Presenting the Flipped Classroom (part 3 - answers to teacher questions)

This is the third in a series of posts about Presenting my Flipped Classroom at my school.  This post includes answers to questions that my staff asked after I presented it to them on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012.

To see my post about presenting to my teacher leadership team, click here.

To see my post about presenting to the whole staff, click here.

To see the Prezi I used in my presentations, click here.

*If you have any answers or resources for the questions that were asked below, please feel free to comment about them. I have answered the questions to the best of my ability with my experience with the flipped classroom. I would love to hear anyone else's perspectives and answers based on their observations.

• How do you know if students watched the video versus copying their friends' notes?  I would love to flip my classroom for grammar lessons, but I don't want students to copy each other's notes or summary just so they can avoid the homework cards.  

*Students who want to cheat will always find a way to cheat.  However, with the WSQ process I have constructed, and the way that class time is used where I can have conversations with each student/group on a daily basis, it is pretty easy to tell which kids actually did the lesson and which kids have no idea what is going on. Students who just copied notes will not be able to answer questions that require thought and connections, and will not be able to participate in the discussions to the extent that a student who did watch the video can.

*Also, if you want to, you can always do a couple of things - (1) have a quote, joke, or comment in the video that students have to know and explain the next day [yes, they can still cheat with that] (2) embed a google form at the end of the video that students have to submit to you verifying they watched it and answering a few short questions about the content.

•  How could I use this with the students with special needs for enrichment and extended learning (slower paced videos, etc.)  Also, I could see how this would be great for some students with special needs, but for others, I could see this being a disaster.  How does it account for different learning styles and disabilities? 

 *Students with special needs can benefit from the flipped classroom model because it provides an opportunity for them to learn the same depth of content as their peers but at their pace and in an environment conducive to their learning.  Videos can be watched at any pace the student needs, and because of the rewinding/pausing/re-watching capabilities a flipped classroom provides, students with special needs can take their time and go back over the material as much as they want.  Videos provide an audiovisual representation of the content for initial exposure, but it can easily be applied in ways that appeal to other learning styles outside of the video and during class time or tutoring sessions.

• What is the approximate number of students in your classes who are not doing the work of watching the videos at home and completing the summaries?  

*Algebra 1 - about 5 kids a day on average from each class (about10%).  Some days I have seen a few more, some days I have none.
*Math Analysis - maybe 1 or 2 a day?  Most days all students are prepared. (Math Analysis is also at the end of the day after lunch, so some of them watch it during lunch time) 

• Have you had comments or feedback from resistant parents?  

*I have not had any resistant parents contact me.  The ones that I have spoken with (mainly for their students getting homework cards for not doing the videos) can't believe how easy it is for their students to complete their homework now since they just have to watch a video and write a summary/question.  I have one parent who is starting to sit down with his son every night he's home and watch the video with him.

• So is the school policy changed to allow the use of student owned electronics in the classroom and on campus? 

*Students have not needed to use their own personal electronics in my class 
  during class time (they have during tutoring before/after school) since I have three 
(and more coming!) computers available for them to use if needed. If there are more 
than three students who need to watch the video, they just have to wait. However, I have 
received approval from the administration for students to use their electronic devices for 
the purpose of watching/re-watching the video lessons during class if needed. 

• I am looking forward to using "flipping", I have already spoken to some of your students who have been very positive about their experience. My only question is in using copyright images of which I use a lot of for reference.

*I do not know the legalities or answers to this question.  Maybe the specific textbook publisher where you get the images from would be able to clarify the legalities?  Anyone else have an answer to this?

• I like what I see, I just need more evidence for the CP kids. I wonder how this would compare for an Honors/AP class vs a CP class? 

*I am collecting data on both classes this semester and should have some solid evidence in either direction at the end of the semester in terms of how it affects test scores.  However, just by observation, Honors/AP students definitely pick up on the Flipped Classroom easier and do not have as many problems with motivation.  I can challenge them at a deeper level and they respond.  My CP Algebra 1 class requires a lot more training, guidance, and reminders, but I think they are coming along (now, at four weeks in).  I will be able to answer this question better at the end of the semester.

• I don't oppose doing this, but I would like to see some validated results prior to committing to the project. I would like to see a controlled test and comparisons of the outcomes.

*I am collecting data all semester comparing 2011-2012 students with 2010-2011 students.  During the first semester, in general, my current students generally matched last years' students in terms of performance (class averages, number of A's,B's, etc) for Math Analysis and were generally lower in performance overall for Algebra 1.  I am using test scores (overall averages, number of students in each grade category, etc) to make these comparisons.  See my first data post here.

More questions?  Please post them in the comments and I will do another Q/A post soon!