The Not-Quite-Flipped Classroom

I have read so much information about flipping classrooms. I can see both the benefits and the disadvantages. As I am not quite ready to experiment with this technique until I know my students will find success with it, I decided to try a Not-Quite-Flipped lesson.

I'd Like You to Meet My Class

 The group that I used for this experiment was my grade 8 Pre-Algebra students. There are fifteen students in my class, seven boys and eight girls, and one student with a specified learning disability (SLD). I teach in a private middle school, grades six through eight, with a total of 77 students. We are in our first year of a 1:1 iPad program with iPads that the school purchased, and students are assigned one iPad for the year to use in school and take home each day.

The Backend

Prior to class, I had a bit of work to do. On my iPad, I used the educreations app to sign up for an account with http://www.educreations.com/. Then I created a video tutorial with the app for the lesson topic. A few things to note: Create all the backgrounds for the slides first, then go back and record your voice while you write, and once you have recorded your voice, there is no edit feature. Next I went to the educreations website on my computer and created a class and added the tutorial I had just created. Finally, I sent an email to my students with a link to the class in educreations.

What's your mantra?

I wake up every day and have the same thought: What if today is the day my students remember?

I try to keep this in mind whenever I interact with students. Every interaction with another person leaves a print on that person's life. It may be positive, negative, or easily forgotten. How can I know in the moment which category I am in?

I have no way of knowing where the student is in life at the moment of our exchange. A student who appears defiant may be dealing with some personal issue outside of school. How will they remember me and our conversation during a delicate time? Will I have been compassionate? Abrasive? Caring?

Some students in need of positive reinforcement act out in negative ways, gaining attention through inappropriate or disruptive behavior. What do these students most need from me? Do they need to know that I believe they can do better? That I have high standards for them, and I expect them to reach those standards?

It is a difficult thought to have at times: What if today is the day my students remember? But if I try to hold this thought throughout the day and let it guide me, at least I will look back and know that my students will remember the best I had to offer.

Managing 3 Middle School Classroom Interruptions

Working in a middle school classroom is a unique experience. Students are not quite little and not quite big ... although sometimes they are impressively either - or both!

I have a few strategies for managing a classroom for this age group. They are listed below under the type of situation in which I use them.

However, before I get into how I manage these amazing and unpredictable creatures, I have to share an important piece of information: I have worked very hard to nurture a classroom culture in which every person in the room is assumed to be doing their best at every given moment. The best a student (or a teacher) can do today may not be the same as tomorrow. Whatever the best may be, that is what we expect from ourselves and from each other.