Sunday 25 May 2014

The flipped maths classroom

With the half-term break starting yesterday, I have managed to allow myself time to reflect on the year so far. As with most teachers, I remember starting the year with such promise and direction. I was going to ensure I stayed on top of all my classes and I was going to try out new things.

I did start off as I meant to continue. I started to develop a sort of 'Flipped' classroom. Which was generally well received by students, but even better received by parents. Unfortunately, the year has taken its toll. With a change in our VLE and a responsibility for timetabelling the drive to continue was sapped out of me, and the status quo of the teacher at the board returned. 

I have not abandoned hope for the flipped classroom. Far from it! The idea and benifits of flipping far outweigh the gain in student attainment which is in itself massive. I will return to the flipped classroom. 

The educreations.com website is great for getting the lessons up on the web and reachable for the students, but I have found that the stability and reliability of hosting the lessons on YouTube to be far better. The only problem with this method is the inability to be able to check who has or has not attempted their homework. So thought has to be put into the setting of questions and the duration of the homework task in order to ensure enough monitoring can take place. 

In conclusion, I would recommend trying the flipped classroom as it will lessen the shackles within your own classroom, but be warned it does demand time in the planning stages. 

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