Start Flipping Out! A Beginner’s Guide to Flip

The term “flip” in education has been around since the beginning of the 21st Century.  So what is flipping? What purpose does it serve in education?  If you are new to this concept then this blog post is for you.

Flipping the Classroom

What is it?

The flipped classroom is when students learn new content outside of the classroom (at home) via video lessons (preferably teacher created).  Conversely, what used to be traditional "homework" is now done in class. This model allows teachers to focus classroom time on concepts and deepening student understanding.

Benefits

Flipping your classroom can result in gains in student achievement and it can decrease behavior issues. As Dave Burgess says, “An engaged student is rarely a behavior problem”. Information becomes archived for future reference. Modeling 21st Century skills for students is also an added benefit to flipped.

How to…

Step 1.  Acquire a device with a camera. I suggest an iPad (at least a 3rd gen).

Step 2. Upload your content to YouTube (or a similar site).

Step 3. Share the link with your students prior to the next school day.

Step 4. Spend the class time that correlates to your flipped lesson to illustrate the concepts learned and to deepen the students’ understanding.

Step 5. Create a web page for students to access the flipped lessons for future reference.

Step 6. Assess your students on the concepts you “flipped” to see the benefits.

Step 7. Start slow, create 1 video for a flipped lesson per week.

Flipping Staff Meetings

What is it?

Flipping staff meetings is when a school leader utilizes technology to provide his/her staff with the important content that he/she would normally cover during a traditional staff meeting.  As a result, staff meeting time is used to engage in meaningful small group discussions based on the content that was shared (via flip).

Benefits

A recent study by MCI conferencing found:

• 91% of staff admit to daydreaming during meetings
• 96% missed parts or missed whole meeting
• 73% admitted to bringing other work
• 39% admitted to falling asleep

Flipping staff meetings can result in engaging staff meetings where true collaboration can occur.  Precious time is saved (I recently saved my staff approximately an hour by flipping my opening day meeting). Information becomes archived for future reference. Modeling 21st Century skills for staff members is also an added benefit to flipping the staff meeting.

How to…

Step 1.  Acquire a device with a camera. I suggest an iPad (at least a 3rd gen).

Step 2. Upload your content to YouTube (or a similar site).

Step 3. Share the link with your staff prior to the next staff meeting.  

Step 4. Spend time in staff meetings to have meaningful discussions based on the flipped content shared.

Step 5.  Create a web page for staff to access the flipped meetings for future reference.

Step 6. At the end of the year, survey the staff in order to reflect on the seen benefits of your flipping initiative.

Step 7. Start fast administrator! Challenge yourself!  Flip every staff meeting during the school year. 

I hope this blog will peak your interest in the flipped model. Below is a great infographic created by Knewton & Column Five Media.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media