The Flipped Math Classroom

[socialist]

As we prepare kids with 21st century skills, we must change the way lessons are developed, and we must change the classroom setting. Traditional things aren't needed anymore. Here is the flipped math classroom, something I will be incorporating in my classroom this fall. This is truly exciting.

https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithmrsdodge/the-flipped-classroom

[Wild Bill]

I have only one objection - the implicit assumption that parents will be active with the homework!

I DID help both my daughters when they were bogged down but other than that, I had things of my own I needed to do. Teachers seem to take parents and their available time for granted!

As I said, I had no problem helping when necessary but frankly I would have resented a teacher taking my involvement for granted. A teacher's job is to educate his or her students, NOT their parents!

As for the concept, I don't think the method is all that important. As parents we should judge by results. If our children seem to be grasping the necessary concepts of a subject to a satisfactory level then we are getting value for our tax dollars and our children are being well served.

If not, then we have the right to complain.

[hitops]

As we prepare kids with 21st century skills, we must change the way lessons are developed, and we must change the classroom setting. Traditional things aren't needed anymore. Here is the flipped math classroom, something I will be incorporating in my classroom this fall. This is truly exciting.

https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithmrsdodge/the-flipped-classroom

I liked the promised improvement in results, but my question is are the results measured the same way? In other words, does the new approach also come with a new grading system which is probably designed to validate the new system?

[socialist]

I have only one objection - the implicit assumption that parents will be active with the homework!

I DID help both my daughters when they were bogged down but other than that, I had things of my own I needed to do. Teachers seem to take parents and their available time for granted!

As I said, I had no problem helping when necessary but frankly I would have resented a teacher taking my involvement for granted. A teacher's job is to educate his or her students, NOT their parents!

As for the concept, I don't think the method is all that important. As parents we should judge by results. If our children seem to be grasping the necessary concepts of a subject to a satisfactory level then we are getting value for our tax dollars and our children are being well served.

If not, then we have the right to complain.

You have a bad attitude toward helping your own kids. It's the parents job to make sure their kids are completing homework and getting help with concepts they struggle with. This is the 21st century folks.

[Pliny]

I have looked at the assignment now just have to go over on the forum with other posters, discussing it for its pros and cons.

As for parents participation, educating is essentially the job of educators. Perhaps the flipped concept will prodcue results so that Educators are not blaming parents for the poor results we are getting now.

I spent a year with my two youngest doing homework with them for several hours each school night. I was pretty fed up with it by the time June rolled around. However, it was a good investment since teachers didn't seem to be the best educators.

They turned out to be better students than my two older kids but basically because they covered fundamentals more thoroughly during that year.

I think the flipped classroom concept may be better than the authoritarian teacher model of the traditional method.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Pliny

[Pliny]

I liked the promised improvement in results, but my question is are the results measured the same way? In other words, does the new approach also come with a new grading system which is probably designed to validate the new system?

This is an important question.

Grading used to be on the students work but teachers didn't like that so preferred more to use their judgement of how students were doing. It is often claimed that it is not scientific if something is based on anecdotal evidence or experience yet teachers seem to wish that they had the entire say on how well their students are doing. Rather contradictory in nature, is it not?

[Mighty AC]

Good idea Socialist. I've been working with the flipped model for a few years now. The concept seemed incredible when I first read about it. Hours of classroom time freed up to directly help and interact with students, what's not to like?

We've known for a long time that lecture is an ineffective method of teaching. Even though video lectures improve information uptake because they can be viewed on demand as well as paused and replayed as needed, they are still lectures. The flipped classroom is a move in the right direction but you will soon notice that it is just the first transition step to a fully student centered model.

The progression is a natural one. You start off recording your own lectures or linking to Khan Academy/You Tube/Web content and spending more time in class directly helping and formatively assessing your students. Initially your time is spent ironing out kinks in responsibility, motivation, access to technology, etc. You'll find that this model allows students to proceed at their own pace which is great but it also makes summative assessment more time consuming and difficult. At first most teachers will still force the class to write quizzes and tests at the same time as a whole group which somewhat negates the freedom to proceed at one's own pace.

Once you get comfortable you can take it a few steps further. Start with the curriculum docs and work with students to develop their own learning goals. Guide them through the process of identifying the criteria that will show they've successfully mastered the content and achieved their goals and them allow them to seek out and find the information required. We already know that in the information age creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, problem identification and solving skills are more important than any content taught in any individual class. So why not teach in a manner that forces the development of these skills in every topic?

[Mighty AC]

Once you move beyond the flipped model you'll find that even though you are not delivering a lesson everyday, you are actually doing far more work. Since you have to scaffold the entire process, providing more or less support on a group by group and concept by concept basis you will still be required to have a tonne of resources ready to be used on demand. If you do it right you will also be required to facilitate instruction well beyond the requirements of the course you're teaching. If one of the benefits of a student centered approach is allowing them to proceed at their own pace, we can't just stop them when they go beyond the reach of a particular class. We should also encourage students to explore the areas that interest them to a great depth.

In this model the more advanced level students are actually more of a challenge because they explore topics you are sometimes unfamiliar with and ask questions you've never thought of. Teachers in this model have to be comfortable not knowing everything. Model the ever so important inquiry skills by seeking and evaluating information along with them.

The student centered approach will eventually become the norm. When it does the logical next step, IMO, is to tear down the barriers between courses and grade levels.

[Wild Bill]

You have a bad attitude toward helping your own kids. It's the parents job to make sure their kids are completing homework and getting help with concepts they struggle with. This is the 21st century folks.

Well, fortunately my children rarely struggled! Both were reading before they went to school. I was reading to them every night at bedtime from before they were two years old. It didn't take long before they could read on their own. It did mean a constant supply of new books to ensure they weren't just memorizing but I had felt they were certainly worth the investment.

They also were comfortable on our home computer before they attended kindergarten. First I gave them children's programs that made games out of simple math and reading comprehension but they rapidly outgrew those. So they graduated to the Net. Before they got through kindergarten they were using Google.

My oldest just completed 4 years at U of Guelph. She achieved high honours in maths and sciences. Real sciences like physics, not botany! The younger is in Grade 11. She just finished her exams for the year. Her average was 94%.

So I guess my attitude towards helping them wasn't completely bad!

More important, I taught them not to be "a rock against the waves". Both girls quickly came to a point in their schooling where they were so bored they were climbing the walls! Talking to their teachers was a waste of time. Their idea of a solution was to increase the workload of boring, easy material!

I explained that they needed to get good marks because the employment world demanded them. In effect, they should keep their teachers happy. Meanwhile, I did everything I could to help them learn on their own. So they did what was necessary at school and learned an incredible amount on their own on a multitude of things they found interesting.

Sadly, even though my oldest was among the top of her class she still can't find a real job. She has been working for free for a professor to "glamorize" her resume and surviving on a job at a coffee shop.

During the past years I saw only one teacher that I truly respected. She was the oldest's grade 3 science teacher. She got her entire class involved in a project contest sponsored by Toshiba. The class created their own science project and got as far as the North American finals! My oldest never forgot that experience.

Those were the Harris years when the teachers were "working to rule". The science teacher was found to be coaching some kids in the evenings and her union brothers and sisters crucified her for it! They drove her into early retirement.

That's MY story! Frankly, I found your criticism of my parenting to be both flip and ill-informed. Over the years I have gotten used to such attitudes from those of the teaching profession.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Wild Bill

[cybercoma]

I have only one objection - the implicit assumption that parents will be active with the homework!

There are going to be parents that aren't active in their children's education and this certainly hinders their progress, but there's very little the school can do about that. Irresponsible parenting is not the responsibility of our schools. We need to make sure that the children have the support they need and the all the extra help that they can get while they are there. However, legally, ethically, and practically there is absolutely nothing a teacher or school can do if the parents aren't interested in their children's success. You can't force parents to get involved.

And programs that benefit those who are involved, as a rule are disproportionately beneficial to those families of higher socioeconomic standings. Those families tend to have a parent staying at home, who has the time to get involved in these things. A single parent or even two working-class parents struggling to make enough money food on the table and keep the lights on, don't have as much time to devote to helping children with their homework. That's why this program actually helps. The only thing the student has to do at home is watch the video. They work in the classroom and get the support of their peers and teachers.

[cybercoma]

The student centered approach will eventually become the norm. When it does the logical next step, IMO, is to tear down the barriers between courses and grade levels.

This is a good idea in theory, but the problem is that children are developmentally different in elementary years, even through high school at relatively close ages. It would be difficult managing the variety of developmental levels if students of various ages are mixed together in a class. As you're probably well aware, there are several other things teachers need to do other than just give knowledge to children. It's far better to have them with a single teacher that they can develop a relationship with over the year and who can monitor their development not only academically, but psychologically and emotionally as well. The most frustrating thing when people are complaining that teachers get paid too much is that those people don't realize that teachers do more than just teach. They're responsible for looking after the physical and mental health of children and their emotional, as well as intellectual development. Teachers have a huge amount of responsibility, especially in the early years and they don't get enough recognition or credit for the things they need to manage. Anyway, getting rid of grade levels, which segregate children developmentally, would make it difficult to manage these extracurricular responsibilities of teachers, IMO.

Part of me wants to say that children should be individually challenged and be able to learn at their own pace. This would be a monstrous task for a teacher that has 35 individuals in his or her classroom, each of them learning different materials at a different pace. In fact, it may be practically impossible to manage. One of the biggest challenges in education is to be able to meet individual needs of many students at once, but still have some standardized measurement of the students' progress, strengths, and weaknesses.

[cybercoma]

You have a bad attitude toward helping your own kids. It's the parents job to make sure their kids are completing homework and getting help with concepts they struggle with. This is the 21st century folks.

You're going to find out very quickly that the working poor doesn't have the luxury of leisure time to be educating their children. Edited July 19, 2013 by cybercoma

[Wild Bill]

You have a bad attitude toward helping your own kids. It's the parents job to make sure their kids are completing homework and getting help with concepts they struggle with. This is the 21st century folks.

No answer or rebuttal? I'm waiting.

[socialist]

No answer or rebuttal? I'm waiting.

It's hard to give a rebuttal to someone who constantly blows sunshine up his own @$$.

[socialist]

You're going to find out very quickly that the working poor doesn't have the luxury of leisure time to be educating their children.

It's becoming the job of the public school system to raise kids these days.

[Wild Bill]

It's hard to give a rebuttal to someone who constantly blows sunshine up his own @$$.

I don't know or even care if anything will come of it but in the interests of basic honesty, I want you to know I have lodged a complaint about you.

If I wanted "rubble" style personal attacks i would be posting on Rubble.

[Demosthenes26]

As we prepare kids with 21st century skills, we must change the way lessons are developed, and we must change the classroom setting. Traditional things aren't needed anymore. Here is the flipped math classroom, something I will be incorporating in my classroom this fall. This is truly exciting.

https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithmrsdodge/the-flipped-classroom

... Back on topic.

I don't Know which school system you work for. I think you should look at the success of the traditional model before replacing it. Looking At what my parents learnt, They learned things in high school which I didn't start learning until first or second year university. Comparatively children in Japan start learning our grade 12 math at 15.

Our current system languishes not necessarily because it teaches incorrectly. But really because its afraid to enforce standards of education.

Further more any reform should based on scientific evidence rather than what seems to be a good idea

[Mighty AC]

The evidence shows that the goals and methods of the system used to educate our parents are not in tune with the skills required by our society today. The "flipped" technique mentioned in OP is a step in the right direction when teaching many concepts. Essentially, the bulk of a teacher's time is spent assisting individual students with problems rather than simply delivering information.

[August1991]

Here is the flipped math classroom, something I will be incorporating in my classroom this fall. This is truly exciting.

https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithmrsdodge/the-flipped-classroom

Sorry, but the only original thing that I got from your "flipped concept" is that kids will watch a video:

For homework, students actively view a video introducing the mathematics concepts for the next day.

And if there is one thing that I hate about the modern education so-called progressive establishment is the lingo: "flipped concept". WTF?

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Sorry for the multiple posts ahead. After Greg's format changes, I can't manage the quote feature and I am forced to resort to Argus mode.

Edited August 14, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

.... Even though video lectures improve information uptake because they can be viewed on demand as well as paused and replayed as needed, they are still lectures.....

Inprove "information uptake"? WTF? But AC you are right to say that videos are still lectures.

A teacher who uses videos to lecture is just a lazy teacher.

Edited August 14, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Once you move beyond the flipped model you'll find that even though you are not delivering a lesson everyday, you are actually doing far more work. Since you have to scaffold the entire process.....

The student centered approach will eventually become the norm. When it does the logical next step, IMO, is to tear down the barriers between courses and grade levels.

"... scaffold the entire process... " "... student centered approach... "

Who the fu*k invents such terms?

I have absolutely no idea how the words "scaffold" and "teaching" can be used in the same sentence except in a manual for building renovation.

[August1991]

It's becoming the job of the public school system to raise kids these days.

This strikes me as the most pertinent post in this thread.

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Like genes, we have a large amount of accumulated knowledge to pass on to future generations. Increasingly, the people who have this knowledge do not have children. (Let me be non-PC: much of this knowledge is possessed by Westerners but Africans/Arabs have kids.) IOW, we must transfer this knowledge to children of parents who have no such knowledge - the parents (or worse, grandparents) are typically from a medieval world of hearsay and superstition.

And many in the West, socialists, apparently trust the State to make this transfer of knowledge.

As a first point to these Leftists, I think that it's dangerous/risky to put all your eggs in one basket.

Edited August 14, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Banks went through a "technological change" in the 1970s and 1980s. (In the 1960s, clients presented a bank book to a teller who made a hand-wriiten entry. By the 1980s, bank ATMs were new but common at branches. Tellers lost their jobs.)

We are seeing a similar technological revolution nowadays with newspapers, from the NYT to the G&M. (For example, newspapers have critically lost Classified Ad revenue.)

IMHO. the Western Statist education industry is about to face a technology revolution and since this education establishment is State/Leftist oriented, it does not adapt. It only changes when there is a radical revolution.

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Around the world, even in Africa and Asia, poor stubborn women have learned how to swipe their fingers across a screen and talk to their daughters. Steve Jobs is not solely responsible for this transfer of technology. But this is true education.

Like banks, I reckon that "education" is about to go to a similar level.

Edited August 14, 2013 by August1991

[Mighty AC]

Inprove "information uptake"? WTF? But AC you are right to say that videos are still lectures.

A teacher who uses videos to lecture is just a lazy teacher.

It has been shown time and time again that lecture is a terrible way to deliver information. Students learn and retain concepts better if they interact with the content. Using math as an example students learn more practicing the concepts by solving problems than by listening to a teacher describe the concepts during lecture. Furthermore, students also benefit more from a teachers time when actually working on the problems. The problem is the traditional approach, at the secondary level, has teachers spend the bulk of class time lecturing and the hands on practice is assigned as homework. During a 'one size fits all' lecture a portion of the class finds the concept too easy and tunes out while another portion is confused and can't keep up. Wouldn't it be nice to either skip, pause or rewind sections of the lesson depending on your own situation?

By "flipping" this approach teachers can use videos, tutorials, web based simulations, etc. to deliver the content in short sweet segments. Students can then review this information at their own pace, whenever they need it. Then the bulk of class time can be spend doing the hands on work with the teacher available for individualized assistance.

"... scaffold the entire process... " "... student centered approach... "

Who the fu*k invents such terms?

I have absolutely no idea how the words "scaffold" and "teaching" can be used in the same sentence except in a manual for building renovation.

Those terms were used in response to socialist who claims to be fresh out of teacher's college and would be familiar with them. The term scaffolding in education works like actual scaffolding in manual building or renovation. Scaffolding assists workers in their building tasks by providing support and access to the task at hand. In education scaffolding refers to the varying levels of teacher support required to complete the task at hand. Initially students require significant help and support with concepts and over time the supports are removed and they become autonomous.

Traditional education is teacher centered. Teachers deliver lectures at one pace to the whole class, all assignments are do at one set time, the entire class writes a unit test and, ready or not, the entire class moves on to the next concept the following day. The student centered approach allows students to spend more time on the concepts they struggle with and less on the ones that click. It means that some groups of students may be several concepts ahead of others at times. It also gives students more freedom and choice in how they will prove what they've learned. The major benefit of this approach is that students have time to master concepts before proceeding on to the next.