So I've been thinking a lot about Ramsay Musallam's Explore-Flip-Apply model, since listening to him being interviewed for the Flipped Learning Network's podcast, by fellow English-Flipper Mr. Troy Cockrum. Ramsay said that if English teachers could figure out an authentic inquiry model, flipping would get much easier, especially the E-F-A model he uses.
Here's the basic premise of Explore Flip Apply:
Explore - in this phase, you present students with a problem or question and they work to find the answer. It could be a lab, it could be research, it could be a reading, it could be a video...but it has to lead students to construct knowledge and start building a schema for the topic. Ideally, students would understand many of the concepts without the teacher giving them any information.
Generally, it starts with a guided question, like "What qualities create good non-fiction writing?" An example activity for that question would be to have students compare samples of good writing and determine the qualities of good writing based on those samples.
Flip - this phase can be just the flipped part in the traditional flip: record a video of your direct instruction and have students view it at home (or in class if that's more appropriate). It can also be a spot/targeted remediation made that night, or it can be a pre-made video, or it can be an impeccably edited screencast. In this phase, the focus is on the skills/standards/information students will need to fully understand the concept and fill the gaps in their constructed knowledge.
Apply - in this, final phase, students use the knowledge they have constructed along with the knowledge the teacher has delivered via video to work on a real-world problem. In chemistry, this could be a similar lab as the explore lab, only with enough difference that students can compare and contrast, analyse more fully, or create a new situation to demonstrate their knowledge. In the writing example above, you could have students write something that demonstrates all the traits of good writing, and then evaluate themselves or peers based on a rubric you develop (or even better, one that the students develop). After this phase, you can assess and then reteach as necessary.
Ramsay Musallam also teaches AP, and sometimes adds a "train" phase before the apply phase where students get practice for AP-style questions.
*******
So that's the basic premise. Right now, the EFA model makes sense in math and science, where there are ideas you can explore and concepts you can test that have lab/real-life applications. English is a little harder. However...
I think I may have cracked it, at least with one example. Using a skill-based inquiry question just ends up being lame a lot of the time (How can I write a good claim paragraph? is a skill-based question, and it's not REAL inquiry - there is a more-or-less "right" answer). The best inquiry questions, or really, the only valid inquiry questions are the ones for which there is no one answer. The really, really good ones are the ones for which everyone in class (teacher included) is interested in finding the answer.
So we need to base it on a theme or style issue that is evident in the chosen text (for reading standards) or essay skills/genres/qualities (for writing standards).
Right now, I'm reading Rena's Promise with my kids, and we've already seen Anne Frank. So I was thinking about using that to build a framework for Explore Flip Apply.
Here's what I came up with:
EXPLORE - What qualities do resilient people have? Can you make someone more resilient? How?
Either a text or video will work for this. I used Rena's Promise, and I had students read the first part of it (had I decided to use this for the explore phase before I started the unit, I would have given them a shorter portion of it - maybe even a short 2-3 page section). I also had them watch "Hero at 30,000 Feet" - a Derren Brown special, where he takes an "average" guy and teaches him to become more heroic and resilient.
I then had them come up with a definition for resilience, based on what the guy in the Derren Brown special experienced; I also had them look at what it takes to develop resilience in him. I had them do something similar with Rena's Promise and with Anne Frank - they found examples of when Rena/Anne (or others) showed resilience.
FLIP - This is where the skill applications come in. You could use almost any skill here, so long as it would give students the ability to complete the Apply task.
I would have separate videos, one for each skill:
--How to find and analyse a theme in a text
--Choosing the best evidence for a theme
--Writing a claim paragraph using that evidence
APPLY - Here's where content (Explore) and skills (Flip) come together. Students will take the skills of finding themes, using evidence, and writing it up into a claim paragraph to complete an essay that answers the essential questions and analyses the resiliency of Rena and Anne Frank.
Now, if students struggle in the apply phase, I can just respond to that directly by making a video to help in that specific area. Today, students were having trouble doing an inquiry assignment where they tested out vocabulary strategies on a difficult text, so I just took my iPad and made a video modelling it. I then had the kids who needed it watch it immediately. It was SOOO much better than doing it 15 times over.
So really, in English, Explore Flip Apply is a way of blending content and skill, with the content driving the inquiry, and the skill driving the flip phase. I know that Ramsay adds in a Train phase after Flip to do some test question prep. With writing and revision, that would make sense. Grammar would also fit there - specific, targeted instruction in a particular skill that will be assessed on the final essay would be super useful.
*******
I felt the need to separate this out clearly using a barrier of asterisks because I know Ramsay isn't a fan of the mastery model. But since I am using it (more or less) I thought I should add this.
The way I understand mastery in an English context is this:
Where a student starts makes ALL the difference. If a student starts at 4th grade standard, then my expectations are different than for a student who starts at grade level. Improvement is more important than skill compared to an objective benchmark. And you can easily show improvement on a 6 point rubric.
Especially with writing, mastery makes more sense if you think about rubrics - if a 5/6 is proficient, then they just revise and revise until they get to proficiency. That's usually only a matter of one good, substantive revision after the first draft is finished. If they can't get to proficiency due to low-skill/below grade level starting point, then I adjust what mastery looks like to them. But with appropriate scaffolding along the way, and the intense differentiation afforded by the flipped model, that usually isn't an issue.
Now, I've been asked about gradebook for mastery, both here and on Edmodo, so I'll add this note: I would make one assignment in the gradebook for the first draft, and another for the final draft. The first draft is always just credit/no credit because it's formative, not summative. And grading the first draft sends the message that they are done with the essay, and no further action is required.
If they choose to revise their final draft, then every new draft they turn in just raises their score in the entry for the final draft (I don't mind regrading things dozens of times - I tell them that if they'll take the time to write it, I'll make the time to read it. Usually no student does more than two final drafts, so I haven't had to deal with that much).
Making the final draft the only graded one pushes towards mastery because it requires students to always be thinking in terms of revision and forward progress. I actually have a revision policy that means students can re-do any assignment (in a timely manner - within the unit, usually) for a higher grade, as long as they try their best on the original AND the revision. Kids love that rule, and I've seen a culture of revision develop in my class that I think is really unique and special.
*******
So I still haven't figured everything out for this model, but I'd like to know what you all think. And if you have better ideas or a way you use Explore Flip Apply in your classroom, let me know!
Here's the basic premise of Explore Flip Apply:
Explore - in this phase, you present students with a problem or question and they work to find the answer. It could be a lab, it could be research, it could be a reading, it could be a video...but it has to lead students to construct knowledge and start building a schema for the topic. Ideally, students would understand many of the concepts without the teacher giving them any information.
Generally, it starts with a guided question, like "What qualities create good non-fiction writing?" An example activity for that question would be to have students compare samples of good writing and determine the qualities of good writing based on those samples.
Flip - this phase can be just the flipped part in the traditional flip: record a video of your direct instruction and have students view it at home (or in class if that's more appropriate). It can also be a spot/targeted remediation made that night, or it can be a pre-made video, or it can be an impeccably edited screencast. In this phase, the focus is on the skills/standards/information students will need to fully understand the concept and fill the gaps in their constructed knowledge.
Apply - in this, final phase, students use the knowledge they have constructed along with the knowledge the teacher has delivered via video to work on a real-world problem. In chemistry, this could be a similar lab as the explore lab, only with enough difference that students can compare and contrast, analyse more fully, or create a new situation to demonstrate their knowledge. In the writing example above, you could have students write something that demonstrates all the traits of good writing, and then evaluate themselves or peers based on a rubric you develop (or even better, one that the students develop). After this phase, you can assess and then reteach as necessary.
Ramsay Musallam also teaches AP, and sometimes adds a "train" phase before the apply phase where students get practice for AP-style questions.
*******
So that's the basic premise. Right now, the EFA model makes sense in math and science, where there are ideas you can explore and concepts you can test that have lab/real-life applications. English is a little harder. However...
I think I may have cracked it, at least with one example. Using a skill-based inquiry question just ends up being lame a lot of the time (How can I write a good claim paragraph? is a skill-based question, and it's not REAL inquiry - there is a more-or-less "right" answer). The best inquiry questions, or really, the only valid inquiry questions are the ones for which there is no one answer. The really, really good ones are the ones for which everyone in class (teacher included) is interested in finding the answer.
So we need to base it on a theme or style issue that is evident in the chosen text (for reading standards) or essay skills/genres/qualities (for writing standards).
Right now, I'm reading Rena's Promise with my kids, and we've already seen Anne Frank. So I was thinking about using that to build a framework for Explore Flip Apply.
Here's what I came up with:
EXPLORE - What qualities do resilient people have? Can you make someone more resilient? How?
Either a text or video will work for this. I used Rena's Promise, and I had students read the first part of it (had I decided to use this for the explore phase before I started the unit, I would have given them a shorter portion of it - maybe even a short 2-3 page section). I also had them watch "Hero at 30,000 Feet" - a Derren Brown special, where he takes an "average" guy and teaches him to become more heroic and resilient.
I then had them come up with a definition for resilience, based on what the guy in the Derren Brown special experienced; I also had them look at what it takes to develop resilience in him. I had them do something similar with Rena's Promise and with Anne Frank - they found examples of when Rena/Anne (or others) showed resilience.
FLIP - This is where the skill applications come in. You could use almost any skill here, so long as it would give students the ability to complete the Apply task.
I would have separate videos, one for each skill:
--How to find and analyse a theme in a text
--Choosing the best evidence for a theme
--Writing a claim paragraph using that evidence
APPLY - Here's where content (Explore) and skills (Flip) come together. Students will take the skills of finding themes, using evidence, and writing it up into a claim paragraph to complete an essay that answers the essential questions and analyses the resiliency of Rena and Anne Frank.
Now, if students struggle in the apply phase, I can just respond to that directly by making a video to help in that specific area. Today, students were having trouble doing an inquiry assignment where they tested out vocabulary strategies on a difficult text, so I just took my iPad and made a video modelling it. I then had the kids who needed it watch it immediately. It was SOOO much better than doing it 15 times over.
So really, in English, Explore Flip Apply is a way of blending content and skill, with the content driving the inquiry, and the skill driving the flip phase. I know that Ramsay adds in a Train phase after Flip to do some test question prep. With writing and revision, that would make sense. Grammar would also fit there - specific, targeted instruction in a particular skill that will be assessed on the final essay would be super useful.
*******
I felt the need to separate this out clearly using a barrier of asterisks because I know Ramsay isn't a fan of the mastery model. But since I am using it (more or less) I thought I should add this.
The way I understand mastery in an English context is this:
Where a student starts makes ALL the difference. If a student starts at 4th grade standard, then my expectations are different than for a student who starts at grade level. Improvement is more important than skill compared to an objective benchmark. And you can easily show improvement on a 6 point rubric.
Especially with writing, mastery makes more sense if you think about rubrics - if a 5/6 is proficient, then they just revise and revise until they get to proficiency. That's usually only a matter of one good, substantive revision after the first draft is finished. If they can't get to proficiency due to low-skill/below grade level starting point, then I adjust what mastery looks like to them. But with appropriate scaffolding along the way, and the intense differentiation afforded by the flipped model, that usually isn't an issue.
Now, I've been asked about gradebook for mastery, both here and on Edmodo, so I'll add this note: I would make one assignment in the gradebook for the first draft, and another for the final draft. The first draft is always just credit/no credit because it's formative, not summative. And grading the first draft sends the message that they are done with the essay, and no further action is required.
If they choose to revise their final draft, then every new draft they turn in just raises their score in the entry for the final draft (I don't mind regrading things dozens of times - I tell them that if they'll take the time to write it, I'll make the time to read it. Usually no student does more than two final drafts, so I haven't had to deal with that much).
Making the final draft the only graded one pushes towards mastery because it requires students to always be thinking in terms of revision and forward progress. I actually have a revision policy that means students can re-do any assignment (in a timely manner - within the unit, usually) for a higher grade, as long as they try their best on the original AND the revision. Kids love that rule, and I've seen a culture of revision develop in my class that I think is really unique and special.
*******
So I still haven't figured everything out for this model, but I'd like to know what you all think. And if you have better ideas or a way you use Explore Flip Apply in your classroom, let me know!
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