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Flipping the Classroom Blog

This blog recaps the experiences of two high school teachers and LTF Trainers, Melissa Parma and Robert Gonzales, as they implement the flipped classroom model of teaching. Middle school and high school teachers across the United States can benefit from the strategies that Parma and Gonzales use in their classrooms and present here. Please join the conversation and let us know your thoughts.

 

Melissa: Results


Just a quick note to say that...

Whew!  It is working!  :)

Summary: 

All students answered all questions on the test.  Before, a small number of students would leave a lot of questions untouched.  

Mistakes made are mostly small computational errors rather than large conceptual misunderstandings.  When the students corrected their tests, the process went much more smoothly.  This is likely because they are more comfortable consulting with peers now, they are more comfortable asking me for help, and they didn't have huge mistakes to correct.  

Overall, scores are better than they were with the old teaching model.  There are no huge gains and we aren't where I'm aiming yet, but I'm pleased because I can tell from their work that they are learning more.  

Cool thing:  I had them do the LTF Alg 1 lesson, "Exponential Functions Exploration" during that unit, and the students NAILED the questions about exponential functions that were on the test. In the future, the only thing I would change about the lesson is to have them draw the lines that "cut" the sheet down to size instead of actually cutting the page.  And that's just so they could use the same sheet (front for #1 and back for #2) for both explorations.  

Anyway, now I'm wondering if I should try some kind of pre-test + post-test approach.  Then again, the last thing my students need is more tests!  Off to make a new video....

Posted by: Melissa Parma on 2/14/2012
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Contributors


Melissa Parma has taught in public high schools in Texas and California for 28 years. A native Texan, she graduated from Rice University and did her graduate work in education at Cal State, Los Angeles. With rare exceptions, her teaching assignments have always been either mathematics or physics or both. She is an LTF Math Trainer and manages the online LTF Math Forum, and she currently teaches at an Early College High School in New Braunfels, Texas.


Robert Gonzales is a graduate of the UTeach Program at UT Austin. He has worked in Austin ISD for nine years, taking two years out of the chemistry classroom to be a department chair and instructional coach. He currently teaches chemistry in the Academy for Global Studies, a small learning community within Austin High School affiliated with the Asia Society as part of the International Studies School Network. Gonzales is an LTF Chemistry Trainer.

Recent Comments

"Melissa, Thanks for the Ted-Ed link. I am going to explore that more thoroughly in some hotel room this summer. I'm not sure if I'll use the website directly because YouTube is blocked on my campus for students, but I think it could generate some awesome ideas. I love your post because we are in the opposite position. I think I have a better sense of the forest than I do the trees. I'm still figuring out what hashtags are for! ;) #huh? We'll make a great team for our presentation this summer!" Read more
by Robert Gonzales on Melissa: End of Year Thoughts

"Yes, I think they're on board now. Today I showed them how a flipped classroom without video support would look--lots of pulling info from the textbook--and they are begging for the videos. Had to do something because too many were counting on their peers to have watched carefully. :)" Read more
by Melissa Parma on Melissa: Tweaking the Model

"This is amazing! Are the students finding that they prefer this style so that they do have the time to work on the problems in class with help?" Read more
by D Young on Melissa: Tweaking the Model

"That's amazing! Technology can be such an amazing tool in helping kids learn. Maybe you and your students can use your new iPads to check out our weekly math problems (www.mathcounts.org) to solve in the classroom or submit some student videos of your own! " Read more
by MathCounts on Robert - Taking Stock; Finding the Right Solutions

"Looks like we are on the same page! My proposal to get 16 iPads in my classroom was approved. We will be using some screencasting apps to make student videos later in the semester. Stay tuned!" Read more
by Robert Gonzales on Robert - Taking Stock; Finding the Right Solutions

"Engaging students with technology can be a great way to connect students to the lessons, and creating video content for the classroom is an excellent way of doing that! As a non-profit, we are always looking for new ways to excite kids about math and have seen the positive impact of using videos as a teaching tool. The student-created math videos are educational and fun. Maybe your classroom will be the next to get involved in creating content! " Read more
by mathcounts on Robert - Taking Stock; Finding the Right Solutions

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