The Basics of my Flipped Classroom...part 3

5/24/2012

This post is not just any post. I took some rough video of my classes in action. When I say rough, I mean rough. It's me walking around with my cell phone camera filming what class ACTUALLY looks like when students are all working on different tasks.

This self-pacing is pretty new to my kids. I've taught for 8 years where most of the time, all my students are doing the same thing with me all at the same time. That's how this year started.

But I wanted you to see what it REALLY looks like, warts and all. I'm not saying it was a good class period or that it's exemplary of the flipped model. It is what it is. And I wanted that to be out there and say that I'm NOT perfect, and probably not even GOOD a lot of the time, but I believe that self-reflection is the KEY to every successful educators. I need others speaking into my classroom and my instruction so that I can get better. So if you have advice for me, or think I could improve somehow, I'd REALLY like to know.

I filmed most of the period, so here are the videos, in order. I didn't edit anything. The only thing I did was stop periodically so that the files were small enough to upload to YouTube. Sorry about the shakiness and weird angle (I cut off heads a lot of the time). Again, it is what it is.

***

To really understand these videos in context, you need to know what I wanted to accomplish in this class. The objectives for this class period were different, based on where they started:

For kids absent for the mastery Night test:
1. To take the test, then go on to the next priority/activity so they can catch up

For kids who didn't achieve mastery on the test they took the previous day:
1. To have them identify the holes in their recall of Night
2. To review the chapters/skills on which they didn't show mastery
3. For students who REALLY struggled on the test, I wanted them to get a bigger picture review using Sparknotes. This will be controversial with other English teachers, I'm sure. However, here's my thinking: I know they all read the book, because we did it together. They will not be able to re-read the entire book, and that's not the best use of their time anyway. As an English major, I used Sparknotes for review before class (I rarely ever failed to do the reading, and even if I did, Sparknotes wasn't enough to save me in a discussion class). I also want them to know where to go for help when they need a quick review.

For the kids who DID show mastery:
1. Students will brainstorm SOAPS elements to start their own fictional story on the theme of resilience.

The overall objective was, as usual:
1. Students will take responsibility for their own learning by completing tasks to best move them towards mastery of the content, with my help as needed.

***

I started filming after going over the instructions with them for what needed to be accomplished during the period (this was a 45 minute period on a late-start/common-planning-time day).

Here is the Edmodo note I posted with instructions:

When the video starts, we've just gone over those instructions. It starts about 90 seconds into the period. You'll see me clarifying instructions, circulating amoung students, fixing technical problems, grading quizzes, and helping students prioritise how to begin their review for their mastery test.

Sorry that the video is messed up in the next one. I didn't notice it was upside down until about 10 seconds before I stopped recording it. But there's only about 10 seconds between the next two clips.

Here is the end of class. For added fun, a kid tries to start a fight in the classroom across the way at about 7:00. Sorry for the swearing.

That's it. I'm a little nervous putting it out there like that. It's raw, and it's real and it's reflective of a normal day in class. So, yeah.

***

If you're curious about the assignments, here are the review and Short Story Task 1.

Reviewing for the Night Mastery Test

Here is the breakdown of questions. Erase any question numbers that you got RIGHT. That will leave you with a clear idea of what you need to review:

Questions by Chapter:

Chapter 1:    1          2          3          5          6

Chapter 2:    4          7

Chapter 3:    8          9          10       11

Chapter 4:    12       13       14       15       16       17       18       19       20

Chapter 5:    21       23

Chapter 6-7:            22       24       25

Chapter 8-9:            26       27       28

For any chapter that you got less than 70% on, you should complete the following activity. Use the chapters or Sparknotes to complete it.

Chapter ____:_______________________________________________

Important Events:

Questions:

How can you connect events, people, or ideas in this chapter to what occurred historically? In other words, how does the historical fiction relate to an event or phase in the actual time of the Holocaust?

Questions by Skill:

Literary Devices:     7          16       19       25      28       29

Irony:             22       23

Theme:          5          10       15       24       27

If you need a review, there is a video about the literary devices you can watch on your phone (it’s at www.showme.com/cherylmorris). If you need to work on a specific skill (metaphor, personification, simile, irony, theme, symbolism, etc.) ask me and I’ll give you an assignment.

What I need to review before taking the test again on Friday:

How I am planning to do that:

***

And here's the short story task:

The Resilience Project

You are to write a 750-1000 word short story that explores the concept ‘resilience’. To help you plan, draft and publish a story that is engaging and shows your development as a writer, this task features FOUR separate parts.

TASK 1: The plan

In your plan you need to show that you have thought about what you will write about in your story and how you will use language and structure to create an engaging story. To help you plan your story, answer the following questions. You may want to type up your answers into a word document or as an edmodo note.

1.     What is the purpose of your story?

·        to entertain/inform/educate/enlighten/confront/move

2.     Who is your audience?

·        young adults/children/adults/educated/outsiders

3.     What do you want to say about resilience?

4.     Who will be your characters? (protagonist and antagonist)

5.     Where will your story be set?

·        country/city/culture/time period

6.     What style of genre will your story be?

·        realism/Science Fiction/Gothic/comedy/action/fantasy/romance

7.     How will it begin? How will it end?

8.     What crisis or obstacle must be overcome?

9.     What research do you need to do to help create a believable story?

·        Research: settings/genre/characters/ concept ‘resilience’.

10.     What skills do you need to master to create an effective and engaging story?

·        narrative structure/dialogue/figurative language/building tension

DUE DATE: Task 1 must be submitted to your teacher via edmodo or on paper by FRIDAY.

***

Well folks, that's it. Please tell me what you think! I hope it is a little more real to you now that you can see what it's really like in my classroom.

5 Comments

Jamie Rodrigue

5/24/2012 06:35:40 am

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks for the post and video! I appreciate the opportunity to have a glimpse into your class.

As I watched, I wrote down some observations and questions for your consideration:

-love how they need to acheive mastery -- when I return an assignment or test I always give my students a chance to rewrite or improve their work. The problem for me is that very few take up the offer. I like the way you use edmodo for this -- this is something that I hope to do next year.
- How were the end results? What percentage of students actually finished the work as outlined? The reason I ask is because I’ve used edmodo in my grade 12 English class, set various tasks, and, by the end of class, only half of them have posted the required work.
- “Do you know the parts you didn’t do well on?” Like the question...really important for students to know what they don’t know in order to learn. Do you think the "flipped class" leads to students knowing what they don't know?
- I also like using sparknotes, especially the video summaries they have online. In fact, I sometimes start with these video summaries prior to reading the actually text. With something like “The Crucible” I don’t want the students to get bogged down by the plot. I want them to focus on analysis.
- Glad to see you have students who say, “I’ll just do this at home.”
- Overall, would you say student engagement is better during a “flipped class”?

Thanks, again!

Cheryl Morris (admin) link

5/24/2012 08:03:30 am

Thanks SO MUCH for your comments!

-re: revision
I build revision time into a lot of different assignments so it becomes a habit. With the Caught'yas, they have to regularly revise. I try to not grade the first draft of essays - it's just a draft. The grade comes only after they revise that draft and resubmit. I have to be very intentional about teaching them how to revise their work, otherwise they won't do it. They really don't know how without me teaching them (which is weird, but yeah.)

- How were the end results? .

At the end of the class period, the kids who were working on the story all had SOMETHING. They spent a lot of time talking about it with each other or thinking, so their output wasn't tremendous.

For the other kids, they started review (many uploaded the document or opened it again today) but struggled on their own. So today in class (and I took videos and will blog this out later), I split them into groups:

1. Mastery group (continued story)
2. Kids ready to retest (most passed it within the hour)
3. Kids who wanted to keep reviewing on their own (not sure how much work got done, but several said they would take the test at home)
4. Kids who wanted me to walk through the book with them

I can mostly speak to the last group. They were great. I wish I had filmed 4th period, because they were awesome, and had really great comments...but I didn't. 5th period was a little more rowdy, but we basically outlined chapters 1-6 of Night together in about 45 minutes. I decided to allow them to use their notes on the test, but honestly, I don't think most will need them (several told me that they didn't want to use them because they felt like they knew it already).

- “Do you know the parts you didn’t do well on?” Do you think the "flipped class" leads to students knowing what they don't know?

This is the thing that the flipped classroom was designed to do: make students responsible for learning in their own way at their own pace, with the help of the teacher. What I saw today, was that they really did know what they needed to work on. And once we had a conversation about the book, it was clear that they really did understand what we had read. Even the kids who didn't take notes in the group still seemed to contribute regularly and ask good questions. Again, I wish I had filmed 4th period because they were REALLY good about figuring out what they didn't know.

I'm still figuring out how to make them take more responsibility for their learning. But that's the goal of the flipped movement, and I'm looking forward to figuring it out with some of the people who are doing it so much better!

- I also like using sparknotes...With something like “The Crucible” I don’t want the students to get bogged down by the plot. I want them to focus on analysis.

Cool...I felt like a bad teacher for a minute, but again, it's what I did in high school and college. No substitute for actually reading, but also good as a review.

- Glad to see you have students who say, “I’ll just do this at home.”

Me too. It's not part of the school culture, but when they are motivated enough, they will do it at home. Looking forward to this being a more regular feature of my classroom next year.

- Overall, would you say student engagement is better during a “flipped class”?

Definitely. My 4th period is WILD and drive all their other teachers to distraction with their collective behaviour and attitude. But when I made them responsible for learning and for the tasks, something crazy happened: they started learning. They didn't want to be controlled and lectured at and made to do an activity at the same pace as their slowest classmate. I have a few kids who have literally been bored out of their mind because "C'mon guys, we're all waiting for you to be quiet so we can learn!" isn't a great classroom management plan (but it's all I had in my pocket, other than throwing kids out, until I flipped).

Now, there's a little playing around, but when I get back to: "You have to finish this to pass. Is what you're doing leading towards you passing?" it seems to get them focused and on-task.

I want to stop managing them and get them to manage themselves because they SO HIGHLY value their own learning that they can't help but work towards mastery.

That's the idea at least.

Thanks again for your feedback! It's really appreciated!

Nicole Cremeens link

5/24/2012 02:47:35 pm

- I love how the students were working and you were free to circulate and assist. It allows for great student/teacher interaction.
- I think it is a great idea to use sparknotes to review the chapters that they were needing a brush-up on. Since you read everything in class, there is nothing wrong with getting a summary to refresh memory. Another good site for review is shmoop.com - lots of helpful features.
- I have a few questions about the mastery test. Do you have an idea as to why so few students achieved mastery the first time they took the test? What day did they take the original test? (how many days of review did they get before taking the test again?) How do you create the retest? Make another assignment and use the same questions - just jumbled up? How many retakes do they get (how many times do you have to post the test with the questions jumbled?) Guess I'm just confused as to how this would work on edmodo.

Cheryl Morris (admin) link

5/25/2012 04:52:36 am

Hi Nicole! Thanks for watching/reading and giving me feedback. Love it.

I love this set-up (the flipped model really) because I actually do get to talk to EVERY student EVERY day.

I'll have to look at shmoop more...I've heard of it, but haven't used it.

Yes...the mastery test. Great questions, some of which I don't have great answers for.

We finished the book almost two weeks ago. They did a review activity, but it wasn't great (I was trying something out...a sort-of jigsaw of the chapters...and it totally flopped). I also had them do some writing, which wasn't assessed.

They had their first chance at the test on Tuesday, but the period was interrupted by a trip to the bookroom (which I forgot about until she called to remind me...). And of course, that was the moment in which they were all totally focused and testing quietly. That messed us up big time, because only about 3 kids got to finish the test.

Wednesday was the day I videoed for this post.

Thursday I did a review group for those who wanted it (I lead...post/video to come), let those who wanted to review on their own do that, and had the mastery kids work on the short story.

Today, the 50% who still need to pass after our review session will do their re-take while everyone else does their short story.

Here's why most failed the first time (I think):

1. We read the book, then had about a week and a half of other stuff. So it wasn't fresh in their mind. When I reviewed it with the self-selected small group, they really did know most of it, but they had forgotten in the 4-6 weeks since they read it. Totally my bad. I should have given the test after we read the last chapter...way more would have passed the first time. Or even better, I should have done the review session BEFORE they took it for the first time for the kids who needed it. Or better still, I should have done the mastery test in sections, so they had one for the first part of the book, then one for the end of the book. That's what I'll do next time I teach a book on the mastery model.

2. There were a lot of picky questions on it (like "What was Elie's tattoo number?") that my department wanted and I didn't feel were super necessary. Those are the ones they mostly missed. I didn't emphasise them when we read, so (again) it's also probably my fault for not prepping them appropriately.

3. The mastery model is new to me, and it's new to the kids. Some admitted to me that they just didn't try the first time, because they didn't realise it was important (i.e. didn't listen when I told them it was...*sigh*...).

3b. Some failed by only a few points...if I had set mastery at 60%, about 2/3 would have passed initially. Because it was at 70%, many didn't.

Here's where I admit my failing (in the hopes that someone has a better solution and can save me from letting this happen again!):

To do retakes, I just re-posted the same quiz with a different name. So they took the same quiz, same questions for a second time. I did try to check to make sure it was the only thing open on their screens when they did the retake.

I (naively, it seems) assumed that I could shuffle question order and answer choices in Edmodo for pre-created quizzes. Apparently, I can't.

So I ended up with three versions of the same quiz:
1. Night Mastery Quiz

2. Copy of Night Mastery Quiz (I created this one for the kids who finished half of the test the first day because of the bookroom debacle, then couldn't go back and finish the original one. So I told them which question to start on, and they started from there and I combined the score...ugh).

3. Re-take Night Mastery Quiz (the one they'll do today after the review session)

When it's all said and done, I'll basically just create a new assignment in the gradebook and put the highest score from whatever version of the test they took in there.

Now if they don't pass this time, I'm taking away the multiple choice options and they'll have to do it short answer. I'll probably do that in the future for ANY re-takes after they "get" the mastery model and how it works.

Yeah, I really am not happy with how the re-takes worked out. I told the kids it would be "same questions but kinda different in format" for the re-takes and it ended up being the same. *sigh* I'm learning....slowly. And the hope is that when I post about it and the ways in which I'm NOT successful, people will come along and help me figure things out and make me better.

Did I answer everything? I think this has helped me prepare the next post about the fallout from my first adventure into mastery testing. Thanks! I really appreciate your feedback and questions.

Kari

5/31/2012 04:14:26 am

Thanks again for posting both the successes and needs for revisions. This was very helpful (as were the comments and answers above). I have a comment and a question:
Comment - In the past, instead of having re-takers retake the entire test, I have them only re-answer the ones they got incorrect. However, they also have to explain why they think the new answer is correct. On grammar type questions they have to list the rule; on literary type questions they need to list the page number or a quote. Just another suggestion. I don't use Edmodo (not allowed to with kids, ugh!), so I don't know how well that would work on there.
Question - for the Diagnostic test for Night, do you give the same questions as the Mastery test to really see how far they've come? Or is it more of a concept based diagnostic (about general literary devices and techniques)?
Question (okay, I lied, I have 2 questions) - The Mastery kids are now two days ahead of the re-takers in regards to writing their short stories. How do you catch the other kids up? Do you constantly have a group of kids ahead of the others?

Thanks in advance for all your guidance and help as I try to figure out and implement the flipped classroom approach!

The Basics of my Flipped Classroom...part 3

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