Flipped Classroom Proposal by Jill Hobbs
12/3/18
Dr. Kenneth Cummings, Principal
Katy Independent School District
McDonald Junior High
3635 Lakes of Bridgewater Drive
Katy, TX 77449
Katy Independent School District
McDonald Junior High
3635 Lakes of Bridgewater Drive
Katy, TX 77449
Dear Dr. Cummings,
Katy ISD has really encouraged mobile learning for our students in turn introducing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) so students will have engaging, educational tools with them at all times. BYOD allows students to use their own personal devices they are already familiar with so students only need to learn how to navigate Canvas. I believe that this would be a great time to integrate the flipped classroom model with our 6th grade math students since most of our students BYOD and those without can use school supplied iPads. Using a flipped classroom model allow students to learn the material by watching a digital lesson at home prior to classroom discussion. Allowing class time for whole group and small group activities that reinforces the mathematical processes.
As we know, students learn in many different ways and the traditional lecture-based learning is the model that majority of the teachers tend to use in their classrooms. This method doesn’t really engage our students as they are mostly listening and taking notes from the teacher. The only ones that are engaged are the ones that participate in the question-and-answer sessions and that is just a select few. Math is a subject that students benefit the most with lessons that are more interactive and hands-on. So adapting a blended learning model, flipped classroom, allows more time for teachers to incorporate more interactive and hands-on activities during class time.
The lecture-based learning is only effective for the students who are visual/verbal and auditory/verbal leaving behind the students who learn tactile/kinesthetic and visual/nonverbal. Plus, this model stimulates rote learning. With the flipped classroom a teacher can differentiate instruction through homework as the students watch a video lesson which provides more independent instruction as they can pause, fast forward or re-watch parts of the lesson for a better understanding.
At McDonald Junior High, the average class period is 45 minutes long and when the teacher uses the traditional model they may only spend roughly five percent of their time working with students, while the rest of the time is lecturing and grading. This doesn’t leave much time for the interactive and hands-on activities in math either where students benefit the most. Also, 6th graders are allocated 52 standards known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Mathematics throughout the school year. There are 177 instructional days which allows roughly three days per standard and not to mention administration of quizzes and tests that must be administered. The tremendous pressure teachers face of getting through all the material in a short period of time. A flipped classroom will relieve some of this pressure as it provides more time in the classroom for students to master skills through collaborative projects and discussions. This provides students the opportunity to dive deeper into their learning and really grasp the standards.
I am proposing that we incorporate the flipped classroom model within our 6th grade math classrooms by having the teachers record their lessons via SMART Recorder as our lessons are already developed in SMART. We would record our lessons as if the students were sitting right there watching and listening. Initially, we would select roughly 50 percent of the lessons to flip as each and every lesson doesn’t need to be flipped. After the video is recorded it will be embedded into Canvas as a quiz so we could develop post-video questions for the students to answer. These questions will provide us the knowledge of how well the students understood the lesson and how we as teachers need to proceed with our in-class activities. Once the video and the questions are in Canvas it will need to be published so the students will have access to it and they can refer back to it at any time. During class time students could do various things such as homework problems, in-class activities that help augment the lecture through whole-group or small-group, or even peer instruction. I would also like to encourage the other grade levels to implement the flipped model in their classrooms over the next three years. This way the students will have consistency in their math throughout their junior high years.
To provide you with more understanding of a flipped classroom model and how it can enhance a 6th grade math classroom I’ve prepared a literature review showcasing the data from countless sources.
Sincerely,
Jill Hobbs
www.j-hobbs.weebly.com
Katy ISD has really encouraged mobile learning for our students in turn introducing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) so students will have engaging, educational tools with them at all times. BYOD allows students to use their own personal devices they are already familiar with so students only need to learn how to navigate Canvas. I believe that this would be a great time to integrate the flipped classroom model with our 6th grade math students since most of our students BYOD and those without can use school supplied iPads. Using a flipped classroom model allow students to learn the material by watching a digital lesson at home prior to classroom discussion. Allowing class time for whole group and small group activities that reinforces the mathematical processes.
As we know, students learn in many different ways and the traditional lecture-based learning is the model that majority of the teachers tend to use in their classrooms. This method doesn’t really engage our students as they are mostly listening and taking notes from the teacher. The only ones that are engaged are the ones that participate in the question-and-answer sessions and that is just a select few. Math is a subject that students benefit the most with lessons that are more interactive and hands-on. So adapting a blended learning model, flipped classroom, allows more time for teachers to incorporate more interactive and hands-on activities during class time.
The lecture-based learning is only effective for the students who are visual/verbal and auditory/verbal leaving behind the students who learn tactile/kinesthetic and visual/nonverbal. Plus, this model stimulates rote learning. With the flipped classroom a teacher can differentiate instruction through homework as the students watch a video lesson which provides more independent instruction as they can pause, fast forward or re-watch parts of the lesson for a better understanding.
At McDonald Junior High, the average class period is 45 minutes long and when the teacher uses the traditional model they may only spend roughly five percent of their time working with students, while the rest of the time is lecturing and grading. This doesn’t leave much time for the interactive and hands-on activities in math either where students benefit the most. Also, 6th graders are allocated 52 standards known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Mathematics throughout the school year. There are 177 instructional days which allows roughly three days per standard and not to mention administration of quizzes and tests that must be administered. The tremendous pressure teachers face of getting through all the material in a short period of time. A flipped classroom will relieve some of this pressure as it provides more time in the classroom for students to master skills through collaborative projects and discussions. This provides students the opportunity to dive deeper into their learning and really grasp the standards.
I am proposing that we incorporate the flipped classroom model within our 6th grade math classrooms by having the teachers record their lessons via SMART Recorder as our lessons are already developed in SMART. We would record our lessons as if the students were sitting right there watching and listening. Initially, we would select roughly 50 percent of the lessons to flip as each and every lesson doesn’t need to be flipped. After the video is recorded it will be embedded into Canvas as a quiz so we could develop post-video questions for the students to answer. These questions will provide us the knowledge of how well the students understood the lesson and how we as teachers need to proceed with our in-class activities. Once the video and the questions are in Canvas it will need to be published so the students will have access to it and they can refer back to it at any time. During class time students could do various things such as homework problems, in-class activities that help augment the lecture through whole-group or small-group, or even peer instruction. I would also like to encourage the other grade levels to implement the flipped model in their classrooms over the next three years. This way the students will have consistency in their math throughout their junior high years.
To provide you with more understanding of a flipped classroom model and how it can enhance a 6th grade math classroom I’ve prepared a literature review showcasing the data from countless sources.
Sincerely,
Jill Hobbs
www.j-hobbs.weebly.com