Let Your Colleagues Come In (or, So I Hosted a Learning Coach)

I am not feeling the blogging vibe today, yet here am I, touch-typing away to get a reflection in by the end of the day. Why? Because gamification works, or at least it does on me! Andrew Swan has put out a new #flipblogs challenge, and this time, he’s promised badges -- how can I resist? Besides, I may have fallen off September’s 20-over-30 challenge, but I know the reflection of blogging is valuable, so I will try this again for my own benefit, too.

Dear Senior Students: You Will Try the Flip, and You Will Be OK.

This is my tenth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

Training the Students, Stage Two: Reaching Every Student Through an In-Flip

This is my ninth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge. At this point, I know I won't hit 20 entries, but that's okay; I'll just keep going to get as close as I can, because the reflection has been worthwhile.*

Recorded and (Potentially) Committee'd!

This is my eighth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

Success in Flipped Learning (or, Am I a Flipping Fraud?)

This is my seventh entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

WHY I Flip My Classes, Take Two - What Do I Tell the Students?

This is my sixth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

Flipped Learning and the Hard-of-Hearing Student - Initial Thoughts

This is my fifth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

Making Atomic Mass Tasty

This is my fourth entry in Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge.

This and That: Whinging about Sleep, Student Groupings, and Sharing Perceptions about Students

This is my third post towards Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge. Ok, so I didn’t get this post out before midnight yesterday, but if I blog before and after today’s events, they're still counted separately towards the total 20, right?

Structures and Routines I Use to Flip Classes

This is my second post towards Andrew Swan's 20-over-30 September #flipblogs challenge. See my first entry here for some context and a little more information about the challenge. My first reaction to the challenge may have been, "You're killing me, Swan!", but when it comes to talking about flipped classes, I can tend to rather run on :). On to part 2...

WHY I Flip My Classes: A Reflection to Start a New Year

This is my first entry as I try to rise to the #flipblogs challenge put out by Andrew Swan:

In order to meet this challenge, I will have to blog every day from now through the end of September (including weekends). I will definitely take advantage of the "any length is OK!" provision in the challenge! If there is something you would like to see me reflect on during this blogging run, leave a suggestion in the comments; if I don't address it in September, it may still appear in a future post.

The Administrator and the Flipped Learning Teacher

Note: this post has been cross-posted from my blog at the Flipped Learning Global Initiative. It was first published at http://community.flglobal.org/the-administrator-and-the-flipped-learning-teacher/ .

Earlier this week, my outlook went from frustrated and worried to grateful and excited in about ten minutes — and it was thanks to a conversation with the principal of my school. I’d bet that is not an everyday occurrence at most schools, and this has me mulling over the role that administrators have played in my flipped learning journey.

Administrator 1 – Initiator, Seeker, Problem-Solver

I have previously shared elsewhere the details of how I was introduced to flipped learning. When the principal of the school I was at at the time heard from our superintendent that some teachers in a neighbouring school district were flipping some of their classes, she was intrigued enough to invite me and a few other staff from our building along on a field trip of sorts to learn more about flipped classrooms directly from those teachers.

This principal had listened closely when she’d first heard about flipped learning, identified it as a possible solution to problems we had with student attendance and other issues, and determined that she needed both more information from a more helpful source and reflective input from other members of our staff. She did not brush off flipped learning as a nice-but-unrealistic idea, nor did she put off looking more into it until an indeterminate “later.” She saw the potential it had to solve problems for our staff and students, and seized the opportunity to gain more understanding of flipped learning both for herself and for those of us who went along. On the “flip” side, she also did not push us to jump into trying it before doing more research.

(On a more personal note, by including me in that trip my principal also initiated much change in my own view of what could happen in a classroom, and started me on a path that has included department leadership, flipped learning certification courses, interaction and collaboration with teachers around the world, and joining FLGI’s International Faculty.)

Administrator 2 – The Context-Giver and Connector

In most cases, I think it’s important to check in with your school’s leadership before you begin to flip your classes, making sure they have a clear understanding of what flipped learning is and what the research says about its benefits. If a concerned parent or frustrated student were to contact them claiming that your use of flipping is hurting your students, do you know whether your leadership team would back you up, work through any misunderstanding, and support you as you learned how to use the model effectively with your students?

Despite my belief in its importance, I admit that I did not do that check-in when I changed schools this year. I learned from my new department heads and other colleagues that there was already some familiarity at the school with at least using podcasts in a course; when I asked, I was overwhelmingly told that there was no need to touch base with our principal or any of our VPs about my desire to flip some courses. With plenty to do on my plate already, I let thoughts of discussing flipped learning with my new admin team drop off my over-full priority list.

Last week, however, I finally decided to approach my principal for permission to attend an upcoming conference which happens to overlap with our last day of school — a day from which teachers are not normally released. I e-mailed my request, laying out the variety of ways in which I am certified and connected to the flipped learning community, the professional development I’ve already offered the teaching staff here, and my commitment to continuing to help our teachers understand and make use of flipped learning.

In response, I was invited to pop by the principal’s office for a chat.

A couple of things happened in that chat that I did not expect:

1. The principal told me some of the history of flipped learning at this school — and of parental reaction to it — that I had not heard from my other sources. This gave me some important context regarding issues I may need to address as I continue to grow in my flipping here (and potentially bring other teachers on board).

2. He told me that some flipped learning is going on at another high school in our district — something that was news to me even though I have been keeping my ears open for any mention of its use in our Board. Not only that, but the school in question is a mere 11-minute drive away, which greatly raises the potential for visits and collaboration between our schools. My principal expressed support to get these kinds of connections happening, and I am absolutely hyped about the possibilities!

(And yes, he did also gave me verbal approval to attend the conference; while I’ve got some paperwork to submit to and get approved by the school board before it will be official, I’m pumped about that, too.)

What Kind of Administrator Are You?

Sometimes, we as teachers need to overcome the pop culture characterization of the principal’s office as a scary place of discipline and despair. Several of the calls I’ve received to visit that space have led to positive steps in my professional journey, but naturally, this depends heavily on the person who inhabits it. I challenge those of you in administration to show the leadership traits I have seen expressed in these principals: listen actively when new ideas in education are proposed (neither too openly nor cynically); take the initiative to seek out new ways to address problems faced by your students, school, and staff; help your staff to understand the bigger picture and any important context around new initiatives beginning at your school; and help your staff to find and make connections of support that will enhance your school’s development. It’s one thing to tell your staff that you’re behind your teachers — it’s quite another altogether to help them along the way.

New semester, fresh start

I've proposed the following topic for a #flipblogs chat tonight:

 
This is my first year back at teaching after a year of maternity leave after the August 2016 birth of my second child. Let me tell you, I did NOT find it easy to adjust to working again with two children rather than just the one I had the last time I taught, and I'm definitely not the happiest with the teacher I was last semester. Our new semester started last Friday (Feb. 2), though, and I am thankful and more than ready for a fresh start!

Here are the main changes I'm making that I can think of off the top of my head.

Change #1: Simplify - by using learning goals, but in a simpler way.

I have blogged before about my ideal teaching process - one in which all assessment, instruction, and grading is based on a predetermined set of learning goals. Unfortunately, last semester I failed to get lists of learning goals drawn up for the courses I was teaching, and ended up just trying to keep my head above water from day to day. Keeping my head above water from day to day is not the way I want to run my teaching practice, and it is impossible to flip any course in such a situation.

What am I doing differently this semester? Well, for one thing, I already have my lists of learning goals almost completely finalized for the first units of the two courses in which I want to do substantial flipping this year. I have already started to use them to guide my instruction in one of my courses, and I will be creating my first videos based on some of those goals for that course by the end of the week; in the other course I'd like to flip, we're just getting out of the introductory review of safety rules and symbols, and my goal is to start giving them some flipped goals-based instruction next week.

The other thing I'm doing differently in my use of learning goals this semester is recognizing that I do not have the time to make my use of them "perfect" this time around. My grade book will not end up having entries dedicated to each learning goal -- it will still have entries that look like "Quiz 1," "Intermolecular Forces Assignment," "Chapter 3 Test," and so on. This means that each goal will not be assigned a certain percentage of the mark, nor will it be as easy as I'd like to tell at a glance where students need to improve their understanding or skills to increase their overall standing in the course, but I will still be basing my design of those quizzes/assignments/etc. solidly on the learning goals, and I will still offer students the opportunity to improve their mark by studying and reattempting questions of the types on which they did not do so well. It's a necessary compromise I need to make at this point.

Change #2: Plan my flipped instruction with the group space firmly in mind.

Having now completed FLGI's Flipped Learning 3.0 Certification Level - II course, I've had my eyes opened to some really cool things I can do in the group space. I want to take my students' learning beyond what they'd get by just doing in class the simpler types of questions that used to be assigned as homework.

I want to try using a mastery approach with the organic chemistry unit in the grade 12 university-preparation-level chemistry course.

I want to see what awesome ideas my grade 9 pre-IB academic-level science students can come up with in a Genius-Hour-type open investigation of their own questions -- although this time around I'd like to try giving them the broad guideline that it should be something at least broadly science-related.

I want to try peer instruction with some of the more mathematics-based lessons in both my grade 12 chemistry class and my grade 9 pre-IB academic-level science class.

I want to modify some inquiry activities I've done before to reflect the Explore-Flip-Apply model, and perhaps bring in a couple more such activities as well.

And...that's enough to try to implement for now, I think :). The course also reassured me that when flipping, "it doesn't have to be glitzy" -- every day doesn't have to be something awesome and higher-level. These are approaches that I can experiment with inserting into my courses in a small way at first, perhaps trying something out every couple of weeks and growing in my practice bit by bit.

Change #3: Try to make the most of the time I have.

I have to thank several of my colleagues for continually acting as examples of productivity around me -- examples I was not ready to learn from for far too long, but could not ignore forever.

In the past, once students had finally left my room for the day (perhaps after sticking around or coming back to my classroom after school to ask me all their burning questions), I often treated that time as "me time" that I deserved and needed in order to recharge after a long day giving of myself to others (especially on days I was especially feeling the put-upon introvert). A lot of Facebook and e-mail checking went on, and not so much marking and planning. This was a throwback to the time I had pre-kids to mark and plan at home -- time I no longer have right now, with a toddler who is even clingier than my firstborn was and tries to draw on or crumple any piece of paper Mommy seems to be giving any attention.

I have noticed that my colleagues at my new school keep on a-workin' in a dedicated way after the ringing of the final bell, and I am trying to learn how to make that my model as well. Last semester, I had two alarms set: one at 3:45pm to suggest that I start getting ready to pick the kids of from daycare, and another at 4:30 or 4:45pm to tell me that it was definitely time to get going. This semester, I am treating those two alarms as bookends of a time in which I try to abide by the philosophy espoused by a sign on a colleague's desk: "MAXIMUM PRODUCTIVITY!" Today, I used that time to mark and record grades for a safety quiz that I had given a class earlier that day. It's not all the marking that needs to be done, but every little bit will help me not end up with the huge, shameful backlog of grading that I ended up with at the end of last semester. More timely feedback for students, here we come :)!

What changes have you made at the change of a year or a semester? Let's chat!