"Flipping" classrooms to improve individualized learning

It’s a Thursday afternoon and students are seated in Donna Johnston’s 8th grade math class at Islander Middle School, but they aren’t listening to her give a lecture on finding square roots of numbers, classifying geometric figures or looking for trends in data. In fact, they will not be listening to any lecture at all in class today.

Why not? They already watched her give the lecture while they were at home on Wednesday night. Johnston has “flipped” her math class.

Johnston “flipped” her class as a pilot project during the second semester of the 2012-13 academic year. She asked to try it after reading an article about the possibilities of the format. The metrics for success included a parent survey and the grades of the students in the class. After a successful semester, three IMS math teachers have now “flipped” their classrooms.

Here’s the concept: rather than students listening to a lecture during classroom time and then doing homework in the kitchen or a bedroom at home, they watch a recorded lecture at home. Then students have the opportunity to post questions about the lecture they have listened to or bring questions to class, where they work through the application of the concepts, or what would have been the homework.

By watching the lecture on video, students are able to pause, rewind or re-watch any part of the lecture they need to. The lecture itself becomes self-paced.

This model gives students an opportunity to work with Johnston more during class time.

In a traditional classroom, 90 percent of classroom time is spent on the daily lecture and review of content, leaving only 10 percent for application and questions that arise during that application. That is a short period of time when there are 20-30 or more students who need help with application of the concepts they have been taught.

“Flipping” also allows Johnston to focus on different learners in a way not previously possible. Typically a teacher is targeting instruction to the middle core of the group, leaving several students behind and leaving several students ahead but unable to progress.

“I see the value in using this as a tool to help everyone in class reach their potential,” said Johnston. “I know from a teaching standpoint that creating videos for the students takes time and I am more conscious of what I say and do to get my point across.”

Struggling students are now able to get enough remediation and advanced students can work with Johnston on other concepts. It allows her enough time to focus on the needs of each of those learning groups.

“I am constantly trying to figure out ways to apply and connect our learning to the world around my students. This ultimately benefits the kids because they are getting the practice they need and they are seeing “Why” we are learning this material,” says Johnston. “We have a very collaborative environment where everyone supports each other in class to further our comprehension of the material being presented.”

During class time students are all engaged and challenged while Johnston is able to give students time and individualized instruction to ensure their success and readiness for a cognitive, global and digital world.