A Better Handle: Week 1

At the end of just the first week of flipping, I'm already getting a better grip on my role as a teacher in the classroom.  I have become more aware that my responsibility in the classroom has become more creative which is both a joy and a burden.  Having taken the lecture - the direct modeling - out of the normal class routine has allowed me the time to solidify the lesson concept in interactive ways. Students played Angle Tangle, a game where the measure of an angle is estimated then measured with a protractor reinforcing our lesson on types of angles.  Tomorrow when I teach about triangles we'll be taking triangle cutouts, tearing away their angles, and putting these angles together to find the sum of angles in a triangle.

This past week I have also placed my videos in the iTunes Store as free video podcasts for my students to download and subscribe on their iPods, iPads, etc.  I think most will still access the videos through Edmodo which embeds/plays the videos I uploaded to SchoolTube, but some will like the portability and ease of subscribing to the podcasts through iTunes.

Also this week, my principal who is very supportive of my flipping efforts asked me to consider submitting for a grant for material/equipment that I would need to operate this flipped model better through a local education association.  I thought of a few iPods for loan to those that have no computer/internet access at home or for just use in the classroom for those that did not see the lesson or want to move ahead. Maybe I could find certain math manipulatives to use during my class periods to enhance learning.  I don't know.  I have some time to think about it.

Lastly of note this week, I had scheduled an information night for parents regarding the flipped structure I was using. I informed parents in a letter describing the change to the format and placed the information in our weekly newsletter as well.  Only one set of parents came.  Yet I was not discouraged because I chalked this up to the other 80 sets of parents feeling fine with the new structure or -- not caring.  Either way no one seemed alarmed or questioned my judgement. Phew!

Week 2 of flipping begins tomorrow.