The Flipped Classroom

I have always enjoyed watching other educators teach.  Most of the time, it inspires me to try something new or reminds me of a teaching strategy I haven’t used in awhile.   I found the Teacher Channel (http://teachingchannel.org) to be a great resource for teachers looking for teaching strategies or ideas on a wide variety of content.  The videos I found most helpful were those pertaining to teaching math using the Common Core Standards.  Counting Collection to 100 video (https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/counting-by-ten-lesson ) gave me a great idea for my Number Sense Math Station.  This video demonstrated how a teacher distributed Ziploc bags with counters and instructed students to count the number of items in their bag.  The students would write down how many items they had in their bag and how many more they would need to make 100.   They would also explain their strategy of counting the objects, whether it be making groups of ten, or placing the items on a number-grid.  The impressive part of the video is when the students explained their thinking and strategy to the rest of the class.  This video has inspired me to try this idea during my math stations.   I am always looking for new ways students can show an understanding of numbers.  Sometimes I think too much into the stations when really they can be as simple as counting a group of objects and explaining their thinking.  Powerful learning comes from students explaining their thinking; it influences and teaches the other students a variety of different approaches when solving problems. 

Flipping my first grade classroom may look a little different than a typical “flipped classroom.”  As many teachers would have their students watch the lessons or lectures at home, I would have students watch them at school during a reading or math station time.  I especially would like to focus on using the flipped concept with my small group reading lessons.  I have a reading group who would benefit from previewing their reading book the day before their small group reading time.  I envision this working by uploading pictures from the book onto the Show Me app and then putting voice to this book by previewing the pictures and focusing on getting students to think about how the book relates to them, another text, or something they have seen before.  The video lesson could also focus on new vocabulary words or a word found consistently throughout the book.  The Show Me app will allow me to circle any focus words, underlining the words when reading, or circle different parts of the book.  By using the flipped classroom concept, I would be allowing more time in small groups for listening and working with students on reading strategies and comprehension skills.  I got this idea from exploring some of the already made Show Me Videos prepared by different teachers.  Click on the link to view the video (http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=rhYyUxU ).  The best part about using the Show Me app is it doesn’t cost anything to upload the app.

I have many ideas on how this model could benefit my students.  I just need to put my thoughts into action and see how the students respond and whether they seem to benefit from this idea of flipping the classroom.  I see the need for providing more time for student collaboration.  If this is the way to achieve that goal, then I will be doing more of this in my classroom.