

Who would have thought that a nice gesture, like buying pizza for someone, could turn into a lesson in economics :)

There are no words

Positive Publicity Makes for a Long and Exciting Week

Last week was one of the longest weeks of all time.  It started out normal enough on Monday, but Tuesday turned into something altogether different.

For this all to make sense, I need to give a little background information.  My class has partnered up with a class in New Jersey (taught by John Fritzky) and a class in Texas (taught by Todd Nesloney).  We have been attempting to have the kids in our classes blog with each other about math (as we are all currently flipping).  We barely had one post under our belts when Hurricane Sandy struck.  The hurricane hit New Jersey pretty hard, and Mr. Fritzky's school was powerless for 2 weeks.  They ended getting back to school in a week & a half, but in a different building.  Needless to say, our blogging got put on hold.  As often happens when something devastating occurs, the good in people starts to come shining through.  In this case, the good came from my students.  As we were watching CNN throughout the week, and seeing the photos of New Jersey, my students first reaction was concern for their buddies in Jersey!

"Mrs. Bush, are they ok?"  
"Mrs. Bush, have you talked to Mr. Fritzky yet?"  
"Mrs. Bush, how are they handling not having power?"

And on, and on, and on...But the most powerful comment came from one of my quiet kids...

"Mrs. Bush, what can we do for them?"

I know, goosebumps, right?!? This made my heart happy, and I knew we needed to plan something, but we weren't sure what.  Then our music teacher mentioned that our music concert was coming up early in December.  We decided that we would sell carnations, and have all the proceeds go to the families in Mr. Fritzky's class.

I contacted a local flower shop, and they came through...BIG TIME!  Alpine Floral donated over 350 carnations to our class.

Fast forward to Tuesday.  My students were wired all day, looking forward to the concert and the carnation sale...but it was a good wired :)  About 10 minutes before the bell rang, the office called and informed me that a reporter from our local paper was wondering if he could talk to me for a few minutes after school.  This was the same reporter who interviewed me last year about my flipped classroom, so I figured it was just a follow up.  I walked the kids out & came back to talk to the reporter.  He noticed my room was in shambles (we'd been making posters and buckets for donations).  I told what we were doing.  He was impressed.  We then spent the next hour and a half talking about the flipped classroom.

I had to take off, at that point, and get to the music concert, we had some flowers to sell!  I had students beat me there (and I was plenty early).  Throughout the lower elementary concert, my students sold well over half the flowers.  We sold out by the end of the upper elementary concert.  At some point in the evening, the reporter showed up: he snapped a few pictures, chatted with the kids, then took off.

Once I finally got home (8:30...still hadn't had dinner), I was oddly energized.  My kids did amazing, and we made over $350.  Our next step is going to the store, getting some gift cards & sending them out to Jersey!

My hope is that I can actually bring some of my kids to the store with me, but I'm not sure if the logistics will work out or not.

So are you wondering about the article yet?  I expected that I would get a small article...I was not expecting this:

Kenowa Hills Teacher Becoming Expert in "Flipped Classroom" Concept

I don't really know how I feel about this article.  It's really nice and very complimentary, I think I just have a difficult time patting myself on the back.  And I certainly don't feel like and expert.  None-the-less, it is still reassuring to get some positive press right now.

As I mentioned, this all happened on Tuesday...which felt like a Friday...which made the week take forever!  As exhausting as the whole experience was, I would do it again in a second.

Some days I love my job.

Tightening up the reigns...to some degree

A few weeks ago I was venting here about my students not getting their work done, and I posed the question, "Do my students have too much freedom?"  I decided the answer was, yes...and no!  It totally depends on the kid (as is true in every classroom, huh).  So here is the solution I came up with.  On Monday, the students & I went through and set up a calendar for the entire unit.  I told them they are allowed to work ahead of me, but they cannot get behind.

I love that the students have been able to quiz out of certain aspects of a unit, and it is a big point of pride for the kids who are successful in quizzing out.  I didn't want to lose that, but I wasn't sure how to make it work with the newly, more rigid schedule.  I mentioned this to the students because I'm all about being transparent, and quite frankly they have really good ideas!  Once again, I wasn't disappointed.  One child said to me, "Mrs. Bush, why don't we just skip that section and do whatever we have next?"  Another child responds, "Or we can make our student made videos during that time."  And yet another chimes in with, "Or we could help other kids."  In my head I'm thinking, oh...you mean just like I had you doing before?  DUH!

Sometimes it's easy to get stuck on the fact that if one thing isn't working, then everything needs an overhaul, and that isn't so.  In this case, my kids who are responsible & on schedule still have the same options they've always had.

And so the week began with our new plan in place.  On Monday, we all watched the first video together (it is agonizing to watch yourself on video btw).  I made the decision to watch it together b/c I thought we could all use a little refresher on what's expected when we watch the video & complete our WSQ.  Also, we had a few new students and I wanted them to get a clear idea of what is to be expected.  In addition NO ONE passed out of our first learning goal, so I knew that everyone needed to see the video.

The next day, it was magical!  Everyone had their work done (b/c we did it together), and was ready to move on (as a side note...yes I realize it was only magical b/c we did everything together in a group, but let me just bask in my moment of happiness, ok?)  I was able to get to everyone and help with a very difficult concept.  The fact that I was able to get around to everyone also helped me realize how difficult this concept was, and therefore led me to our next day's activity...angle bootcamp!

As luck would have it, on Tuesday I had some visitors in my classroom.  I was just getting ready to send the students off to work & I mentioned how they were really lucky that day because there were 3 adults in the room to help (myself, my parapro & a parent helper).  One of my students raises their hand & says "Mrs. Bush, there are a lot more than 3 adults."  At which point I turn around & see our curriculum director standing there with a consultant from Alaska.  Then in walks my superintendant with another consultant from Alaska (long story on the consultant part...but they are experts at mastery teaching helping out our district).  I took a second to introduce myself to the consultants, then I was off & running.  What I found really exciting was that they (all 4 of them) went around the classroom for 5-10 minutes talking to students.  Asking them what they were working on, how the classroom runs, how they manage their work, etc.  I don't know what the students said, but I do know that they all seemed impressed when they left...YEAH!

Of course on Wednesday there were several students who hadn't done their homework the night before.  Being a woman of my word, those students stayed in for recess that very same day to finish up their work.  By Friday they were pretty much all caught up again.  While I am NOT a fan of making kids miss all their recess, I do think they need to realize what their priorities need to be.