10 TEDs to Create a Learning Environment for Your Classroom

10 TEDs to Create a Learning Environment for Your Classroom

It is my humble opinion that the number one key to the success of a "Learning Classroom" is the development of a classroom environment that values learning over the accumulation of grades.  Creating a community of learning that we all benefit when we all participate in the process of gaining knowledge.   While this may seem "utopian", there is an actual joy that comes about in students who lose the the stress of being defined by a letter.  

I use these TED's in my classroom and as home viewing content to assist in the development of that learning environment for the students entrusted to my care.  

Back to the Classroom – Taking It Beyond the Content

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 21^st century skills necessary to enter the job market of their future.  

  

Whiteboarding

Whiteboarding

White Boards provide an opportunity for students to engage in collaborative learning, clear communication and to reinforce their learning by teaching each other.  

The white boards are large enough for two students to work simultaneously on a problem.  

Teachers can easily view the work and use the process as formative assessment. 

Students can share their work in small groups or display to the entire class. 

Planning Flipped Video Lessons

Planning the Video Lessons

Key points to address while planning and organizing of your videos.

Introduction -  Introduce the puropose of the video.  Identify the concept and create a connection to previous knowledge if necessary.

Objectives -  Identify 1 or 2 objectives or standards that will be addressed in the video.  Whenever possible list Common Core or State Standards or Next Generation Science Standards met by the concepts in the video.

Overview -  Provide a brief explanation of the concept that will be modeled in the lesson.  Include new vocabulary, skills necessary and other related materials.

Examples -  Model concept providing as many examples as possible.  Keep in mind lesson link.  If necessary make more than one video to provide additional examples and solutions.

Self Assess – Provide opportunities troughout the lesson for students to check their understanding.  Encourage students to pause the lesson in order to answer questions, think about the concept or complete a sample problem.

Going Further – Provide opportunities for students to continue to explore the concept through additional sample problems, further research, articles, websites or additional videos to add to the knowledge base.  Add higher order questions to  help students synthesize the content into a knowledge base that can transition back to the classroom.

Closure – Bring the  lesson to a close by revisiting the objectives or standards that were demonstrated in the video lesson.  There is no need to summarize or repeat the key concepts as this will only increase video time.  Students always have the option to re-watch any part of the video as many times as may be necessary.

 The more organized and prepared you are, the less re-takes and editing you will have to do later.

The editing process can deplete your energy and waste

your valuable time.

Creating Accountability in the Flipped Classroom

Creating Accountability in the Flipped Classroom

How do I make the students watch the videos?

The flipped learning model is not a silver bullet and there will still be students who do not do the homework.  There is no magic elixir or special potion that can be used to solve this problem.  There will be problems with the internet.   Mom and Dad will be using the computer.   Viruses will attack.  And of course dogs will eat hard drives. Like anything else when it comes to education it all comes down to who will be held accountable and how will that be accomplished.

The best way to approach accountability in the classroom; is to create a student centered environment where the students have both control and ownership of their learning.  Develop an attitude that learning is a process to be valued not for the grade achieved but for the knowledge gained.  Impress upon students that learning is the one skill that is guaranteed to be part of their life for the rest of their life.

BER Flipped Classroom presenter Corey Papastathis uses the concept of CANT to develop this accountability with his students.   

C - Choice  (videos and assessment)

A - Accountability

N - No Excuses

T - Three Before Me

C – Choice

Provide choices for the students to meet their responsibilities for learning.  Options in the videos they watch, the articles they read or the media used to acquire knowledge.  Provide a bank of options for students to utilize and encourage them to explore other options on their own. 

Provide choices in the methods used to demonstrate their understanding of the content and ways the standards have been achieved.  Assessment opportunities should be both formative and summative and demand that students be capable of dealing with higher order thinking.

In providing students with choices, they can take ownership of the process and mean by which they learn.

A – Accountability

Educators must hold students accountable for the information and content delivered outside of class.  Students must produce something that demonstrates their completion of the task.  The danger is when educators fall back on lower order questioning students can simply borrow answers from their peers without actually completing the expected learning process.

Examples could include: developing questions for the next class review of the material, creating or responding to a blog post on the content, presenting further research on the topic, developing a lesson for the class, teaching a peer, what they learned.

Gary Philips of the National School Improvement Project, found in his research on what the brain remembers thirty days after what we have been taught.  His findings demonstrated that we remember 92% of what we have taught someone else.  Peer to peer teaching is the most effective method of solidifying understanding and synthesizing material in long-term memory.

Louis Mangione – “Dynamic Teaching in the Block Schedule”

N – No Excuses

To create an environment of accountability there must be no exceptions to the expectations. Each student must be held accountable. There must be an understanding that each student has a responsibility to themselves and to their classmates to be prepared with the content knowledge necessary for the entire class to succeed.  That is coming unprepared students are not only cheating themselves but they cheat their lab partners and the entire class by not being able to participate fully in the class.

However, educators must provide students with ample opportunities and choice to be successful.  Students must have a variety of media and other sources available to attain the content knowledge.  Options must be available that serve each students needs, whether that be offering time outside of class to view videos before or after school, in the library.  Are videos burned to DVD’s for students to watch through DVD players or zip drives made available for students without internet connections at home.

The No Excuses mantra does not only extend to the students but also to the educator as a teacher facilitator. 

T – Three Before Me

Students must take charge of their own learning by developing the skills necessary to problem solve and move forward when a rough patch comes along.  Therefore the rule must be check three resources for possible solutions before asking the teacher.  Students can ask each other, read the text, check their notes, review the media, watch an additional video etc… etc….  Students must build an attitude of self-advocacy, and responsibility for their learning. 

The teacher facilitator must in turn take an authentic role as the “guide on the side”.  Do not provide the easy out for the student.  It may be easier to just move them along, but this is a disservice to the process of learning.  It cripples the student as they try to take of their own the process of learning.