Guest post by Michael Lutz @LutzEducation

Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

The idea behind it

In the classical classroom, as the students are used to it, the elaboration takes place or the theory is explained in the lesson and then at home the tasks are solved, strengthened and consolidated. Depending on the teacher, the knowledge transfer is often done with teacher-centered teaching. In the flipped classroom, the elaboration/preparation is done at home and the tasks and exercises are solved together in class. The input at home is often given in the form of an explanatory video.

Procedure

First, I explained the concept of flipped classrooms to my students and highlighted the advantages: short preparation time at home, collaborative working and solving the tasks in class. 

In my chemistry classes, I have found that the class time of 45 min is often not enough: the students leave my classroom and go to the science lab together with me. There is a theory part and then practical experimentation: Reading and understanding the experimental set-up, getting material from the cupboards, setting up the experiment, performing it, evaluating it and documenting it. And now it’s already time to tidy up again. This situation is unsatisfactory for me and my students! That’s why I chose to have a go with the flipped classroom concept. My students read the experimental setups at home and watch the theory and experiments through video clips. They prepare the lesson at home. 

As soon as the class arrived in the chemistry room, 15 out of 20 students immediately started setting up the experiments. 5 stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do. They had not prepared the lesson. I presented them with the chemistry book and they had to work out the knowledge theoretically with the books, while their classmates were full of joy experimenting. A week later: everyone was prepared and the time in class could be spent experimenting.

I applied this concept to some of my math lessons as well. As an assignment, I gave them an educational video that I peppered with questions on the topic of solving equations with one variable: Fast-forwarding or skipping was not possible. Multiplechoice and short-text questions explained two equation transformations, and I quizzed their knowledge 9 times. Before my classes came to the math lessons, I studied the answers and data. This way, even before the first person entered my classroom, I knew about the stumbling blocks and what had been successful.

One class was immediately able to begin solving the problems in partnership, and I clarified comprehension questions with two students. Afterwards, they also started working with their classmates. With the other class there were bigger gaps and at the beginning of the lesson I had to discuss the difficulties and build up understanding in a teacher-centered way. Afterwards, the work on the tasks was done collaboratively.

After 20 min of intensive and concentrated work in partnership, I then conducted a learning review. A new, still unknown equation, which was a bit more difficult than the two in the explanatory videos, had to be worked on. Out of 43 students, 41 solved it correctly and one student declared with shining eyes, ” Mr. Lutz, now I finally understand. Thank you so much!”

Advantages and disadvantages of flipped classroom

In a normal lesson, the teacher sets the pace. For some students, the pace is too slow, for others, too fast. In addition, some students would need a little more time or repetition. They leave the lesson and first have to process what they have heard at home or teach themselves again; parents know what I am talking about ;-). The teacher then asks them to solve tasks where they would need support. However, no one is there (except maybe the class chat where the solutions are posted). That’s not how I understand the learning process.

In the flipped classroom concept, the input is done at home. It can be paused and repeated. When working on the tasks in class, classmates are present in the classroom as experts and I as the teacher can intervene and support. If students do not prepare for the lesson, their knowledge gap will increase as the weeks go by. Watching a video at home is not enough, because it is not possible to check the level of knowledge and understanding. This data is important to me as a teacher because I want to build my teaching on it. That’s why I use video tools, which I can combine with my digital formative learning assessments. Also, I have designated a digital place where my students can put questions and things they don’t understand. These things serve as lesson starters and help me have insight into my students’ learning. Introverted students enjoy this way of working because it allows them to participate in the lesson in a safe environment.

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Guest post by Dr. Michael Harvey

As part of preparing students for external examinations, I have been asking them about how they approach answering exam-style questions. It is something that we as educators sometimes take for granted that approaching the solving of these types of questions is actually a skill all in itself. From the student’s feedback, it was clear they were lacking a clear strategy in tackling these types of questions. 

One approach that I have been introducing the students to the use of computational thinking to develop a strategy to solve long answer style questions, especially those involving calculations. Before a problem can be tackled, the problem itself and the ways in which it could be solved need to be understood. Computational thinking allows us to do this. Computational thinking allows us to take a complex problem, understand what the problem is and develop possible solutions.  

There are four key techniques to computational thinking: 

Decomposition – breaking down a problem into small more manageable parts.

Pattern recognition – looking for similarities within or among problems

Abstraction – focusing on important information only, ignoring irrelevant detail.

Algorithms – developing a step-by-step solution to the problem or the rules to follow to solve the problem.

Each technique is as important as the others. They are like legs on a table – if one leg is missing, the table will probably collapse. Correctly applying all four techniques will help when solving exam-style questions.

A complex problem is one that, at first glance, we don’t know how to solve easily. Students tend to try to solve the problem in one step and become frustrated when this approach fails.

So in summary, computational thinking involves taking that complex problem and breaking it down into a series of small, more manageable problems (decomposition). Each of these smaller problems can then be looked at individually, considering how similar problems have been solved previously (pattern recognition) and focusing only on the important details while ignoring irrelevant information (abstraction). Next, simple steps or rules to solve each of the smaller problems can be designed (algorithms). Finally, these simple steps or rules are used to help solve the complex problem in the best way.

So let us look at an example of how this approach can be used to solve a Physics problem.

Step 1: Break down into simpler steps. We are looking for the power, but we have been given information on the specific heat capacity, so it involves two concepts, electrical power, and specific heat capacity. So let us break the question into two.

Step 2: Pattern recognition. Write down the formulae involved in the two concepts. P = E/t and Q = mcΔT 
Also that the electrical energy used to heat the heater is equivalent to the heat energy released by the aluminum block so Q = E.
With this in mind, we can start working through the problem by focusing on step 3.
Step 3: Abstract the important points from the question by highlighting them on the paper.

The metal block has a mass of 2.7 kg. The metal of the block has a specific heat capacity of 900 J/kg/°C. In 2 min 30s, the temperature of the block increases from 21°C

 to 39 

°C.
So we have a mass, a specific heat capacity, a time, and a change in temperature. Looking at our equations, what part of the problem can we solve first? The thermal heat capacity as we can solve this with Q = mcΔT as we have all the variables.
This leaves us to the last step – working through the calculations stepwise. We solve for Q as we can input the mass, specific heat capacity, and change in temperature. Once we have found Q, we know E = Q, so this can be imputed into the power equation P = E/t and the question can be solved by using the time information provided in the question (remembering to convert to seconds).

The use of computational thinking approaches is an effective way to help students work through questions so that the process is not too overwhelming and helps them develop strategies to deal with complex problems which can arise. Through supporting and scaffolding students with these types of strategies it reduces extraneous cognitive load and allows students to maintain focus and succeed at these style of questions.

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Guest post Deidreroemer

Something I have really missed over the last year has been gatherings at the table. I love to cook and bake for family and friends. I love long lingering meals in the backyard and big family dinners. I love family-style meals with my work family in our office. I have been thinking a lot about why I miss those so much. It the sense of community that I feel in those moments. It means something that people take the time to gather, take the time to prepare food for each other, and pause whatever else is going on to sit and listen to one another. A shared meal is a community experience that brings people together in a beautiful way. I had the honor of being invited to a bake-off with a class of third graders a few weeks ago. I couldn’t stay the whole time, but I was able to be there at the start. I watched almost fifty young people in an online session that were so excited to be there. Nearly every student had their camera on and enthusiastically asked questions, mostly all at once as third graders do when they are excited.  

Two classes started doing bake-offs together during emergency remote teaching to continue to build community no matter what the circumstances. They have continued doing shared activities around food or other common interests that are amazing. As we moved to a hybrid model, one of the teachers wanted to continue that work, so she asked if she could get bread machines for their classroom. She wrote this wonderful blog post about the experience of baking together as a community with a focus on the skills the learners are gaining through the process.  

What stuck out to me the most was how it all started. Last spring, I was watching our families post things online about how they were teaching their young children to cook, doing home repair projects, building and making things, and participating in the #epictomatochallenge with the extra time at home. We wanted to find a way to take everything our teachers, learners, and families were doing from home and tie it to their school experience. Our teachers found new passions and spent time doing the things they were already passionate about. Our learners were developing new interests or perfecting things that they were already passionate about. We wanted to find a way to live our strategic plan, empower our learners to share their interests with us, and engage some learners who were starting to disconnect.  

We have been working for the last several years on embedding the Deeper Learning competencies into every single classroom as our way to prepare our learners to live life on their own terms after graduation. The competencies focus on the skills needed for life success- content mastery, communication, problem-solving, collaboration, self-direction, and most importantly, having an academic mindset, which means feeling such a strong sense of belonging that you want to push yourself to try new things and work hard to achieve your goals. We always look for ways to move that work forward and have seen pockets of unbelievable success over the last few years. Watching the way our community united around the tomato challenge and watching what was happening at home on social media prompted us to move to a four-year-old kindergarten through twelfth-grade passion project. 

It was amazing to see the increase in school attendance, the incredible things our learners and families worked on together, and the shared experience across an entire community. We had learners gardening, making movies, participating in online challenges, doing home repair projects, cooking, learning about broadcasting, and many, many more. While our learners were investing their own interests, they were also learning to start with an idea, get feedback from the teachers and other experts, ask probing questions, iterate again and again, write lengthy reflections, use new technology tools to share their knowledge, and produce artifacts about what they had learned that they were very proud to share with an authentic audience. It is that learning experience, tied to academic standards, that we want them to have every day. Watching the momentum of that project carry over into this school year has been inspiring.  

Our staff started sending me copies of their own passion projects last spring. They were doing some new things and some things that they have always loved. Watching adults articulate their learning process with reflections while they learned how to use new technology tools to share what they had learned was fantastic. It became a shared process for learners and staff. It pushed all staff, including teachers, educational assistants, school leaders, and our facilities staff, to share parts of themselves with our learners and invite our learners to do the same. We are always looking for access points to move our Deeper Learning work forward. This became an amazing window for staff and learners to see the power of authentic, learner-driven work.  

I received a lot of feedback on the projects and the whole process and still do almost a year later. Some of the families’ feedback was that their learner needed a more structured learning method, and therefore this was not working for them. Some shared that they were worried about the level of rigor involved. Some were concerned that our teachers had not had enough training in project-based learning to ensure standards were embedded. Many families and learners thanked us for taking a step that helped their child feel empowered. One parent shared that she started the project concerned about rigor and ended up watching her child learn many new skills, build his confidence, stretch himself to do more and more, and connect to his father through common interests. She saw the academic success he experienced in many different ways by the time his first project was done.  He went on to do several more throughout the summer and fall. That learner started something at school that inspired him to connect and go deeper- so powerful.   

Staff also shared some equally thought-provoking reflections. Many of them started the process being frustrated that they were asked to make a shift during such an uncertain time but ended up inspired by what our learners could do. They started to talk about how the strategies they would use to empower our students identified as gifted and talented were the same ones they should be using with our learners identified as having special education needs. One teacher wanted to learn about digital storytelling to engage and deepen the learning for “advanced” students and discovered that she would use the same method to create innovative ways to engage reluctant readers. Another teacher shared she felt overwhelmed at the start of the project but watched her learners come alive as it moved along. She shared that one learner wanted to learn about broadcasting. This led to a new connection with the band teacher, who also knows a lot about sound engineering. He worked collaboratively with the learner and teacher to share what he knows and connected the learner to a local expert who does a professional podcast for the GreenBay Packers for an online meeting to learn more. This kind of cross-curricular, authentic learning was happening for thousands of learners across our community.  

One of our leaders, who was new to us last year, had such inspiring reflection as he was reviewing the learners’ projects and writing about them for his own blog. He chose to review the projects from one of our Advanced Placement courses.  He shared:

“That is when I had my a-ha moment. It didn’t matter what student I picked. I didn’t have to think hard and critically about what students would or wouldn’t look good on the blog. They all had a helpful, reflective, communicative project that they did with fidelity. You couldn’t tell a “5” student on their exam to “1”, or an “A” student to a “B”.

This is what the vision should be not for 70 students, but 1000. This is what Central should strive for. I should be able to go into any classroom, any period, and I wouldn’t notice SPED, remedial, or different opportunities. All students would have access and output that would be equitable. It was a powerful feeling for myself.”

All feedback is important as it informs our practice.  Our goal is never to make sure every learner has the same experience. It is that we find a way for the right learning experience for each learner at every moment we can. As we create more access points for our learners to become empowered, we will find the right ones for each learner over time.  It will always mean balancing structured activities, lectures, and a more traditional approach to teaching combined with multiple ways to investigate, explore, try, fail, and try again with opportunities to share what they know and get feedback.  Finding the right balance, being patient with the time it may take, and ensuring the learners have the skills needed to create their own pathway with our support is what creates an empowered learner experience.    

The number of staff members who sent us videos, reflections, and samples of learner projects was impressive. They were so proud of their learning communities that they sent emails, posted things on social media, and have used what they had learned in planning instruction for the future. That community of bakers grew out of some of the moments we shared as a community last spring that they will remember for a lifetime. The power in that is immeasurable.  

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks