#flipcon12 archives: From Innovation to Implementation (Brett Clark & Brian Bobbit)

 I was able to watch Brett's archived presentation from #flipcon12... here are some notes that stood out to me and my reflections...

I would highly suggest you check out the session yourself as well, because what stood out to me may not be what impacts you the most! :) 

Register for virtual access to all these sessions here.

Here is the link to his powerpoint:

•  "What every child needs is the disposition to learn, to be patient problem solvers, to understand and embrace failure" - Will Richardson
• If we are going to will that to them, we must first possess that ourselves as educators
•  Failure - 
• Has been: "the worst F word you'll hear in school"
• Repurpose that word - failing is not necessarily a bad thing. Failure is something we can build upon.
• "The only time you truly ever fail is when you choose not to learn from your mistakes."

I think I just found a new favorite quote :).

This reminds me of the acronym FAIL - "first attempt in learning"

How can we get our students to understand that failure will happen, because none of us are perfect... it's what you do with that failure that matters.  I feel like a lot of my students (well, mainly my Algebra 1 students) come in with an attitude of failure from day 1.  That is a lot to overcome from the outset.  How do I help them begin to believe in themselves and believe they can succeed if they keep trying and learning from their mistakes?

• Book: "Implementing change: Patterns, Principles, and Potholes"
• Planning
• Innovation Configuration Map
• A rubric of innovation - Ideal, Acceptable, Unacceptable
• Start developing these in professional development
• It is easy to map out what is "ideal" - exactly what we want
• If we don't identify the "acceptable" and then we don't meet the "ideal", it feels like we have failed.
• Quote: "If my kids could do everything that I asked them to do the very first time, I wasn't asking enough of them"
• It will be different for everyone

It is important to identify (in any situation) what would be ideal, acceptable, and unacceptable. I think I tend to identify the ideal and the unacceptable, and don't think about what isn't necessarily perfect, but still acceptable.  Not everything or everyone is going to be perfect and we need to prepare for that.

• Implementation
• level of use interviews
• 7 levels of use:
• 0-nonuse - ignore innovation 
• "Oh, I've seen that before! They were called 'this' 20 years ago and they'll be called 'that' down the road. We're going to stand our ground and when all the new fads fade away, we'll still be here with our textbooks and pencils."
•  ~listen in around 21ish minutes. 
• It's okay to start here, not to stay here

Wow... I felt like he was speaking right to me.  The quotes he said are actually REAL QUOTES I have actually heard from teachers at my school.  With regards to the Flipped Classroom, with Common Core, with lots of new "innovations".  I never thought of it in this way, that they are just at a different level of use than I am.  The big question is, how do we get them to move from here.

• 1-orientation - trying to get ideas, get my feet wet
• 2-preparation - preparing to flip
• 3-mechanical - going through the motions, still hitting the curb every so often, still thinking everything through
• 4a-routine - just comes naturally
• 4b-refinement - start getting better at it

I feel like this year I am in the routine/refinement phase.  The paradigm shift in mindset is pretty much coming naturally to me (I can hardly imagine my classroom the way it used to be!) and I feel like I'm starting to figure things out.

• 5-integration - seamless, part of who you are and what you do

Hoping for this next year after I have a full year from start to finish under my belt...

• 6-renewal - how can we repurpose the flipped classroom?
• It's a conversation, not an evaluation. Be human.
• Interview "flow map" 

(from Brett's powerpoint presentation) Click to see larger

• To help us find out "What do you know" and "What do you need to know next?"
• Not always about "what level are they at" but "what is their level of willingness?"
• pour yourself into buckets that don't have holes in them. As soon as they show a sliver of being open to it, be that insanely helpful coach (even helpful with things that don't apply to what you are trying to innovate)
• When we want people to buy into innovation, they have to buy into YOU first!

This is such a great point! It reminds me of the quote "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  

• stages of concern regarding innovations
• Measuring stages of concern
• 0 - unconcerned (I'm going to ignore this, this is a fad, I'm just going to weather the storm)
• 1 - informational (I don't have enough information about it)
• 2 - personal (I've bought into it, but how does it work for me in my classroom?)
• 3 - management (How do I manage this innovation? I can picture it, I can see it, but it's a lot to manage)
• 4 - consequence (How to deal with the bumps in the road that we will hit?)
• 5 - collaboration (I'm ready to share what I've learned and work with others. How can I help somebody else?). Won't be ready to collaborate and share until they have made it through steps 0-4!
• 6 - refocusing (How can I make this better?  Sharing ideas but also receiving ideas?)

I see plenty of teachers I interact with in the "unconcerned" stage - not interested in trying anything new, and just waiting for the new fad to pass over, happy with what they are doing now, happy with the status quo.  However, I think a lot of teachers at my school are in stages 1-3... not feeling informed enough, not knowing how it works in their classroom, not knowing how to manage the changes.  The only problem is, I am not the one who needs to or should provide that training formally, in my opinion.  Would I be willing? Yes, even though I'm far from an expert.  I just don't think it would be a good idea - it needs to come from someone else right now.

• Comments/discussions
• When flipping, start small.  Give yourself permission to take time with it.  Give yourself permission to take steps in the right direction
• "You aren't going to go from zero to Bennett in 3 months"
• Ha - I saw this quote tweeted out during the live session and cracked up then. And I cracked up now :).  It's okay to start at Flip 101 and take your time in transitioning...
•  Our students go through levels of use and stages of concerns as well - we could make an Innovation Configuration Map for our students
• I thought this was an interesting idea for next year. Even though I'm not in the "trial phase" any more with the flipped classroom, I still want to continue to get student thoughts, feedback, and ideas this next year.  I think involving them in the process and them feeling like they have ownership is huge.
• There are people to support what you are doing. May not be in your building, may not be in your county, may not be people you know.  Get connected! Online, twitter, ning, etc.
• My greatest PLN has not been real (until ISTE, that is)... it's all been online.  That is where I have found my support, ideas, sharing, and openness to this new innovation.
•  Every teacher, every students wants: Choice and Voice
• Choice how it looks in our classroom
• Voice to share our concerns and share our ideas.
• How do we open up the lines of communication so teachers feel ready and willing to share new ideas (without the threat of being shot down or the jealousy/competition that arises among teachers).  Especially when those lines seem to be closed right now - how do we open them up?

Great, thought-provoking session... I would highly suggest you check it out!