Flipping with Kirch: Reflections and Results on "A Different Approach"

I hope we do this iPod thing again ;)

I enjoy being in this class

It'll be great if we spend more time using the ipod activity more often

I think my grades are improving

The class went by faster when we were using the iPods. I didn't feel bored.

I want to use the iPods more please

I really think you should continue the iPod activity!

It's really helping!

Thank you for the great experience and learning methods, hope we can use them again because this week was great! i actually looked forward to getting to class and getting my work done!

Those are just a few comments from my students on the end of week survey I am having them do this weekend. Keep reading to hear more!

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I posted on Monday about the new approach to flipping I was going to try in my CCSS Integrated Course 1 class this week. The first day went very well and I was excited to see how the week would go. Well, now week 1 is over and I'm ready to blog!

This blog is divided into three sections: My Thoughts (from a teacher perspective), Student Reflections (they completed a survey about how they felt about the week) and Quiz Results (from the quiz they took Friday covering the week's material)

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My Thoughts

Overall, I am very happy with the week. In week's past, I have been so frustrated and annoyed with my period 2 and 6 by the end of the day it was draining. While the week was far from perfect, I felt like I had a positive attitude that was easy to keep because my students were engaged and involved in their learning. Happier teacher = happier students.

To be completely open and honest, this method was not a quick-fixer for my lowest 2-3 students in each class period who never really did any work before. At least they got SOME work done this week, but they were definitely NOT "on pace" Friday come quiz time. I had one student who is assigned to a computer because he can't use the iPods and so he has to use headphones to hear the videos. Yeah, he definitely had his headphones on, and plugged into HIS iPod/mp3 player listening to MUSIC and just watching what was on the screen, not listening to anything I was saying. (On the upside, at least he wasn't constantly distracting his classmates like he normally does. Small victories, right?).

In the perfect world, I would have devices for every student. Most students are working in groups of 2, while a few select students have their own device assigned to them. I have them matched up pretty much at the same pace, but there are a few groups where there is a faster student who got a little frustrated waiting. In addition, if a student was absent, they had to start off wherever they left off. I usually would assign them to one of the computers (I always have about 2 computers left "open" for this situation) so they would work individually.

One downside is once Friday hit, some students did finish both the "classwork" and "homework" for Friday and still had about 20 minutes left. I had recorded a few of the lessons for next week but hadn't uploaded them yet so I just kinda said, "Well, why don't you help someone else?". Not the best idea for the most part, because to a 14 or 15 year old that turns into socializing quite quickly, especially on a Friday afternoon. I forgot all about the "Problem of the Month" they are supposed to be working on throughout the unit, so that will be a better option next week if they finish early.

On the completely opposite end, there were a few students who were behind and never caught up before the end of the week. I would tell them to do a little extra at home to get caught up (especially in the case if they were absent for a day and were really behind), but they would rarely do that.

So, overall, I'm really happy with it and the changes it is making in my classroom and for my students, and will be continuing to do "iPod activities" with them. I will see how the feedback goes (it's really positive right now, see below) to see what I need to change or modify as time goes on.

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Student Reflections

As of Saturday morning at 7:30, I have 38 students who have completed the end of week reflection (out of 71). So, I'm going to blog about the results now and will make edits and updates to this post at the end of the weekend with the final numbers.

Overwhelmingly my students enjoyed the activities. Out of the only two students who were "in the middle", one was absent the first two days of the week and was playing catchup, and the other likes it both ways.

I think I'm going to keep using this method :)

Here are some student comments regarding the questions above:

I enjoyed the activity because it was faster and easier.

i liked it because we could be on are own pace. Also we can learn hands on.

I enjoyed it because it was fun and we got to work with are partners.

the videos were so helpful and so much easier to understand then mrs.kirch explaining a lesson to alot of students at once. I also got to spend time with my class mates and discuss and get help from them. honestly, it was great to feel that Mrs.kirch trusted us with ipods as well. Over all it was very easy to understand and i catched on to everything pretty fast and even worked ahead of some people because i didnt have to wait for the whole class to be finished.

I enjoyed it because I get to learn new stuff on the I pod and quicker than when Mrs.Kirch teaches and with the I pod I am on my own pace

i enjoyed this activity because i got to work with my friends.I also understood this concept better using the ipod.

The iPod activities were a good way of learning new material quickly and at our own pace.
I got through a lot at a good pace and we weren't slowed down if someone was behind.

i enjoyed it because , i have a hard time paying attention & i was concentrating on the ipod.

i enjoyed it because it helped me understand better & i learned more this activity & working with partners.

I enjoyed because it mixed technology with math and it was very interesting to work with the ipod app.

i enjoyed it because we can work at our own speed and we dont have to work with others. [interesting to hear the contrast between students who see it as an opportunity to work with partners and others who see it as an opportunity to work more independently]

its easier then learning with the whole class

i liked it because we got to work in partners and also the ipod helped us while you where helping other students

I enjoy it because is was helpful i learn something new , but it sucks because we hardly could hear it. Other then that i like it a lot because you can work with a partner [students can bring their own headphones, but I don't provide them for them (sanitary reasons), so there were a lot of "Mrs. Kirch's" around the room]

because it was fun using an i pod

i enjoyed them because they allow me to pause the video whenever i need to fix something

It was alright because sometimes my partner went ahead and I wasnt really done.

i liked it because if i got stuck on a problem i got to go back and also i got to work on my own pace

I enjoyed the activities because it felt like everyone else had their own questions throughout the videos, so it's easy to stop and rewind and socialize about the situations without feeling like we're interrupting you. The only thing I didn't like all that much was the slowness of my partner(although that really has almost nothing to do with the IPod activity.) I enjoyed everything else.

I enjoyed it because I moved at my own pace and it was fun to know a device I use for entertainment can be used for school work to.

I enjoyed it because I actually get to pause it and correct me self or if I missed something I just go back n check

We got to go back i we didnt understand and we worked on our own pace.

I think it have me a better understanding of the concept like if it was one on one.

i enjoyed using them because i haven't done something like that before.

no because i don't understand it. [this is the student who plugged his headphones into his iPod and listened to music instead of listening to me on the video. Really? You didn't understand it? I wonder why... (hint of sarcasm there...)]

I really didn't dislike anything about them they were really fun to use.

i did love ipod activty those 3 mins videos explain alot of it.

becuase it was pretty fun i,ithink i learned better with them

I enjoyed it because I got to work at own paste. It also, helped me understand the work much better because it was giving me specific steps and it was explaining how to do it. I didn't get much distractions and it felt like I was the only student there working it was like my own teacher.

We enjoyed using the iPod because it was fun to do instead of worksheets and they helped us study for the quiz the only downside was that it took awhile for the videos to load [don't have a fix for this right now, it would probably take 5-10 seconds to load, but that's what happens when a lot of devices are accessing the same network]

i enjoyed the ipod activities this week because we can do our own thing but sometimes i cant get it

I enjoyed it because we got to work with our partners and talk to them to get a better understanding.

Well yes I enjoyed using the ipods but in a way I did not because I am a lazy person as in I dont like to walk too much but that is the only reason why but the ipod activity is great I loved how we actually got to use touch technology for math work it's pretty cool! This was actually the first time I ever use an ipod for math it's so awsome! :D

I thought it was very good because it's like you teaching me by myself and it's working great!

I chose 4 because it explained a lot and helped me in so many different ways that I understood. Sometimes it would take a long time for it to scan the bar code even though we would hold it there very still for a really long time and it still wouldn't scan. But other than that the iPod activity was really helpful.

I enjoyed the iPod Activities because I could go at my own pace and I could check if I was right or wrong.

I enjoy them because they help us step by step and we can go back if we are lost or forgot something.

Yes, I will like to continue using the iPod because it was fun learning.

i liked it how we could be at our own pace and that she shows us how to the problems.

I would like to use the iPod to learn more new things.

Yes, i would like to keep using the "ipod activity" because i felt like its easier for me to understand and the explainations in the videos are great and we get a good chance to get help and help our class mates.

I want to keep using them because I want to learn more stuff and learn them quick with the I pods

yes because i understand the concept better.

I really love the iPod activities. We could get right to work with our partners when we get into class, and we can get caught up at home if we need to by just going to the blog and clicking on the video links.
I really like how easy and fast it is to learn the material and I look forward to another week with the iPod's.

Its not that stressful , because i get scared to ask for help

I feel more sure and understand it more because i can work at my own pace and help my partner if he or she needs help.

i think its a good idea because we can all listen to what you say using the ipod and if we dont get it we can re watch it again and again

i feel like i can focus more on my own with the ipods

it helps to learn faster and quicker

I learned a lot from the Ipod at first i did not understand it , then i started to understand what i was doing. The video help a lot

i can pause when i need to fix something and if i didn't understand something i can rewind the video

I want to continue using the Ipods because I believe that this is a faster way to get us through lessons. Most of all, it was easier for both teacher and student.

I think the videos are a great way to learn because they explain step by step on how to do a certain page and you can pause whenever you dont understand something and rewind instead of holding back your whole class.

Yes I would like to continue because I love the way I can pause n play n I can go my own paste

i understand more clearly

Yes because is a good way to learn and discuss answers with your class mates.

Yes, I would like to use the iPods more because it helped me understand on what I'm working on. By seeing the videos and doing it steps by steps it allowed me to work on my own paste and visualize things clearly.

Yes because I like the way we get to do our individual work and not in groups because if we are in groups we have to wait for those who are far behind that is why it is better to have 1 partner so it is faster to help and move faster with our work

I think we should continue the iPod activity because students are really learning.

They help us use hints and strategies when we have an upcoming quiz or test.

The next set of questions asked them to compare this week's class with the previous couple of months. I think some of them were confused by a few of the questions, but overall the results were what I thought they might be.