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Hello fellow educators, I am flipping my AP Chemistry course this year (piloted last spring to get the tech part down) and am now looking for classroom best practices to complement the online vodcasts. While there is a lot of discussion about the benefits of the out-of-class learning, I am not aware of much research-validated best practices about what to do in class. Can anyone suggest resources? (fyi, I am already connected to the Bergmann & Sams vodcasting community). Thanks!

Very helpful link. I like the idea of devoting class time to peer-teaching, longer class challenges and projects. Now the trick is to find/create projects that utilize the content sufficiently such that students master skills well enough to do well on the AP Test. Great first step, thanks again.

I read an article about this flipping at www.thedailyriff.com. Is anyone doing this in an online environment where the course is totally online in a distance learning situation?

My students work online with support and detailed explanations onboard 24/7. During our time together in "Live Class" we still spend most of our time reviewing the explanations that they already have access to. I would like to spend our time digging into more interesting problems that require more interaction and team work. In my environment monologues are deadly. Other assignments, funny youtube videos, skype, chat, gaming are all swirling around us just a click away. If I don't have an engaging question they can and do check out, and I end up just talking to the faithful few who like me or math more than their flavor of distraction, a distinct minority. :)

Hi Gregory and Flipping Chatters,
I received an email about a TweetChat tomorrow, October 20, at 2:30 p.m. EST. If you read this in time, you can register to participate at the above site as per my email:
To participate in the chat, join us on Twitter tomorrow at 3:30 pm EST by following the #nstachat hashtag. For more detailed instructions on participating on our Tweetchats, please visit http://www.nsta.org/involved/tweetchat.aspx.

Also, I am including the URL for an article that explains what a flipped classroom is all about.
I hope to join some of you there!

One of the URLs shared at the TweetChat today was of a 5th grade teacher's Flipping classroom. It is very exciting to see this working in elementary classrooms. See Mrs. Matthews and her fifth grade class in action.

Wow! That 5th grade class is truly impressive! I've thought about flipping my classroom, but am too stressed with figuring out what to teach this year with two new preps to worry too much about how.

I agree, Wendy,that was a very impressive website on a 5th grade class flipping. I got the URL from the live chat I participated in last week. I am including the Flipping Chat transcript here in case anyone is interested. There are other helpful links and information embedded in the chat with concept creators, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams: October 2011 #nstachat - topic: Flipping Your Classroom
I understand that it is an ongoing discussion topic in the NSTA general science listserve.
Carolyn

You're welcome, Arlene. There are so many excellent resources on Flipping embedded in the chat. For example, at this site - International Society for Technology in Edu..., you will find a video clip and information about Aaron and Jon, Flipping originators. I hope others will share their Flipping experiences and/or resources.
Carolyn

Flipping classes sounds like an amazing idea. I have a mile wide, inch deep Chemistry curriculum and it would be wonderful to assign students podcasts to watch and then spend the class time discussing the topic and working through the problems. However, many of my students (at the low-income area school where I teach) do not have computer/internet access at home - whenever I assign homework requiring a computer many students are unable to complete the task unless they can use a school computer. This is not always practical: 30 minute lunch breaks for most students are spent lining up to collect free/reduced lunch, and it is hard to schedule time before/after school when they depend on school/city buses for transport. Public library computers are not an option for those who need transport to get there (our city is 60 miles wide) especially when the parent(s)/guardian(s) are working, and if students have fines they can't afford to pay then they are banned from the public library computers too. I think flipping classrooms is a luxury option, and is only able to be used when all students in a class have computers/internet access at home. I would LOVE to be able to do it though.

I teach Geometry and Trigonometry at an online charter school, so everyone has a computer and connectivity at home. Interestingly many of our students come from low income areas. Most of those are refugees from bullying. Using resources like www.khanacademy.org and various "open" initiatives by places like M.I.T. and Carnegie Mellon, I am able to implement some flipping practices. Of course for every engaging educational resource, there are thousands of distracting ones. My three oldest are now in college. My oldest is in a PhD. Bioinformatics program. The other 2 are Mathematics/CS double majors like their older brother. All are 4.0 students. The amount of work they get done and the things they learn are phenomenal. What I don't get is how they can be listening/watching music, writing up a science lab, chatting with a couple of friends about homework in a different class, posting on facebook, and baking cookies. I see a lot of their friends doing similar things. Now not all of them are making productive choices with their multitasking, and I sometimes don't like the choice my kids make, but the whole multitasking ability of this generation boggles my brain. Now of course you can only really do one thing at a time, but the rapidity and fluidity with which they go back and forth between a bunch of very different tasks is amazing. How can we teachers coopt this ability to educate? I see some of their professors making use of it. They "creep" my kids pages and are way more connected than in my day. I wonder if the relational aspect of teaching will ultimately be aided by the modern online iteration of social networking. It does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. I guess what I am rambling about is that flipping is part of a bigger picture of connectivity and capability and innovation that is quickly tracing a near vertical path. Staying ahead of that curve will have more to do with our ability to nimbly match our talents and available resources to our present mission, than our access to the latest app or idea. The white noise in the background is going to become more glaring. Teachers will need to, more than ever, be willing to change and at the same time cling to what works and only adopt what we can see will be an improvement. When we are given the choice that is. :)

Hi Arlene, You said,"So your students have the technology at home to work with Khan Academy, M.I.T. and Carnegie Mellon. Bullying is such an issue in so many schools so your online charter school is a way to lessen that type of interaction." [color=purple]They have the choice of using a school issued laptop for free or using their own. High speed internet is a requirement. Bullying can definitely happen online too, and be even more insidious, but if it is actively watched for by students and parents and teachers, concrete steps can be taken and with a bullied student's cooperation be pretty much eliminated. Of course there are always new issues and culture being developed and the world of "likes" and posts, etc. all carry its own organically developing etiquette that students can find themselves outside of, but at least in a virtual world you can simply unplug and walk back into the sunlight. Some may not find the strength or have the support in the real world to do that, but many times bullying in the real world of bricks and mortar classrooms is just inescapable. With all of that said, I hope there is not a backlash of bullying refugees that simply don't know how to handle tough situations in the real world, and always look for a virtual escape hatch. I have taught those afraid to leave their home, and I am not sure that online learning provided them the space to heal and grow or the ability to become more ill.[/color] Floyd,what types of group interaction are you able to do with your students online? Do you have several student video conference calls or use web seminar systems like Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate? Do your students ever meet f2f?[color=purple]Every other year they have a 3 day 2 night retreat on the North Shore and individual teachers run field trips throughout the year. We use Collaborate, Wimba Live Class(BlackBoard's too), voicethread.com, discussion forums in moodle, we've used dimdim in the past, I am trying to use flexbooks at www.ck12.com to collaboratively rework textual explanations with students, but everything takes so much time. Many times I wish I had them in the same room with a chalk board.[/color]

Hi Arlene, You said, "I am very interested in your thoughts here Floyd as I do see digital natives being able to multi-task and wonder about linear thinking skills and concentration. What do you and perhaps others think about our students brains being rewired in this digital age? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7205852/Students-...ernet.html" [color=purple]They are right. We are all doomed. DOOMED, I tell you. Well maybe not all of us. :) Here is what I think. I tell my students all the time, there has never really been a time in history where so many had the choice of being royal philanthropists or dictators. I mean many especially in the US have the food they need to have the time to learn and do what they want. That was previously just for upper or royal classes. With this whole rewiring brain thing, I think we are looking at a choice, individually and corporately. My children and their friends choose to use this environment to become the new royalty. Many others will be enticed by the easy gaming/socializing/escapism and become the new serfs. The internet is neutral, but it is becoming a litmus test for those who would work hard to build or those who would bow down and be enslaved. I fear the gulf between the haves and have nots is about to expand by a quantum leap, and we are likely at a tipping point of a few decades where there is a chance for the young to choose, after that the new royalty will simply use the internet as a tool to keep the bread and circuses going on a grand scale and maintain a status quo that may be virtually and really harder to rock than ever. We go to our local farmers market to get produce. It is healthier than fast food, but you have to wash it and prepare it and be creative so little boys like it. It is a pain, and the rewards are down the road. Everyone has the same choice, but the fast food places in our area do a lot more business. Kind of ironic, but on the same day of the week we get produce, many times we eat out. But the convenience is used sparingly, so the industry serves our purpose. When we do this, we see others who eat out not once a week, but every meal of the week. They serve the industry's purpose.[/color]

Hey Arlene, You said,"Floyd, great ponderings here . How do you co opt this ability to educate and make distinctions in what helps to educate our students and what is 'white noise?" [color=purple]I was talking more the white noise for teachers and them having to sift through that themselves. Unfortunately, for students, it is the same old, "You can lead a child to knowledge, but you cannot make him think" wall that educators have been banging their head on for eons. It is more acute online. Unless a child has very strong internal structure with a set of goals (I teach professional athletes, dancers, musicians, etc.) or parents who provide good external structure, online learning is a waste of time and worse than useless. I have actually caught parents doing the work for their students (what are they thinking!!!!!), which is why the math dept does f2f finals. I have, on rare occasion, been able to guide a cooperative student into developing internals or provided some external while they became proficient, but they must cooperate. Their ability to opt out is extreme. Whew. Well I'll step off the soap box now, but it was Arlene's fault. :) My NSTA courses are wrapping up, so I will probably stop bothering you science people. So long, and thanks for all the fish.[/color]

Floyd, I for one have thoroughly enjoyed the deeper conversations your posts have spawned (fish pun). You said, "Teachers will need to, more than ever, be willing to change and at the same time cling to what works and only adopt what we can see will be an improvement. When we are given the choice that is. :)" Sometimes, teachers are pictured as individuals holding on to their black chalkboards, kicking and screaming at any changes that upset their apple cart of tricks. I don't see today's (older and newer together) teachers in that light. We are all embracing the new technologies of the day. We see how they work for and with us (and not against us). When our school districts are able and willing to do so, all we need is a little professional development to make magic and add improvements to what and how we do what we do. The only thing holding me back is that some of the technology of the day is not finding its way into my hands. (Why does lack of money always spoil a good hand?) Please keep conversing even after your course is over. I think "flipping classrooms" was new to many people when you first posted it here. Carolyn