Can't we all just get along?

If you are a reader of this blog you know that I run the Flipped Classroom.  Lately, this model of instruction has come under fire from a number of people in the education world because of a narrow view of what they see the Flipped Classroom really doing.

Here is what happens in my classes throughout the year:

http://goo.gl/3IGqy

1.  Video instruction
2.  Direct instruction
3.  Group work
4.  Inquiry and problem-based lab assignments
5.  Traditional worksheets and HW
6.  Collaboration on nearly all assignments
7.  Alternative assessments
8.  Traditional Tests
9.  1:1 instruction with the teacher
10.  Peer instruction almost daily

Do all of these happen every day?  No way.  I transition my students so that by the end of the year nearly every one of them happens in every unit.

The problem that a lot of people have with the Flipped Classroom is, to take a mass media perspective, 'the teacher lessons are recorded on video, which is watched at home, and homework is done in class instead.'  While this does happen, this is the most elementary view of this model.  Most of us who have been using FC for more than a year have adopted a large number of alternative methods to use for both instruction and assessment, and are insulted when what we do is boiled down to the above sentence.

But what has been really bothering me is the fact that so many refuse to even see the Flipped Classroom for what it CAN be: a better use of face-to-face time with the students.  This system doesn't work well for every kid.  But, guess what?  No system does!

There are teachers who are absolutely amazing lecturers.  Decades of teaching have given them an amazing presence in the classroom and their lessons are mesmerizing.  But many students don't connect on a personal level because they limits student engagement.  I have seen teachers whose students score 4s and 5s on the AP exams year after year, but who hate the subject matter when they leave in June.

Here's my point:  I don't care what method you use (UbD, POGIL, PBL, or pure traditional), if you are doing what is best for YOUR students then you are ok in my book.  But, don't assume that your way is the only way or even the best way.  Be open to new ideas and be willing to accept others for doing it differently.

For more information, here are a couple of great links that show that the Flipped Classroom can't be summed up in a simple definition:
15 Schools Using the Flipped Classroom
Flipped Classrooms:  Let's Change the Discussion
The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con

Is this pushing it?

About a month ago, Brian Bennett (@bennettscience) mentioned that he was going to be using students blogs in his science classroom.  I was a little surprised by this (only a little as Brian is extremely innovative and is flipped classroom trainer) because all of the talk I have seen thus far has been about student blogs in Social Studies or English (or some other humanities-type course).  Little is really being done in math and science from what I have seen.  I had messaged Brian about it because I would like to bring some of this to my chemistry class.  Unfortunately Brian is not doing it in chemistry so I couldn't see any student products.

But it got me thinking:  There is a big push with Common Core Standards to bring a greater amount of literacy into every classroom, couldn't a blog help me reach that goal?  But the problem remained, how do I put all of those fancy symbols, subscripts and ion charges onto the blog without all of the necessary format features?  

Why this idea didn't hit me sooner, I have no idea.  I decided to type a chemical reaction into Word, make the necessary formatting changes and copy/paste it into the blog like this:

CH₄   +   2O₂   à  CO₂   +   2H₂O

And suddenly, I can now have my students create electronic lab notebooks entirely on a blog.  Oh yeah, and it's free.

Now when colleges ask students to demonstrate the lab work they have done in their science class, the students can show them the blog.  Not only will they be reading and writing more, they are not limited to the small space on the back of the lab sheet.  They can write longer entries to better explain their observations and deductions which improves not only their overall literacy, but their science vocabulary as well.  And from a grading standpoint, I would much rather take my laptop home every day than lug huge stacks of papers in my bag.  

It is also has the added benefit of reducing paper as my students won't need to add page after page of conclusions to the lab sheet I gave in class.  I can actually print 1 lab sheet per station for the lab, post the electronic document to my website, and the kids can copy/paste from there to their blog in order to answer the questions.  I might have stumbled upon something here.

I would love to hear thoughts and suggestions on this idea.