I heard about the flipped classroom concept about two years ago and quickly recognized the benefits. At the time I was a third grade teacher so I knew it would take significant time to prepare everything needed to flip my classroom. So, it got put on the back burner until I was moved to the middle school the following year. Once in the middle school it didn't take me long before I was talking with my principal, seeking the permission I felt I needed to change my teaching methods to this style. Initially he wasn't thrilled with the idea and many fellow teachers thought I had made a mistake in seeking permission. They may be right but I knew having the principal's support would make my efforts go more smoothly.
That February I attended PETE & C, a technology conference for teachers and had the opportunity to listen to Aaron Sams speak. If I wasn't sold on the flipped classroom concept before his keynote speech I certainly was after. I was so interested in flipping my classroom I attend Sams breakout session and every session I could find on the flipped classroom concept. I returned to school determined to flip my classroom! I was certain I could get my principal's support and had a solution to every possible challenge he saw in this method. Finally, I gave him a copy of Aaron Sams book, Flip Your Classroom. An encouraging dialogue began with my principal as he read through the book. Then, it became a district supported initiative! This was a wonderful coincidence that helped my principal turn his concerns into support. Almost overnight he was asking me what I needed to get started with flipping my classroom.
Before school ended that year I was equipped with a Wacom Bamboo tablet which allowed me to write out mathematical problems and digitally record to be able to demonstrate to my students in the instructional videos I create. During the summer our district's technology director surprised me with Camtasia software that makes the job of recording and editing those recordings tremendously easier than any screen capturing software I've used before.
It was time for me to start creating instructional videos for my students. Since this is my second year in 6th grade I already had my lessons created, complete with flipcharts created with my ActivInspire software. Those lessons have saved me a lot of time and energy because they give me the foundation for each instructional video I record.
However, recording my lessons and getting them posted in a format easily accessible for my students was another challenge. My first challenge was technical difficulties with the Camtasia software and/or the internal mic on my computer. Every time I recorded my voice sounded robotic and slow. Thankfully I found that if I used an external mic the problem was solved. So now my students get to see me wearing a headset with attached mic, making me look like officially tech-ed out. :-)
My district had established Moodle as a place for us to house our digital curriculum. So, learning moodle became a new challenge for me. Honestly, at this point I was feeling a bit stressed out since the school year had begun and I felt the need to quickly learn the new tools I had been given so that I could get my flipped classroom up and running. I had an idea of how I wanted my course designed for my students and initially I couldn't figure out how to make it happen. Thankfully I stumbled upon an online moodle course that answered most of my questions.
I continue to learn new things to improve the implementation of my flipped classroom and I have more ideas for improvements but I'm trying to be patient. I remind myself that every year I make improvements to what I had done the previous year and that this flipped classroom is no exception. Will I be rerecording many of my videos? Absolutely! Do I plan to introduce more "center" work in the classroom? I think so. All of this takes time, which I don't have an unlimited supply of so I will keep plodding along doing the best I can with the time I do have.
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