Two “Flipped Classroom” Gurus Share Some Pointers

In this helpful Kappan article, Colorado high-school science teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams say their journey into “flipping” classes began with a simple question: What is the best use of face-to-face time with students? “We concluded that students need us most when they were wrestling to understand a difficult concept or problem,” say Bergmann and Sams. “This wrestling match often happened at home when we were unavailable to help students as they constructed their understanding.” In 2007, they decided that lecturing was not a good use of classroom time and began recording videos of content presentations, asked students to watch them at home, and then worked with kids on challenging problems and applications in class. 

Bergmann and Sams believe flipping can be done well and it can be done badly. Here are five key elements to success:

• A network – It’s hard to do this work alone. If teachers don’t have like-minded colleagues in their school, they might try www.flippedclassroom.org, a site where over 9,000 educators are discussing and collaborating on the concept.

• Support from administrators – “We have seen the most remarkable change happen when leadership – whether at the school or district level – embraces a flipped classroom approach and provides professional development, resources, and a willingness to embrace change for the sake of students,” say Bergmann and Sams.

• Support from the IT department – Skillful technology administrators are essential to showing teachers the best and easiest way to post their videos.

• Time – “Our general rule of thumb is to allow 30 minutes to create a 10-minute video,” say Bergmann and Sams. And videos don’t have to be perfect. Before teachers get started, it’s helpful to attend a one- or two-day flipped learning workshop followed by a one-day training on screen-casting.

• Thoughtful educators – There isn’t one right way to flip a class, and teachers need to tailor the approach to their content and personality. 

“Flipped learning is a method developed by teachers for teachers,” conclude the authors, “a grassroots movement gaining traction with the ones who have the real power to change education: classroom instructors… We are excited to see where this will go and how teachers will uniquely answer the ONE question.” 

“Before You Flip, Consider This” by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams in Phi Delta Kappan, October 2012 (Vol. 94, #2, p. 25), http://www.kappanmagazine.org

From the Marshall Memo #457