Back to the Classroom –
Taking It Beyond the Content
Okay
so now you have library of digital resources to provide
content for your
students.
Now What???
You
have all of the support mechanisms in line to make sure every student has
access to the tools necessary to watch those resources. The administrators have been pacified,
parents have been appeased and the students know what’s happening.
Now it
hits you, what happens next in your classroom?
What do you do with all this class time since you don’t need to lecture
anymore? You have all these short
demonstrations that you have squeezed into lecture time. Your labs have all
been cut down to 30 minutes to fit them in with all the content you had to
cover. And on top of that you have to
begin adopting the new standards format set forth by the Next Generation
Science Standards. What happens after the video?
There
is no one model for the flipped classroom.
Each educator must choose the model that best suits the environment of
their classroom, the needs of their students and the, outcomes expected from
their specific class, course, department, school and district.
In
order to maximize the learning potential of the students, the classroom must be
an environment that safe and comfortable for both the educator and the student.
The
nature of your classroom model is only limited by your imagination and energy.
While
no one model is best, most teachers find that adopting parts of several of the
classroom teaching models work best depending upon the nature of the course,
subject, topic and learning goals associated with that classroom
Four
basic models of the flipped classroom include:
·
Traditional
Flipped Model
·
Inquiry
Based Approach
·
The
Flipped Mastery Approach
·
Project
Based Learning
Traditional Flipped Model
This
is a good place to begin for most teachers.
Educators
provide access to learning resources in the class and take the role of “Guide
on the Side” as students work in peer groups to apply, teach, learn, unlearn
and relearn.
Students
are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning process.
Inquiry Based Approach
Students
learn to take ownership of their own learning by searching for answers about
their own questions. Students can work
independently or in groups to conduct the inquiry process. Students are encouraged to follow the steps
of the scientific method in this approach:
·
State
the Problem
·
Research
the Concept
·
Form a
Hypothesis
·
Test
the Hypothesis,
·
Gather
and Process Data
·
Form
Conclusions
·
Present
the Work
Flipped Mastery Approach
This model allows the
educator to truly become the “Guide on the Side” as this is a self-directed
learning model where students work at their own pace to gain mastery of a
concept before moving on to the next topic.
Students can work independently or in peer group teams. Educators monitor student progress and
encourage students to maximize their potential.
This model provides the
best opportunity for differentiation in the classroom. The accelerated learner can move through the
material quickly and provide opportunities to explore content beyond the
framework objectives. Students who
process at varying levels can achieve the framework objectives at their own
pace and using a variety of digital content and assessment modes. Students who find passion in specific topics
can spend extra time and dig deeper into the content material in order to
satisfy intellectual curiosity.
Project Based Learning
Using
real-world problems to inspire students to apply content to the solution,
students use critical thinking and problem solving to create solutions. Learning objectives go beyond the
understanding of the content but are dependent upon the application of the
knowledge in some concrete demonstration.
Students are encouraged to create self- assessment and feedback loops to
monitor their progress and the ultimate success of their project outcome. This model encourages students to develop the
21st century skills necessary to enter the job market of their
future.
