Awesome #2

I thought since my first Awesome post was about things non-education related, that I should jump back and talk about a couple of things my students do that feel awesome.

#3  When former students come to visit
I love it when graduates come back to visit, even if it is students I was not particularly close to.  It is amazing the transformation they go through in the 1st year of college.  Last week some of my former students showed up randomly and one ended up spending nearly 2 hours just chatting with me during my classes.  He is not really that different than when he left, but his confidence level is so much higher.  He just went on and on about the different things he was doing, the people he was meeting and even the places he was traveling to.  I was only his teacher for 1 year, but I am proud of the man he is becoming.

#4  When a plan comes together
One of the philosophies of the Flipped Classroom is to increase peer teaching to allow the teacher more interaction with all members of the class.  In my classes, there is much more collaboration than there is peer teaching.  But, in one class I have three guys who just fight with each other over who has the right answer.  And when I say fight, I mean disrupt the entire class as they argue back and forth as to who has the best method for solving the problem.  Normally, you need to squash this kind of behavior, but after the argument they sit down and explain the solution to each other.  It is so amazing to watch this sudden shift from combatants to teacher to combatants again.  I love it when a plan comes together.

An unexpected benefit

I have been using the Flipped Classroom for several months now and I have found tons of positive aspects to it.

• my students feel more relaxed in class as they are learning the material
• the pace of learning is completely student driven.  If they want to work on chemistry they do; if they need to study for something else, they do that instead. (has been great for the students are are also taking AP Exams this week)
• everything is done collaboratively.  None of my students are islands and they all seek out each other when they are struggling rather than always turning to me.
• labs are more spread out so I can focus my attention on the few students performing the lab rather than managing an entire class at once.
• more interaction with all of my students because I am not lecturing anymore.

These are things that most people who have done the flip have said.  But something happened recently that I didn't fully expect and it shows one of the other benefits of this design.  I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia on Monday and the doctor prescribed 2 days of rest, along with a host of antibiotics.  Unfortunately, my appointment was at 3:30 in the afternoon.  I had no sub plans for the next two days because I was fully planning on being in school when I left on Monday.  Now, most teachers panic in a situation like this because how are they going to continue instruction, give the students meaningful material AND keep pace with the curriculum so close to the end of the year?

The Flipped Classroom to the rescue!!  I came back after two days absence and not a minute has been lost in my class.  Students had been watching podcasts and completing work just as if I was in class.  The only exception was they were not able to ask questions while I was gone so I got bombarded at the beginning of class (why don't they ever use their email?!).  Learning takes place on the students' schedules not the teachers in the Flipped Classroom.  The fact that learning still took place when I wasn't there demonstrates on the focus has shifted in the room.