Hi Liz,

I completely agree with the fact that flipped learning in a middle school classroom can be challenging due to not having access to technology and I think however arguing that it would not work because getting homework complete is tricky. I think that although that is a challenge, I think that if teachers, students, and families work as a team and somehow gain access to technology, the benefits outweigh the cons. I think that if flipped technology becomes a thing, the teacher and the students must collaboratively work on consequences and rewards for doing it and the teacher must work hard and develop strong family relationships so that students are invested in doing work outside of the classroom. Ultimately I believe that although I do not have answers of how to get access to technology, I strong believe students can and will do work if they are invested in what they are learning thus more willing to complete work outside of the classroom.

Having worked in a school district that did not believe in flipped learning as well as a charter network that encourages, I truly believe that flipped learning is an effective instructional strategy. I recognize that flipped learning is hard especially in poor school districts because many students do not have regular access to tablets and other mobile devices. However I truly believe that the pros outweigh the cons.

My first reason why I believe flipped learning is an effective instructional strategy is it allows students to stay up to date on materials even if they are absent from school. Both school districts that I worked in I had a large portion of my students suffer from chronic absenteeism. For example this past year, one of my students missed 57 days of instruction. Essentially that is 1/3 of the year that the child is missing core reading, writing, and math instruction. However, although I believe flipped learning is not the end all be all replacement of core, in person instruction, I believe it could be incredibly useful to students who miss a large portion of the school year to being absent. As stated in the Wang article, " The rationale for this push lies in a learner’s control over their own learning, a

central tenet in the learner-centered approach." The student is put into more control and even though they cannot control that they are missing school, they can control what they do out of school to continue to learn and to make up the instruction that they are missing by staying home.

I also believe that flipped learning is essential in the classroom to help meet the diverse needs of the students in the classroom. I think by videoing lessons, it allows students and even parents to go back and refer to it when they are working independently on material. I teach kindergarten and I think flipped learning would be incredibly helpful to my parents because they could refer to the videos when they are helping their child with homework. Something that I have noticed is that the parents sometimes teach students a diff strategy then the strategy used in class so when they are working on homework they are actually not practicing the strategy that I necessarily want them to practice. By providing videos for students and families I can ensure that there is uniformity between home and school.

In the end, I realize that flipped instruction can be expensive and unreliable if students and families do not have access to mobile devices, but I believe it is essential so that all students are successful no matter what.

Sources:

Wang, Y., Han, X., & Yang, J. (2015). Revisiting the blended learning literature: Using a complex adaptive systems framework. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 18, 380–393. Retrieved from http://ifets.info/journals/18_2/28.pdf