Hello Kelsey,

I would agree that the flipped learning would be stronger with parental support and involvement, and that it would be more challenging in an elementary school, at least prior to grades where students may be carrying their own devices. In terms of your arguments against flipped, technology today will allow students to watch video content on phones so full access to computers and wi-fi are no longer necessary.

It's a broad stroke to say that families do not value education. In my experience, many of the struggling students have families that value education heavily, but don't have the capacity to support their children the way that they want to, whether due to work schedule, lack of education, or other responsibilities. This type of HW gives parents the opportunity to actually help their child, as opposed to them completing a math problem that they don't know how to solve, or a reading a text that is too challenging.

In terms of students not doing HW, you cannot compare to directly to the HW that would be completed in a Flipped classroom. A student is less likely to go home and write an essay, or ready two chapters, than they would be to watch a 5-7 minute video and take notes or complete a short summarizer. So the task becomes more manageable in the eyes of the students. Secondly, why should students who do more, like watch the videos in advance, be held back because others choose not to?The ones who watch can move on, which will actually free you up to provide more support to the ones who are not.

I think it is a great idea to try it out with a small group, but I would implore you to consider that if it works, it isn't because you were working with a "gifted" group. This model can work with all types of learners, not simply "special" learners. One of the pillars of Flipped learning is being a professional educator. This includes "collaborating and reflecting with other educators and taking responsibility for transforming your practice" (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). I am confident, that with work and collaboration, you would be able to successfully implement flipped learning in your classroom.

Eric Russo

ED.893.645.9B.SU18

Rachel,

You definitely raise some good points. As you note, getting students to complete assignments at home have been a challenge, yet it seems that you are still assigning homework even though that has been the case. Why not try assigning something different. In addition, I had the opportunity to see Sams and Bergman speak in person. They expressed that if students didn't watch the videos at home, they had to watch them in class. Those that did watch got to move ahead into labs and projects, which the motivated the others to watch more are home.

And as for the model not working in Hennessy's article, any strategy that is implemented improperly will not yield good results. We should not avoid practice because it makes us uncomfortable if some of our kids may benefit from it.

I hope that your trepidations change as you work on your project.

Eric Russo

ED.893.645.9B.SU18

Although Rebecca Schuman maintained that flipped learning did not lend itself well to humanities classes (2014), I have found it a very useful timesaver in my own ELA classroom, especially when matched with the appropriate task. For example, when having students create a Google Form for the first time, what took an entire period with a traditional model, took only minutes using a flipped instructional video. Or, by creating feedback videos on assignments, each student can be getting personalized feedback, rather than aggregate feedback to the group. Now students aren't wasting time with feedback that does not apply to them.

Many of the critics tend to note that the flipped model replaces the less effective lecture, with a recorded version of a less effective mode of instruction (Schuman, 2014). This seems to be a oversimplification of how the videos may be used. Flipped Learning is defined as a strategy where "direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space" (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). Although lecture is a part of direct instruction, it can be more than that, including model-think-alouds, demonstrations, previewing content, and becoming exposed to important content vocabulary, demonstrating misconceptions and corrections, introduction to new content, etc. In a traditional model, students get one chance to pick up on everything the teacher says during any of these above actions. By flipping, students have the opportunity to stop, pause, rewind, and rewatch, until the have the necessary information to move on in the class, putting the power of information in their own hands.

Eric Russo

ED.893.645.9B.SU18

References:

Flipped Learning Network. (2014). What is flipped learning? The four pillars of F-L-I-P. Retrieved from http://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLIP handoutFNLWeb.pdf

Schuman, R. The Flipped Classroom A disruptive revolution in pedagogy, or yet another educational fad? FEB. 19 2014 11:14 AM Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/02/flipped classroomsincollegelecturesonlineandproblemsetsintheclassroom.html