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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: End of Year Thoughts

Ever since the TED-Ed release and announcement, there has been another flurry of blog posts and articles on the web about flipped learning.  One, a challenge to the process, is at TeachPaperless, and, as often is the case, the comment section is where the real action lies!  A nice summary of articles and posts appears at eSchoolNews.  I signed up to view the virtual version of the 2012 Flipped Conference in June, and I've made a summer "to-do" list similar to Crystal Kirch's!  

Meanwhile, we're down to just a couple more weeks of class; our end-of-course exams were today.  My students re-viewed the videos to prep for the test, and the feedback was that my tests were harder than the state's!  We're going to spend the rest of the year doing science to appease the former physics teacher that I am: letting a pendulum swing, measuring a stretched spring, getting some quadratic models for objects videotaped in projectile motion. 

As the school year comes to a close, I'm working to form a "forest" view of how to use flipping next year.  I feel like I understand the trees now, but the big picture, organizationally, is my summer challenge.  I do love that the whole movement, beginning with Bergmann and Sams, has been teacher-driven.  It respects the differences in teaching styles and the myriad ways in which flipping is implemented. I am convinced that flipping some lessons, some units, some projects--whatever the "chunk" is that you choose--can challenge students to step up to take more responsibility for their learning, can personalize that learning, and can support students and provide better formative assessment of their progress in the classroom.  

Have a great summer!

Posted by: Melissa Parma on 5/8/2012
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1 Comment

    • May 10 2012, 2:18 PM Robert Gonzales
    • 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!
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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.

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Recent Comments

"Robert I am extremely interested in this concept and would really like to see examples of this, can you post a link to your Weebly? Also in reference to a forum for your students why not a closed group on fb? You can monitors it as the administrator of it. This might be to simple for you but I take pictures of problems I've worked or answers to a study guide and then post them on my class fb. It works for me and my kids love it. " Read more
by Christy Hames on Robert - Musings in May

"Now I know what you meant about the audio files! You did a great job with your flipping presentation this evening, and I appreciate getting to tag along. " Read more
by Melissa Parma on Robert - Musings in May

"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