Our Story Goes International

Our story keeps growing and growing.  Here is a link in Canada's version of their Wall Street Journal.

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/primary-to-secondary/a-radical-approach-to-teaching-canadian-students-in-the-digital-age/article2251417/?service=mobile

A Great Article That Supports the Flipped School Approach.

Our New Video

Week One and Two: Flipping a School

Hello everyone.  Well our entire high school has begun the flip. This week, I had the greatest moment that I ever had as a high school principal.  During the first week, I had our staff explain the flip classroom process to my students in each class. This allowed each teacher an opportunity to explain and reflect on the flipped classroom approach and it also enable us to start the dialog between my staff and students. During the second week of school, I had organized a large student assembly in which I had the opportunity to fully explain why we were changing to a flipped classroom approach.  In the assembly, when I started talking about the flipped classroom approach,  students began applauding and it ended in a STANDING OVATION!!!! I had to fight back the tears of joy. WOW! This was the greatest moment I ever had in 10 years as a principal.  I think that we have finally figured out how to set up a school who lacks funding and has at-risk transient student population base.

Great Explanation of a Flipped Classroom

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

When Planning a Lesson

Often times when I am speaking to teachers and administrators,  I become involved in conversations that blend technology, information and skills all together. When planning a lesson, there are three distinct things a teacher must keep separate when planning their lesson and/or unit.   The first one is information or content.  A teacher must ask themselves what is the most critical/important information their students need to know?  That information is available within the recent roll out of the national core curriculum and on recently released ACT/ SAT.  National Core Curriculum Link and ACT Preparation Site.

In recent years, with educators not knowing what careers will be available in the next five to 10 years,  it is crucial that within our classrooms we are building skill with the important information we have.  As we unpack what is expected of us in the national core curriculum one can easily see an emphasis is placed upon skill development.

Lastly, a tool is an instrument that is going to assist us in building skill and/or relaying relevant and important information.  For example, You Tube, Google Groups or + are tools and not skill or information but the instrument used to relay or develop it the other two areas.

I hope this helps when you are speaking to other individuals about successful technology integration.

Here is a video I created to go into more detail.

How Flipping Supports Our Secretary of Education's Vision

I saw this video from Arnie Duncan on combining services and meeting the needs of the community.  I spoke about how the flipped classroom is a game changer.  Flipping allows all students the opportunity to learn in environments that are supportive. When watching the video please consider how the flip is more than just a movement, it is how we should be supporting our students and their learning.  We are transitioning as a society and our schools are failing.  I feel that the reason they are failing is because we have not properly adjusted our delivery practices to meet the needs of our students.  He makes several points..

Duncan's Video   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuO_nB7WY9w

Just Thankful to Have an Opportunity to Speak!

November Learning Conference in Boston!

Jon Bergmann, Aaron Sams and myself speaking at the BLC11 Conference about the Flipped Classroom.

Video Revolutionizing Education

Article Worth Reading

Stacey Roshan's AP Results!!

Stacey Roshan US News Reports

Great Video On Why A Teacher Should Flip a Classroom

ESchool News Video

ESchool News Video

Why Schools Have to Align Their Resources to Their Students Needs

What would you do if a student did not have some paper to write on? Or a computer to use? Or a light to read by? Parent to help?

The greatest threat to our school children's future is our public schools inability to adjust their practices to meet their students needs.  How can we ask students to do homework in an environment that is so at-risk.  If a school simply reverses their delivery processes so that their students can process and learn directly in their classroom while reviewing information outside of class,  a school can quadruple their support for their students without increasing their costs.  By flipping, an at-risk student can now learn in the same atmosphere as a more affluent student.  This is the answer that we all have been seeking.  This is a game changer.

Flipped Classroom Article #2

A Flipped Classroom: A Full Picture

http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/the-flipped-classroom-model-a-full-picture/

Research on a Blended Learning Environment

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/29/online

Flipped Classroom Articles

I felt that these were some very good articles regarding the flipped classroom.

http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/3367

Flipped Classroom PowerPoint

Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture

View more presentations from Jackie Gerstein

Game Changer!

Using a flipped classroom approach and also integrating current technologies is a game changer!  For the first time in education we finally have equality.  How do we ask at-risk students to do homework at home when many of their homes are already at-risk?  By reversing our processes by giving a video lecture to students the day before and having students do homework in school the next day allows for students to receive the help they need when they are actually doing their work is a game changer for all.  If a student needs help they can receive it.  If they need a computer, they can use one.  If they need to talk to others they can.  Just as any other student, all students now have the opportunity to learn in the same atmosphere as other more affluent students.  By infusing current video making technologies, educators have the potential to place the best teacher units to formulate one fabulous class.   By creating screen capture videos of their lectures,  school districts can use their best teachers to present their best units.  Teachers, if they did not do the presentation would still use it and be responsible for creating an awesome learning environment by develop classroom activities that implement research based strategies and extensive collaboration group.  Now each student has the opportunity to see the best of the best at all times.   This flipped technology integration model is the game changer we have been desperately looking for.

Our Story

Why Flip a School?

Five Factors that Influence Processing Outside of a Classroom

As a result of our 2009-10 senior student interviews, our high school seniors helped us identify the top five factors that directly affected their ability to successfully process information outside of class. We also compared the results of our students who were considered at-risk through our free and reduced lunch application to those students who were not. Our comparison chart represents what was regularly available to our at-risk students and non at-risk students after school.


Availability of Five Factors         At-Risk versus Non At-Risk
Basic Needs                                                            x

Technology                                                             x

Family Core Solidified                                             x

Community Values                                                  x

Expert                                                                    x

Our chart reveals that at-risk students generally struggle in obtaining the five resources that positively affect their ability to grasp, complete, and process information. In addition, it also lends credibility to why we have a low homework completion rate when our free and reduced lunch percentage is at 72% for the 2010-11school year.

It also reveals that when using a traditional delivery and instructional model in an at-risk setting, we are setting students who most vulnerable up to fail. In a traditional setting, we are asking at-risk students to do the majority of their classroom processing at home where they don’t have the necessary tools for a successful outcome. How does an at-risk student create a presentation if they have don’t have a place to study, have a computer or Internet service, and/or live in a community riddled with crime, and that lacks tutors and parents or community leaders to help them study? In a non at-risk environment, most student’s have their needs met in order to help them process and understand complex information and to fulfill their homework requirement. In an at-risk student’s life, school simply ends when the bell sounds.

Flipping Our Instructional Model

The flaw in at-risk schools is their instructional model. It has been built around a traditional delivery model which lacks the outside support that at-risk students desperately need when trying to do their higher-order thinking.

The question still remains: How do at-risk students have their needs met in order to help them excel academically? Where can they get their five basic needs met? Where can they use a computer? Who in their life cares and supports their pursuit of education. Where can they find an expert? The answer: in school!

At-risk schools must properly align the learning platform and delivery system for their at-risk students. At-risk schools must have their school, classroom, and teacher be the primary support mechanism for higher-order thinking and processing in order to increase content understanding and achievement. This is no secret. However, how does a school deliver required content and increase its time to help students process information for better understanding without increasing the cost? The answer is flipping their instructional delivery model.

Educators to Watch

Check Us Out at the Michigan State Capitol

Our Clintondale High School Team  with TechSmith Corporation  presented to the Michigan Department of Education at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan regarding our Flipped High School and the Blended Learning Model.