Flip Teaching Entrance Slip

I had the chance to hear and experience flip teaching during one of the school visits to Burnaby South.  This was the first time I had ever heard about it and my initial reaction contained a lot of mixed feelings.  I think I had these mixed feelings just because it was such an extreme change, basically going from one end of the spectrum to the other.  After being exposed to it a bit more my current opinion is all for flip teaching.  There are simply too many benefits with very little cons.  The biggest argument that swayed my opinion was the fact that students can go at their own pace and are able to pause and repeat lectures.  This would have been helpful for me because I remember times when the teacher covered the material way to fast for my ability.  Also I remember times when the teacher was way to slow!  Flip teaching allows for students to get ahead easier as well.  There are of course many other benefits that the TED talk explains pretty clearly so I wont go into detail about those.

I think people against flip teaching would ask or argue as to how you deal with students who don't watch the videos?  Or what do you do if a student has no access to the internet?

For students who don't watch the video you can set them aside with a laptop and get them to watch the video within the first 10-15 mins of class, or you can get the "stronger" students to peer tutor the ones who didn't watch the video.  Of course you would have to lay down some ground rules so that it doesn't happen frequently.

If a student has no access to internet you can put the videos on a usb, dvd, dropbox.  Or set up a buddy system.

Does flip teaching actually work?  It sounds great on paper, but does it translate to a practical setting? I would have to assume so as the stats and numbers are already there to back it up.  But I think only time will tell the efficacy of flip teaching.

With online courses, technology, and schools like the Khan academy becoming more prevalent I think our roles as teachers almost become more of a coach/mentor type role.  Unless we are making the videos ourselves then the "lecture" aspect of teaching still remains, it's just not in the classroom itself.  Basically we would become more of a coach because the students will have already learned the skills or materials, they will already have the knowledge, but now you have to guide, encourage, and aid them in applying these skills.

Also, the game-like implementation in the Khan academy with the mind-map and the point/badge system is clearly a great motivational tool as almost every child or young adult enjoys video games.

It's interesting, exciting, and a little bit scary to think that one day we may have a "global, one world classroom."

Entrance Slip

"It is important that teachers understand the positive as well as the possible negative consequences of praising students. A compliment should be meaningful and should not be granted indiscriminately because, if given too readily and too freely it may lose its significance."

To be a tactful teacher you need to be able to instantly identify the pro's and con's of a given situation or action, and deal with it in a considerate, thoughtful, practical way.  Praising is a common form of positive feedback for students, and I'm sure there is a proper place and time for it, but we need to be aware of some of the negative consequences that can come along with it as well.  I remember in high school I got 97% on my first chemistry test and the teacher stood out in front of the whole class and said congratulations to Mr.McClellan for receiving the top mark in the class.  While it felt good to be recognized, it wasn't necessarily "cool," and other students didn't fare too well with it.  I don't really know how to combat the issue of praise as it seems vital to me that we recognize students who are improving or succeeding, but how can we do so without putting too big of spotlight on them?  My initial thought was to give praise in private but Manen argues that "while a teacher may compliment a student privately, the compliment is more strongly felt when it is conferred in public, in the presence of others."  So I find myself a bit confused as to the tactful approach to this scenario.

"On the one hand, our actions are sedimented into habituations, routines, kinesthetic memories. We do things in response to the rituals of the situation in which we find ourselves. On the other hand, our actions are sensitive to the contingencies, novelties, and expectancies of our world."

 As teachers, we can only prepare ourselves for a limited amount of common situations.  But our world has to many novelties and contingencies to be able to prepare for all situations.  It is in these unexpected, or non-practiced, situations that our tact and practical wisdom take over.  How can we develop our tact when it is something that is so instantaneous and unpredictable?  How can we know what to do in a given situation if we have never experienced it, or been informed of it?  I think general field experience is the only way to develop tact.  You can only do so much in the classroom.

"Beginning teachers often seem to feel the tension or the poor fit between what they learned about teaching and what they discover is required in the practice of teaching."

This quote caught my attention simply because it is directly aimed at beginning teachers, which is what I am.  I am interested to see the major differences between the theory and ideas brought up in our program versus actually implementing them in a practical setting.  I think we are soon going to realize that what we have written down on paper isn't going to translate as nicely as expected.  Within our first 'real' lessons I assume our practical wisdom and tact will be put to the test immediately.  I look forward to my practicum as I think that being in the field is the only way to develop practical wisdom and tact.  

Exit Slip - Performing arts in Math?

I think connecting and incorporating the performing arts into mathematics is a great concept even though it is still hard for me to wrap my head around.  In particular I think it would help a lot of "math phobic" students as it is more engaging and offers a different perspective.  Performing arts can hit kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners all at once but the challenge for me is how do think outside the box and incorporate this into our math lessons?  Luckily for us there are numerous, applicable resources online!

My group in particular looked at the math bridges website which we found very unique and there was even lesson plans/ways to do their activities in our classrooms!  One example included building a do-deck-ahedron using pieces of cardboard or a deck of cards.  This group project was collaborative, engaging, and had direct applications to geometry.  There was also a template of how to do bring it into our classrooms.  I look forward to using these "non-standard" lessons into my own teaching and can hopefully challenge the negative reputation that math has acquired over the years.      

Taking a look back at my highschool career and now knowing that math can be interdisciplinary and multi-modal, I honestly don't know how I found math interesting at all!

Entrance Slip - A shift from grading to an emphasis of learning

After reading Sarte and Hughs article, one particular idea that stood out for me was stated by Clinkenbeard

"Instead she recommends a move towards an environment in which learning is seen as an end in itself and feelings of competence are found through personal improvement" 

This reminded me of a school visit to Burnaby South where one of the teachers handed out multiplication tables at the beginning of class and they had five minutes to fill in as much as they could.  He didn't put any emphasis on their scores, instead, all he emphasized was whether they were individually improving or not.  If students filled in the entire time table within the five minutes he would challenge them to finish it faster.   Clinkenbeard also says that letter grades produce unwanted competition between students and that we can overcome this through use of comments.  Even though this unwanted competition was something I found highly motivating throughout highschool, this is clearly not the case for every student.  One of the purposes of grades is to provide feedback for the students which is of course a positive thing.  However, I would have to argue/agree with Clinkenbeard that comments provide feedback as well, but in a more specific and beneficial way.  This got me thinking that maybe instead of giving letter grades or percentages we could have some sort of charting system where students could see whether they improved, stayed the same, or worsened as well as providing them with feedback.

Some unintended side effects and one of the main arguments against grading in Sarte and Hughes article was that tests and grading causes high levels of stress in students and we as teachers should try to alleviate this.  While I agree with this, I am sure we have all experienced the stress that comes from a provincial exam or a midterm worth fifty percent of your mark, I would have to argue that a certain amount of stress is healthy.  Also, as students enter the "real world" they will face extremely stressful situations. High school can be a precursor to prepare them for some of these situations they will inevitably face.  As teachers, we need to find a healthy balance of not too much , but not too little.

Also, as secondary educators it is one of our jobs to prepare our students for post secondary education.  To my knowledge, colleges and university are still placing high values on grades.  So how can we give accurate assessments to these colleges and universities without adhering to their own ways of assessing?

As said above, my "student bird" thoughts on grades were positive,  especially in highschool.  I enjoyed the competition it created.  Letter grades let myself, my parents, and my fellow colleagues know where I stood.  My "teacher bird" thoughts on the other hand differ a bit.  I still think grading is necessary just because post secondary education relies so heavily on it, but in terms of actual learning, I don't think it is the best form of assessment.  I think most students would appreciate a verbal or written comment instead of a percentage or letter grade.  So while we are forced to give out percentages and grades because universities require them, we can also give better feedback in the form of comments.  This is something I will try to incorporate in my teaching.

Can I imagine a math or physics class without grades? No, I think it will be way to hard to break the cemented approach of grading and I also think it will be way to hard to motivate students otherwise.  Sarte and Hughes say they accomplished this by giving choice to students about learning topics.  But can we get away with that all the time?  I think our curriculum is to restricted to be able to give students a range of topics they can study out of their own interest?

Also, I have coached for four years now and every single year I find that most of my athletes are motivated because its simply something they enjoy doing.  Yet I still find that putting a reward or punishment gives them the necessary motivation needed.  For example, I might say, "losing team owes me twenty pushups."  Something as simple as that will get them to play at a higher level even though they are already motivated because it was their choice to play.  I don't know if I am making my point clear, but basically giving students a choice of their interest may provide motivation but adding in that letter grade or percentage pushes them to the level they need to be.  

Overall I found the article extremely interesting and I am not even sure where I fall on the spectrum of grading or no grading.  One thing I can say is that I think our society relies on grades far too heavily.  Sure a 95% student looks good on paper but can you really judge a person just based on that information?