After attending that really sweet Flipping Physics presentation a few weeks ago, I was left struggling to see how I might be able to "flip" my English or History classrooms in the future. There were questions of what topics to flip, how to flip (video, podcast, readings?), how much time and effort this whole thing would take, and just how would I get my students to do what I asked them, particularly at the middle school level?
In response, I Googled "flipping English" and basically searched until I found myself two teachers who have been flipping their English classes for quite some time. The first flipping English edublogger I found was Thomasson and Morris Flip the English Classroom. They're actually two teachers living across the country from one another, collaborating on their flipped English classrooms! This partnership is probably worthy of an entire blog post in and of itself, but I'll stick to flipping English. They've created a series of videos on a bunch of different topics which you can find on their Youtube channel. What I really liked about their website was how they listed several ideas for what could be flipped in an English classroom based on what they've done or what they've discovered from others. Like I had initially imagined, topics such as grammar and writing are probably easier to flip, even if it's just by audio recordings for students to listen to before class. What still stumps me (and these two teachers) is how to successfully flip reading. I guess you could technically say that asking students to read outside of class is some sort of variation on flipping English, but is there more teachers could be considering? I told them of my concerns for what to do with my future English classes and they replied that they mainly share videos of themselves reading text and walking through the writing process with their students in various segments. Their videos aren't high quality, but I think that makes them endearing and applicable to students (in one video they ask students to describe a famous cat meme for practice with a literary device). Once again, keeping learning relevant and interesting to students is key, particularly if you're asking them to work outside of class to learn the material first. For more specifics on their ideas click here.
I found another really great flipping English teacher named Catlin Tucker, who also happens to be really into technology in the classroom as well (double win!). I still had some questions about using videos and equity in terms of access to computers amongst students should I decide to flip my classroom. One of her posts talked about the utility of TedEd in creating a flipped classroom. The possibilities with that program sound great, and I know one group who's doing their webinar on TedEd, so I think I'll leave it up to them to tell us all about it. I like the option of selecting videos that are already made on the web because they require less time on my part preparing and editing, particularly if they are really great for my students learning. But, if we assign videos to watch every night, what about the students who don't have access to internet or a computer for whatever reason? I asked her about that in my comment on her TedEd post and she divulged a great idea. While she has never really struggled with equity issues because of her school's scheduling (students can use the libraries computers on off days from class), but she also compiles a Google map embedded in her website that identifies all the locations on campus and in the community where students can find computers and internet for free! I really like this idea and am thinking about even printing off copies for students in my classroom next year depending on where I end up teaching! Catlin's website has so much to offer teachers, especially in terms of technology and helpful hints to make the inclusion of technology in our classrooms that much simpler; I plan on bookmarking her site for future reference!
I'm quite thankful for the internet for assisting me in finding these lovely edubloggers who are also interested in (and actually implementing) flipping their English classrooms particularly since I was feeling a little lost after seeing how cool the concept was in a Physics classroom. These teachers showed me a number of possibilities that I had not thought of before, and I'm eager to continue checking in with them to see how it's going. This is a great example of the collaboration that should exist between teachers; we can and should be seeking each other out in order to learn about new ideas and practices to facilitate our students learning.
