Engaging students in the classroom and offering them the extra time at home to learn content are the goals of a flipped classroom
Before diving into an explanation and break down of what a flipped classroom is, I believe this video holds great value in explaining why schooling and the practices teachers utilize in the classroom need to change.
As the video explains, we as teachers need to redefine how we understand motives and reassess the aims we have for our students. When I first saw and heard this video, it made me think about my education and about both the "good and bad teachers" that I had. What sticks out about the "bad" teachers" is that without fail, we had reading from the textbook and questions to answer, but never got an opportunity to engage in, explore, or have fun with the material we were working with. Not only do I think this is a boring way to have students learn, but I also believe it is a disservice to them; I believe the role of a teacher is not only to help students better understand and engage in course material, but to also challenge them, and push them outside their comfort zones, allowing them to look at information in a new, innovative, and exciting way.
I have done an extensive amount of research on ways of setting up a classroom, and believe that the "flipped model", not only provides students with many opportunities to engage with the content material, their teacher, and their peers, but also lends itself to culturally inclusive teaching.
This flipped model can be attributed to the ingenuity and genius of people such as Salaman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, whose original mission still stands to, offer "a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere." In this short piece done on Kahn and Khan academy, we are introduced to what the flipped model of teaching looks like.
I have done an extensive amount of research on ways of setting up a classroom, and believe that the "flipped model", not only provides students with many opportunities to engage with the content material, their teacher, and their peers, but also lends itself to culturally inclusive teaching.
This flipped model can be attributed to the ingenuity and genius of people such as Salaman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, whose original mission still stands to, offer "a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere." In this short piece done on Kahn and Khan academy, we are introduced to what the flipped model of teaching looks like.
Flipping the Spanish Classroom
The video above provides explicit and precise information about a flipped Spanish classroom. Not only does the teacher, Profesora Hirschman, explain what a flipped classroom is in general, but also enters into discussing Spanish content area specific benefits. Some of these benefits include:
I believe flipping the classroom will work especially well in a Spanish classroom when teaching grammar; grammar lessons can be extremely dry and teacher centered, at first, leaving students feeling bored and confused. By flipping my Spanish classroom, I will be able to prepare my lessons and then embed them with videos and hyperlinks to other resources, such as games where students can practice and use the language on a medium that they are familiar with, the Internet.
As stated earlier, flipping the classroom will allow me to incorporate a greater variety of activities that I might not have been able to because of time and other logistical barriers that will enable me to differentiate my activities and reach more of my students. A basis for many of the activities that I would like to implement into my classroom deals with complex problem solving. I can enrich my students learning by implementing practical and meaningful problem solving lessons during each unit, that relate to the real world and current events, just as Vanderbilt University has done in mathematics through its “Adventures of Jasper Woodbury” educational video series. By playing off my students’ prior knowledge and having them apply information they are learning in the classroom, I can help my students figure out how to utilize their skills in Spanish to solve real world problems.
It is important to realize that a flipped classroom is learner centered and is based upon students' prior knowledge. Their knowledge will help promote culturally responsive teaching and activities in the classroom, because the teacher can utilize students' knowledge as a jumping off point. In an effort to make sure my students do not get “too comfortable” with the prior knowledge they possess on the topics we are covering, I can incorporate dissonance or cognitive conflict into the lesson. By adding new perspective to a topic they have heard about or showing them how it can be viewed in a different context. This can inspire curiosity in students and perhaps drive them to further question what they think they know (Brophy, 2004, p. 277).
Below I have selected four examples of flipped Spanish lessons. Each teacher utilizes different strategies and levels of technology throughout his or her lessons. I believe it is very important for all teachers to watch flipped lessons presented by other educators, to figure out how they want to plan, prepare, and deliver their own lessons; you can gain great insight and ideas by watching what other people have done and also see how not to do things.
- More time available for students to learn at the own pace,
- Less stress and frustration exuded by parents unable to help their child with foreign language exercises,
- More time engaging and applying the language to real life situations during class time.
I believe flipping the classroom will work especially well in a Spanish classroom when teaching grammar; grammar lessons can be extremely dry and teacher centered, at first, leaving students feeling bored and confused. By flipping my Spanish classroom, I will be able to prepare my lessons and then embed them with videos and hyperlinks to other resources, such as games where students can practice and use the language on a medium that they are familiar with, the Internet.
As stated earlier, flipping the classroom will allow me to incorporate a greater variety of activities that I might not have been able to because of time and other logistical barriers that will enable me to differentiate my activities and reach more of my students. A basis for many of the activities that I would like to implement into my classroom deals with complex problem solving. I can enrich my students learning by implementing practical and meaningful problem solving lessons during each unit, that relate to the real world and current events, just as Vanderbilt University has done in mathematics through its “Adventures of Jasper Woodbury” educational video series. By playing off my students’ prior knowledge and having them apply information they are learning in the classroom, I can help my students figure out how to utilize their skills in Spanish to solve real world problems.
It is important to realize that a flipped classroom is learner centered and is based upon students' prior knowledge. Their knowledge will help promote culturally responsive teaching and activities in the classroom, because the teacher can utilize students' knowledge as a jumping off point. In an effort to make sure my students do not get “too comfortable” with the prior knowledge they possess on the topics we are covering, I can incorporate dissonance or cognitive conflict into the lesson. By adding new perspective to a topic they have heard about or showing them how it can be viewed in a different context. This can inspire curiosity in students and perhaps drive them to further question what they think they know (Brophy, 2004, p. 277).
Below I have selected four examples of flipped Spanish lessons. Each teacher utilizes different strategies and levels of technology throughout his or her lessons. I believe it is very important for all teachers to watch flipped lessons presented by other educators, to figure out how they want to plan, prepare, and deliver their own lessons; you can gain great insight and ideas by watching what other people have done and also see how not to do things.
Ser or Estar Lesson:
This teacher chose to film herself teaching the lesson. She maintains the human element within the lesson, that some educators believe may cause distraction for students. I believe that when a student is learning a foreign language, it is vital to his or her comprehension, as well as pronunciation, to see and pick up social cues a teacher utilizes. Thus, I am a proponent of appearing in an online lesson, when the gaol of the lesson is conversational, but for something such a grammar, I believe the video below is quite sufficient.
This teacher chose to film herself teaching the lesson. She maintains the human element within the lesson, that some educators believe may cause distraction for students. I believe that when a student is learning a foreign language, it is vital to his or her comprehension, as well as pronunciation, to see and pick up social cues a teacher utilizes. Thus, I am a proponent of appearing in an online lesson, when the gaol of the lesson is conversational, but for something such a grammar, I believe the video below is quite sufficient.
In this flipped lesson, the teacher does not appear in the lesson; students only hear his voice. I like how he writes down important information and explains the importance, relevance, and use of the information. He does a good job a telling students, step by step what he is doing, and utilizes colors to help differentiate different ideas and concepts that are contrasting.
Profesora Hirschman, I believe, presents a very well rounded lesson that includes detailed explanation, good use of visuals (including color), and relevant/useful practice examples for her students. In the beginning of the video she is talking to her students about setting up their notes and having them read the information once, and highlight what they believe is important (most likely what she has highlighted). She tells the students to pause the video until they feel comfortable to move forward. I believe this is a good idea because, at the beginning of the year or having no exposure to a flipped classroom, students may not realize they can stop the lesson and take as much time as they need to comprehend the material before applying it.
The video above is a short example of how a teacher could set up their flipped classroom utilizing animation. I like how this short clip includes actual conversation and application of the vocabulary words presented. I also like how the teacher discusses the cultural use and relevance of the vocabulary.
I believe this graphic breaks down and represents the elements in creating a flipped classroom in an aesthetically pleasing and logical manner. The graphic discusses key goals of what flipping the classroom seeks to achieve, as well as, providing examples of what activities students can do with and without you inside and outside of the classroom.
Students Explain why a Flipped Classroom works
RECAP:
Advantages for the Students include:
Advantages for the Students include:
- Moving at their own pace at home and in the classroom.
- Engaging in collaborative activities and Using the target language.
- Applying what they have learned at home in classroom activities.
- Greater ability to diversify teaching to fit multiple intelligences of his or her students.
- More flexibility during class to work with students 1-on-1 or in small groups.
- Ability to address problems or misconceptions during the learning process.
- Ability to develop more engaging, meaningful, and creative activities.