What about this Flipped Classroom?

During a few of our classes at the beginning of the semester, the term "flipped classroom" kept coming up and I had absolutely no clue to what they were talking about. I even researched a little of what it was and was still very confused by what it truly was. Now, after taking time to learn this model and teach it in the classroom with our peers, I understand what it is.

A flipped classroom is a model where a teacher records the lesson through video, posts it and has the students watch it at home. Then, when the whole class is back together the next day, they are able to work on the learned material and practice it in class.

This model allows for a more student-centered classroom, as well as allowing the students to have more control over their learning and studies. This type of teaching also allows parents to watch what their child is learning and participate if they so choose. It is a great way to get them involved and help them feel more connected to the classroom. It is a great way to offer kids more academic practice in the classroom, rather than be lost at home. Students can come prepared with questions from the previous night's learning and experience growth in class.

There are some cons to this teaching as well. This can only be done if the students have access to a computer. If there is no access, it immediately makes this model more difficult. There must also be a lot of preparation and trust involved in these lessons. If the students do not watch the lesson at home, they automatically fall behind in class.

Now that I have one experience to tie this to, I can make a slightly more educated opinion of this model classroom. I find it to be helpful in the event that I would like to work with my students on the learned material and expand their knowledge on the subject. But, in the case of preparedness, trust and access, I find it to be a little strange; both to the student and the teacher. I had the experience of watching a classmates video one night and by the next day, I had forgotten some of what was in the video. I found it difficult to be both the student and the teacher's roles in this situation.

But I am not going to leave it at that. Flipped classrooms have many benefits. I do like that the practice can be monitored in the classroom and that this doesn't load the students down with tons of homework. I like the progression towards technology and incorporating this into the classroom. For the future of my teaching career, I may use the flipped classroom model a few times, but it will not be my most used approach. I find it useful to know this model so that I may use it or appropriate lessons, but not all lessons should use this model.

Reference: http://www.teachthought.com/trends/10-pros-cons-flipped-classroom/


Much love,
Brittany Kertesz

Children's Literature

Today in class, we saw Dr. Parker effectively demonstrate how to teach social studies literacy from a book. He read to us from "Uncle Jed's Barbershop" by Margaree King Mitchell and showed us how to relate books to the 5 strands of social studies. In his demonstration, our professor showed us examples of relating the books to the reader and it's audience as well. This book was great to introduce certain moments in history such as the Great Depression and the Civil Rights' Movement. It also provides an interactive way to teach life lessons and character traits, such as kindness and self control, in the classroom. He emphasized the importance of text to self and making the connections between the book and the student. During this reading, he didn't simply read, but he taught science, math, social studies and language arts, simply using this one book.

"This is all too good to be true." That was my thought when he ended his teaching on this book. It seemed so effortless and simple, and even as a college student, I was very engaged in this story and what happened next in the each of these character's lives. I wanted everything to work out for Uncle Jed and I wanted to learn more about life back in the "good 'ole days."

Encompassing all strands of social studies and  other subject areas into one lesson is kind of like a game to me. Not only do books often provide more up-to-date content than even textbooks, but they also allow other students to "live" a life and experience empathy for the characters within the story. Our professor shared with us these slides that give tips and ideas as well as support to why children's literature is important in the classroom.

It was incredibly easy to find resources and books that fit in with social studies standards. This website lists books that would be beneficial to the classroom in teaching different subjects and concepts. This list shares ideas and a sentence or two summary of what the book is about. I definitely plan on using this list for my classroom and reading these books to develop empathy towards the past and inspiration towards learning and achieving goals for the future.

Much love,
Brittany Kertesz

TPACK

Living in the "age of technology" has opened many new doors for the education of our students. Models such as SAMR and TPACK are two wonderful steps to becoming a technology integrated classroom and encouraging more class growth and discussion. Often times it can be difficult to keep up with the new and best technology, but these models provide ways to put this technology to the test and implement new strategies for teaching.

Last week I talked about the SAMR model, this week I will introduce a new model as well. TPACK stands for technology, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The TPACK framework includes all three of these forms of knowledge. This model is not performed correctly when only one or two of these knowledge bases. This means it is incorrect if one is only using pedagogy and technology or technology and content. The idea isn't just to get technology into the classroom, but instead to use it in an effective, educational manner. 

I found a great breakdown of what this model looks like on this website. It was helpful to watch a few more videos on this blog that showed how "messy" teaching is, but how to take control of it with the TPACK and SAMR model. The blog shows a few of the arguments that keeping up with technology is too difficult, but in the end shows it is far more useful and effective than going without them. 

There is a fundamental change in our relationship to knowledge. It used to be having the knowledge within us, then came the power of being able to look up all the answers in books, and now we can find this information by clicking a few buttons. This is one reason why simply a focus on content knowledge is no longer a reasonable way to approach the classroom. Using these two models to integrate technology and content into a classroom with knowledge of pedagogy and how a classroom runs is necessary in order to be an effective teacher. These two models show that teachers know the content they teach and that they are being respectful in who they are teaching (NCPTS 2, 3 & 6).

Much love,
Brittany Kertesz