Week 9 reflections - Proud of my students

Every week is just flying by - are we seriously 1/4 of the way through the school year already?

This was a crazy week; I took Wednesday off to present two webinars, which split the week nicely in half.  It was also really nice to have more time to spend with Grayson in the middle of the week.

If you want to check out the archives for both free webinars, please see the following links:

• Sophia.org Webinar:  "Flipping with Kirch".  Archive here.
• EdWeb.net Webinar:  Flipped Learning and the Common Core State Standards: Flipping the Math Classroom.  Archive here 

I am really happy with the progress I am seeing in my Math Analysis class.  Students took their Unit H Test this week and did super well.   Here are the results from 104 of my 106 students.

Something new I am doing this year is keeping track of student mastery on unit tests with a "Green and Yellow" chart.  Green means they have either an A or a B on the test, Yellow means they have a C.  It's nice to just have around so I can easily talk to students daily who need to be studying to re-assess on a certain unit.  I tell them that by the end of the semester, they have to have green or yellow for everything, so it's a modified version of mastery.  The only difference is they still move on with the class, but have to be working back on reviewing and studying old material to learn it and re-assess.

Students like it because they can check easily without having to go online the gradebook which units they need to go back to.  It's interesting also to have a quick comparison between classes (can you tell which class is my top class?).  I also like to make sure to congratulate students who got their first "green" of the semester, or even their first "yellow" for some of them.

Speaking of congratulating students, I also have "Club 95", which is for students who get a 95% or higher on any unit test (including reassessments).  They get a certificate that goes on the wall, and just gets stapled on top of each other as they gather more through the year.  I had a student who got her first Club 95 this week and she cried... it was seriously so awesome!  

I also have a student who has gone from a 40% to a 64% (almost passing - 65% is passing for us) in just about 2-3 weeks of focused work getting her missing work in and re-assessing on tests.  I am so darn proud of her!

One more thing about the green and yellow charts above.  Units A-D were the units students covered over the summer as "let's review Algebra 2 to get you ready".  They had about a week of review and then took a test.  Unit E was the first "flipped" unit of the year.  You can see that students struggled on Unit E, but check out how F,G, and H have been.  I really feel like a lot of that is due to them being adjusted to the flipped classroom and to the expectations and flow of the class.  Far from perfect, that's for sure, but it's a neat thing to see!

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My students' blogs are coming along quite well, and I am really happy with their Student Problems and Student Videos.  They have to come up with their own problems given specific requirements.  Here are some recent ones, for you math teachers out there (you can see all the instructions at bit.ly/blogpostdetails)

• Solving logs given approximations - Write a logarithmic expression that can be expanded using all three properties (product, power, quotient) of logs (they have to understand how using those properties comes about and what there needs to be in order to use them)
• Graphing exponential equations - Write and graph an exponential equation that does NOT have an x-intercept (they have to understand how to appropriately place the asymptote and how to choose the value of "a" in the equation to make this happen)
• Graphing logarithmic equations - Write and graph a log equation that has BOTH an x- and y-intercept. (they have to understand the asymptote of a log graph and where to place it so the graph touches both axes)

Please check out my students' blogs, and feel free to comment on their posts!  We haven't done much with commenting this year, but I'm sure they'd love to get comments!

ALL STUDENT BLOG URLs 2013-2014

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Hmmm not much else this week.  It was Homecoming Week so Friday we had an assembly and it was just a catchup day.  Monday we reviewed, Tuesday we took the test, Wednesday I was out (but class continued on like normal without me!!! I <3 Flipped Class!), Thursday was really our only normal day, we did some Peer Instruction on exponential graphs and their parts, and then just worked on practicing graphing.

Next week we will finish Unit I and the students have Friday off (day after Halloween, go figure!) while teachers have a half-day PD.

Looking forward to another great week!

"Flipped Data" (PART 3 FOR Algebra 1 - Chapter 9)

To see all data collected, please see the "FLIP Data" tab up top

In 2010-2011, Chapter 9 was a "mandatory remediation and retake" test for all of my students.  As you can see, 2010-2011 students had a 60% class average with 58% of the students receiving D's or F's.  Once these students went through an extra week of class time, before and after school required tutoring, and a new version of the test, the class average was 72.7% with only 37% of the students receiving D's or F's.

For my flipped classroom this year, there was no extra mandatory remediation or support outside of the normal class time.   My students scored amazingly better compared to last year's pre-remediation students, and just about right on par with the post-remediation students, which shows a great impact of the flipped classroom!

As compared to the pre-remediation 2010-2011 students, my flipped classroom students this year scored

9.83% higher in class average
25% more students received A's or B's
20.6% fewer students received D's or F's!

How awesome!!!!!

 

As compared to the post-remediation 2010-2011 students, my flipped classroom students this year scored

2.64% lower in class average
exact same % students received A's or B's

.75% more students received D's or F's

2012 Algebra 1 Data notes:

I'm having a little issue with using this data to compare my current students to my 2010-2011 students because the classes were so different in terms of incoming ability level.  My students from this year were already so much lower than last year, that I don't know if I can expect to see improvement in comparison to the two years from test to test based on the flipped classroom.  But, I think I can look at improvement in the GAP that existed between the two classes.

The picture below shows comparison scores for the End of the First Semester for last year and this year.  Both courses were taught identically (no flipping, same materials, resources, tests, etc).  Right off the bat, you can see that my students this year have had more than twice the failure rate that I had last year (15.2% vs. 32.1%). I had more F's 1st semester in my three Algebra 1 classes than I think I have had in all my years teaching combined (or at least close to that!)  In addition, students receiving A's or B's at the First Semester was 9.7% lower this year than last year.

In addition to the overall semester grade comparison, I also pulled some test scores from the first semester of each year (both non-flipped) to compare the two classes and to see if the "samples" were similar...  All of these averages include the FINAL scores students received after being given the opportunity to retake the test.  In 2010-2011, the retake score was capped at 75% (school policy).  In 2011-2012, I was given permission to allow a full 100% retake of tests.  (So, the averages in 2010-2011 would have been even higher had students been able to receive a full 100% in the gradebook).

Chapter 1  2011-2012 were lower by -4.47%

Chapter 2a (did not have 2010-2011 raw data)

Chapter 2b  2011-2012 were lower by -9.77%

Chapter 3  2011-2012 were lower by -10.92%

Chapter 4  2011-2012 were lower by -8.51%

Chapter 5 & 6 tests were not comparable because the content was switched around between 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

On average, my students this year scored 8.42% lower than my students last year on the first semester tests.

Does the "Flipped Classroom" increase student understanding and proficiency? [Flipped Data Part 5 - Math Analysis Unit Q]

To see all data collected, please see the "FLIP Data" tab up top

After each assessment, I will be analyzing data from my 2011-2012 students in comparison with my 2010-2011 students.

 In 2010-2011, I did not "flip" my class.  All lessons were taught in class and all practice was done at home by students.  A very small amount of support videos were available to students near the end of the year, but were optional and only watched by a few students. (Math Analysis only; no videos available for Algebra 1).

In 2011-2012, I began trialing the flipped class in the first semester and fully flipped my class during the second semester.  This flipped classroom included all lesson instruction being done via video and most practice done in class.  Students were required to watch the lesson, write a summary, and ask a higher-order thinking question at home.  In class, students reviewed the lesson, answered their questions, and worked on practice.  Activities and methods were structured, but varied based on content and throughout the week to mix things up.

The only difference between the 2010-2011 school year was the flipped classroom.  All instruction, supplementary materials, quizzes, tests, practice assignments, online resources, teaching strategies, etc were identical. (Quizzes and tests had different questions, but same content and level of difficulty).

I am using a GoogleDocs Spreadsheet with formulas input to analyze my data.  I have looked back into my 2010-2011 gradebook to gather the information from all tests that year.   The only place that the data would be skewed is in the 2010-2011 class averages.  Students who failed the test but retook it had their score "excused" (erased from the average) and input in a different category.  Their original scores are no longer available.  Their original grades were input in the "F" category for this data analysis piece, but their scores do not factor into the class average, making the 2010-2011 averages seem slightly higher than they actually were.

Student demographics from both years were similar in terms of number of students, grade levels of students, and general class environment.

UNIT Q RESULTS (Math Analysis - Trigonometric Identities Part 1)

2010-2011: Class averages of 71.9% and 69.8%, for an overall average of 70.8%

2011-2012: Class averages of 74.1% and 79.1%, for an overall average of 76.5%

2010-2011: 40.2% (33out of 82) of my students received A's or B's 

2011-2012: 60.6% (43 out of 71) of my students received A's or B's

2010-2011: 39.0% (32 out of 82) of my students received D's or F's

2011-2012: 26.8% (19 out of 71) of my students received D's or F's

These numbers show that the use of the Flipped Classroom seemed to influence student test scores in a positive way.  

There was 5.7% increase in the class average on the test.  

There was a 20.3% increase in students scoring proficient (80% or above).  

There was a 12.3% decrease in students receiving failing (D/F) grades on the test.

Here is all of the data collected for this test via my GoogleDocs Spreadsheet:

Does the "Flipped Classroom" increase student understanding and proficiency? [Flipped Data Part 4 - Math Analysis Unit P]

To see all data collected, please see the "FLIP Data" tab up top

After each assessment, I will be analyzing data from my 2011-2012 students in comparison with my 2010-2011 students.

 In 2010-2011, I did not "flip" my class.  All lessons were taught in class and all practice was done at home by students.  A very small amount of support videos were available to students near the end of the year, but were optional and only watched by a few students. (Math Analysis only; no videos available for Algebra 1).

In 2011-2012, I began trialing the flipped class in the first semester and fully flipped my class during the second semester.  This flipped classroom included all lesson instruction being done via video and most practice done in class.  Students were required to watch the lesson, write a summary, and ask a higher-order thinking question at home.  In class, students reviewed the lesson, answered their questions, and worked on practice.  Activities and methods were structured, but varied based on content and throughout the week to mix things up.

The only difference between the 2010-2011 school year was the flipped classroom.  All instruction, supplementary materials, quizzes, tests, practice assignments, online resources, teaching strategies, etc were identical. (Quizzes and tests had different questions, but same content and level of difficulty).

I am using a GoogleDocs Spreadsheet with formulas input to analyze my data.  I have looked back into my 2010-2011 gradebook to gather the information from all tests that year.   The only place that the data would be skewed is in the 2010-2011 class averages.  Students who failed the test but retook it had their score "excused" (erased from the average) and input in a different category.  Their original scores are no longer available.  Their original grades were input in the "F" category for this data analysis piece, but their scores do not factor into the class average, making the 2010-2011 averages seem slightly higher than they actually were.

Student demographics from both years were similar in terms of number of students, grade levels of students, and general class environment.

UNIT P RESULTS (Math Analysis - Non-Right Triangle Trigonometry)

2010-2011: Class averages of 80.5% and 76.6%, for an overall average of 78.5%

2011-2012: Class averages of 82.7% and  82.7 %, for an overall average of  82.7 %

2010-2011: 53.1% (43 out of 81) of my students received A's or B's 

2011-2012: 63.8% (44 out of 69) of my students received A's or B's

2010-2011: 24.69% (20 out of 81) of my students received D's or F's

2011-2012: 21.7% (15 out of 69) of my students received D's or F's

These numbers show that the use of the Flipped Classroom seemed to influence student test scores in a positive way.  

There was 4.17% increase in the class average on the test.  

There was a 10.7% increase in students scoring proficient (80% or above).  

There was a 2.95% decrease in students receiving failing (D/F) grades on the test.

Here is all of the data collected for this test via my GoogleDocs Spreadsheet:

"Teachers using the Flipped Classroom" data posted

Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in the "Teachers using the Flipped Classroom Model" survey in the last few months.  The results are now being posted at  http://flippedclassroomdata.blogspot.com/  , starting with the "easy" quantitative data and soon adding more qualitative comments and generalizations as I have time over the course of the next few weeks.

If any of you are interested in working with me to organize and post the data, please let me know by contacting me (see "contact" page, any option).  There is a TON of data to sort through, as I received detailed responses from 300 teachers across the globe!

I have also edited the results document (excel spreadsheet) to privatize any needed information, so if you would like access to the full document, please  contacting me (see "contact" page, any option) with your GOOGLE DOCS login email address.

Thank you again for participating and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the data.

Sneak Peek #1 @ #flipclass survey data!

When did you first begin flipping?

haven't started yet 43 15% 2011-2012 school year 143 49% 2010-2011 school year 42 15% 2009-2010 school year 7 2% 2008-2009 school year 6 2% 2007-2008 school year 2 1% 2006-2007 school year 2 1% before 2006 0 0% People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

Grade levels you flip

K 1 0% 1 1 0% 2 4 1% 3 2 1% 4 11 4% 5 19 7% 6 25 9% 7 32 11% 8 35 12% 9 73 26% 10 116 41% 11 135 48% 12 81 29% College 17 6% Other 10 4% People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%. Subjects you flip Math 95 34% Science 126 46% Social science 24 9% English/language arts 17 6% Foreign language 15 5% VAPA (music,art,drama,etc) 0 0% Physical education 0 0% Other 24 9% People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%. More sneak peeks coming  Tuesday, full data will start  being rolled out on Wednesday  (as I have time to sort through it!) FINAL CALL for the "Flipping Teachers" Survey! I am still working on getting all the data collected from my Flipping Teachers Survey... (click link to take survey) Survey will be closed and data will begin being posted on WEDNESDAY, April 6th!   I will link to the data here, on Edmodo, on the Flipped Class Network, and on Twitter.   If you would like a personal email of the raw data (spreadsheet form, full responses, any personal information that has been requested not to be shared deleted), please  1) send me an email to crystal dot kirch at gmail dot com  2) subject "Results of Flipping Teachers Survey" 3) include the email address you use to login to GoogleDocs so I can add your email address to the list  Please be sure to fill out the survey if you haven't done so already! If you filled out the first part but not the extended part and would like to do so, please click this link here.