Remote Teaching Pedagogies: Flipped Classroom

Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group learning space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject mater. 

The Flipped Classroom concept began around 2007 as two high school chemistry teachers at Woodland Park High School in Colorado, Aaron Sams and Jon Bergmann, were looking for a way to help students who missed class or needed to review. They decided to record their PowerPoint lectures by adding narration and posting the videos online. At first, it allowed them to direct students to videos instead of reteaching materials in class. Soon, however, they found that even students who attended class reviewed the videos, especially before exams. By the time the 2007-2008 school year rolled around, they decided to record all of their lectures and dedicate class time to discussion, answering student questions, independent practice, and lab work. 

That is the heart of the Flipped Classroom: Direct instruction is pre-recorded and shared with students for "homework"; Class time is dedicated to working with students. 

Since its humble beginnings over a decade ago, the Flipped Classroom approach to teaching and learning has become a global phenomenon. Check out the Flipped Learning Network to learn how you can get started with the Flipped Classroom an join a growing community of practitioners. For further reading, check out this article about 7 Unique Flipped Classroom Models. Which is Best for You?

Real Life Examples

Case Study 1: During a recent Team Remote faculty meeting for grades 5 - 8, one of the teachers asked if was possible to record and share synchronous Zoom meetings as approximately 10 students missed the class. One of the other teachers suggested he pre-record his lessons and share them with students BEFORE they attend class meetings. That way, he wouldn't have to repeat the lesson for students who miss class AND he could make different use of the synchronous time he has with students. 

Case Study 2: This summer, Barb Ritch and I facilitated a series of Professional Development workshops on Zoom. We prepared a Google Site with four activities for teachers to complete BEFORE they attended the live Zoom meeting.

1. Engage: Review curated materials for some background information
2. Learn: Review curated materials for direct instruction
3. Apply: Practice a series of tasks independently
4. Reflect: Respond to a Google Form to help Barb and me focus on gaps in learning during Zoom meetings.

During the live Zoom meetings, Barb and I focused on gaps in learning and answered questions rather than spending time demonstrating and instructing. Check out our Twelve Days of Learning Site here: https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/twelvedays/home?authuser=0

Case Study 3: Many of you know that my "side hustle" is adjunct work at Onondaga Community College where I teach Western Civilization and World History in both face-to-face and online modalities. I strive to practice what I preach by experimenting with various instructional technology tools to see what is effective with my students. Check out this sample lesson I designed in alignment with the Flipped Classroom concept. At OCC, we use Blackboard as a teaching and learning platform. I redesigned the same lesson using Google Sites and Google Classroom for demonstration purposes. All of the "instruction" is posted on Sites. All of the assignments are completed on Google Classroom. Some highlights of the lesson:

• Before each class meeting, I share a general overview of the week's lesson and identify student responsibilities using language like "Before Class", "During Class", and "After Class." 
• Direct instruction activities are completed online prior to attending class class. For example, I do not lecture during class time. Students are expected to complete assigned readings and view lectures prior to class, along with completing a Flipgrid activity that tasks them with taking a position in response to an inquiry-based question and supporting it with evidence from teacher-curated materials. We begin each class with a Kahoot game to "play" with the content and review the "big ideas."
• Student-to-student collaboration is prioritized during class rather than teacher-led direct instruction. For example, students work in collaborative groups to read, discuss, and analyze primary source documents. After small group discussion, each student is expected to complete a Google Form to offer their individual analysis. Collaboration is also expected when we analyze documentary films. I use YoTeach to provide students with a space to discuss the content in real time as we watch a video projected to the front of the room. 

Remote Teaching Pedagogies: HyperDocs

One of the biggest misconceptions among parents is that their children are only receiving instruction on synchronous days, whether that is in person or on Zoom. They mistakenly believe that their children are "teaching themselves" on asynchronous days. I would love nothing more than to prove them wrong!

Rethink Your Traditional Pedagogy  

Do an audit of your traditional instruction and be judicious in designing for online teaching and learning: 

• cut some content/activities that don't lend themselves to remote learning (lecture, traditional worksheets)
• curate different types of content (memes, video content, other multimedia)
• organize content/activities in a "chunk" of time like a week
• design activities that leverage meaningful instructional technology tools so that students can integrate the content you have curated to create something or collaborate with peers to demonstrate mastery of the content.  

HyperDocs Revisited

If there ever was a time to create HyperDocs lessons, THIS IS IT! HyperDocs enable teachers to transition from delivering teacher-centered instruction to designing student-paced lessons that are flexible enough for students to work on from home and/or in class. This approach is transformational as the role of the teacher shifts to that of a facilitator or coach--from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side." The role of the student is transformed as well as much more student agency is required, especially when students are learning independently on asynchronous days. If teachers create thoughtfully designed HyperDocs, this transformation can meet with positive results for students.

A basic HyperDocs lesson includes all of the components of a lesson or unit cycle packaged into a single file like a Google Doc or Slide. Teachers curate links to content that they want students to consume and design collaborative and/or independent tasks for students to demonstrate learning. 

• Engage: A "hook"
• Explore: Pre-knowledge
• Explain: Direct instruction
• Apply: Student-centered tasks to demonstrate learning
• Share: Presenting to a wider audience (i.e. peers, public) and getting feedback
• Reflect: Introspection
• Extend: Enrichment or remediation

Check out this article from Jennifer Gonzalez to learn how HyperDocs can transform your teaching.

Last year, I blogged extensively on the use of HyperDocs. To refresh your memory, I "tagged" all of last year's HyperDocs blog posts, which you can now quickly view using the link on the right hand side of my blog under Tagged Posts.  

Feel free to make a copy of this basic HyperDocs template to get started. And check out the HyperDocs website for a deeper dive.

Teaching in the Time of Corona

Let's face it...even if you are teaching face-to-face classes in grades 5-12, students spend 3 days out of 5 learning from home. As you know from the spring, teaching online is pedagogically different from traditional face-to-face teaching. Some traditional classroom activities like teacher-led lectures simply don't translate well to an online environment. In contrast, HyperDocs, in which teachers prepare student paced digital lessons, allow for much more student agency. To help you sort out "best practices" for online instruction, I have curated several articles, blogs, and tweets using Wakelet--it's a great tool for easily curating and sharing content. See my Wakelet Board below for help in getting started with your online teaching journey. For those of you who are teaching fully in-person classes in grades K-4, it can't hurt to take a look at this collection as well to be prepared in the event that we return to fully remote teaching and learning. Here is the direct link to the collection, with my apologies to Gabriel García Márquez: https://wke.lt/w/s/9Q4FGS

Taking Attendance When Students Are At Home

 This post is for secondary teachers who are teaching either hybrid or fully remote modalities.

Despite the fact that there will be days where students are learning from home rather than in school, student attendance is still compulsory. So how can you track attendance for your students even when they aren't in school? Some options below:

Option 1: Use a Google Form for Students to Check In

I found this attendance hack on Twitter. The directions are pretty clear. Here's how it works. 

1. Create a Google Form for students to "check in" daily when they aren't in school. 
2. Create the Form's corresponding Sheet and set it up per the directions on the attendance hack document.
3. Post your Form somewhere where students can access it--Google Classroom "Material", Google Sites, email--you will have to train your students to access this Form daily.
4. Once the students submit their Form responses, the data will start to fill the cells on the spreadsheet. When you navigate to the pages you created per the directions you will get an alphabetized list by class period.
5. Be sure to mark daily attendance in SchoolTool.

Watch this tutorial to learn how.

Option 2: Use Google Classroom for Students to Check In

Thank you Tina Middaugh for sharing a strategy that worked during the spring closure!

1. Post a DAILY question on Google Classroom and train students to comment on it. This is a great opportunity to be creative and build a sense of community among your students. The questions can be non-content related and should be engaging enough so kids look forward to opening Google Classroom to check in.
2. Be sure to mark daily attendance in SchoolTool.