#EVOSessions2015 Flipped Learning

On the question of flipping

(I wrote the draft of this blog post on 31st January, 2015)

Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens, by Maria Colussa

2012 Lesson Planning
Previous to class
1. Grab Book
2. Check Content
3. Design Warm up, Presentation, Practice, Production activities for the day/week, based on the book contents.
During Class
4. Deliver Class - Assign standarized homework. Hope for the best! :)
(Repeat 1, 2, 3 above)
Following Class
5. Check homework.
(Repeat 4)
Note:  Teacher is the sole provider of content.

2015 Lesson Planning
Previous to class
1.  Surf the internet for content with pedagogical potential.
2.  Save links in the appropriate place according to  age, level, interest, objectives)
3.  Sit down in front of the computer and design activities to exploit the material.
(optional:  When focusing on specific skills search for ready made systematized tutorials or make them myself to attach to the class material.)
4.  Make class available in students´shared folder.
During Class
5.  The class can start at any point of the previously designed plan.  This will depend on how much of the shared content the student has already seen previous to class.  The most interesting or challenging material can be tackled at  this point of the class.
6.  Teacher suggests options for follow up activities for the student to do by himself.
(Optional:  Additional content can be added according to student´s interests and needs.)
After class
7. Teacher´s suggested activities or student´s generated alternative  ones are done in a shared online document where the teacher can provide feedback .

Conventional                                                                   Flipped
Teacher is Content provider                                         Students gather information and content
Teacher has absolute control                                       Teacher is a learning facilitator
Fixed Syllabus                                                                Part of the syllabus is fixed, most is flexible
Homework is impersonal                                               Homework is as personalized as possible
Student is a passive recipient of knowledge              Students are actively involved/responsible for                                                                                                        learning      

                                        

On Flipped Learning and how I can make it work for me

After attending the EVO Sessions on Flipped Learning I learned a few things regarding this approach to teaching which is here to make our lives easier and help us make the most of our classes.
In times when many people are talking about students´voices, personalized and differenciated learning, what we decide to flip would be the impersonal, yet necessary, part of the curriculum, so that we can devote valuable class time to getting to know our students by listening to  them (and I mean Listening).  The classroom becomes the space for  teachers and students to play with the language, to test their hypothesis, to interact.  It also becomes the teacher´s research field,  During flipped classes the teacher becomes a learning coach encouraging students to anchor the language to their learning objectives and lives.

Flipped learning does not solely have to do with screencasting our content , though this is certainly an important technique.  It is also about creating spaces and tasks during the class for students to meet other students, to share their learning journeys (just like we have been doing in the discussion groups and google communities during the EVO sessions!)
Flipped learning is about being on the lookout for interesting projects or content with which to make our students engaged beforehand.
I have been flipping things here and there.  It will be my personal mission to flip whatever I can in the hope of making each class a memorable celebration of learning for my students and for myself!