Monday, May 19, 2014

Flipping my Primary Classroom - Qualitative results

Dear fellow flippers (and interested parties),

Please find below a link to qualitative results generated by my class concerning the blended classroom.



There are 27 students in total in my class this year. The below survey supplies responses from 22 of them (some were away and others probably didn't hit the submit button).

Regardless, that's about 80 percent of the class, and I am comfortable referring to that as a representative sample.

The survey basically compared the teaching of our Multiplication and Division unit (which was taught entirely in the blended style with no face to face whole-class teaching) with traditional teaching (teacher out the front and class-swapping).

(If you are interested in a more detailed explanation of the specific blended approach that we took in my classroom please see my previous post.0

If you don't have time to look at the complete results, here's a very brief summary of data and comments:

About 80 percent prefer the total flip (blend). 20 percent don't mind, or really have an opinion.

Slightly more than 80 percent think they learn better in the blended classroom.

About 65 percent think we should use teaching videos all the time. 35 percent think it should be a mix of both.

Being able to rewind, pause or forward through the content (if they understand it) at their convenience is a very popular quality.

Here are some comments that stood out to me:

I do not really enjoy the hassle of swapping classes. We have to shuffle around everywhere and it just gets all too confusing. When we use our tech we can do it then and there. Simple!

Because i think i learn better while listening to you teaching us on the tech because its individual and if someone doesn't get it they can just look back on the video without disrupting the class and have to go back to the question their on.

I like it better. It's much easier than before. It also helps when you are stuck because you can review that part of the video.

because you can work at you own pace and i love doing stuff on my tech and you can pause it if you have a problem. Also you can watch the videos and if you still dont get it you can ask the teacher so it is like you are doing it both ways when you are whatching the videos

Because it's easyer to use and it is also NOT SUPER BORING plus it's cool how we have our own website to.We can also do stuff like this IT IS AWESOME!!!!!

 because we can always go back to it

Because you can rewind, pause and stuff if you don't get it you can just re watch the video but when you learn in your class sometimes you don't understand and get it wrong but with the videos it helps me because i can pause, rewind and review.

Because it talks to you only and no one else.

And one of my favourites:

I think in some areas of learning there could be different videos for different people. For example, a video or two for people who need a bit of support, a video or two for the average learners and a video for the challenged learners. All of this might take too much time out of the teachers day, so it is understandable if this cannot be done.


For reasons of brevity I won’t include more comments. I want to! It has been quite difficult to discriminate – I wanted to include them all. But then I would just be reproducing the survey. Not all the comments were 100 percent positive (but most were). There is certainly one or two things to consider.


I do encourage you to take a look at the complete survey yourself. It is a fascinating read. Please find the link below. I used the internet tool 'survey monkey'.


https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-TH6PT8B/

I have also started to consult in NSW primary and high schools with regards to flipping (or blending) the classroom. If you are interested in having me come along to speak to your staff, details can be found here:   https://sites.google.com/site/mattburnsflipyourclassroom/

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Totally FLIPPING OUT!

Dear all,

I have launched on another grand experiment. I am 100 percent blending the classroom. That means for our complete Multiplication and Division unit I have gone TOTAL VIDEO.



No teacher to class teaching at all. Plenty of teacher to group, or to individual where needed (because I have more hands on time) but none of the aforementioned.

Students work throughout the maths unit, videos and tasks via our self-created google site. The lessons are listed in prescribed sequence, with instructions, and so are the tasks.

Early results are pleasing. Students like being able to rewind, restart, forward through videos. Videos are all assessment task critical. There is no fluff. The students know this. The qualitative assessment is partially in - so far students prefer this way. It is HEAVILY differentiated as they move at their own pace, watching simpler or more complex instructional videos as required.

I am then linking videos directly to specified Mathletics (an online student/teacher maths program) tasks so I can get instant feedback as to how students are progressing. All on my screen. No maths sheets. They simply use their books for working out. Seriously - it's like a class from the future. I just need a white suit. Everyone needs a white suit.

If the students do not perform adequately at the online task, they re-watch key parts of the video, or I intervene - teacher to student. I often give the students the choice; some re-watch the video; they know exactly where to go. Others prefer to be taught by myself directly. This type of formative assessment, and then targeted teaching, is in practice very simple. Thanks to Mathletics, I have their performance data, on my screen in real time. At a glance I am able to see who is succeeding or not, and at what tasks. I then become involved where and when necessary. And of course, I generally have the time to do so. Because I am not so busy 'teaching' I can spare the time for tutorials.

Next: Quantitative research. Has the total blend improved Maths results?

I can provide this information soon, by comparing this student bodies results with this total flip course, with results on earlier material which was only partially flipped. At this point this is the best I can do.

Looking forward to that.

Have also launched a new model of teaching. Calling it Teach, Together, Try. Basically an alliterated version of I do, We do, They do - based on the theories of gradual release teaching. Getting back to basics. Here's a video to check out if you are interested. Basically I am asking students questions in the video, and by correctly or incorrectly answering they can chart their progress. A little 'assessment as learning'' there.

That is, I Teach the skill. We do the skill Together. And then they Try the skill by themselves. Sound like common sense teaching? I hope so.

Here's a demo:

Dividing by ten 1: Teach, Together, Try

Reach me at mattburns1976@gmail.com if you ever want to talk FLIPPING (or blending)!

I have also started to consult in NSW primary and high schools with regards to flipping (or blending) the classroom. If you are interested in having me come along to speak to your staff, details can be found here:   https://sites.google.com/site/mattburnsflipyourclassroom/