Want to see active, effective, and productive learning? Flip your classroom!
When we say flip your classroom, we don’t mean it literally!
I’m sure many parents have experienced their children coming home complaining about their homework saying, “It’s so hard!” and so they don’t complete it. If your child does this and lacks interest or struggles with learning, this could be a lot more difficult for them as they would be unable to grasp concepts.
Students are expected to watch videos or learn content through videos or presentations at home at their own pace and time, and assignments are completed in class instead to delve deeper in their mind and establish a profound understanding. The complete opposite of a normal classroom, right?
In the flipped scenario, the tortoise and the hare finish at the same pace. So let us find out how and why the flipped classroom is every child’s savior as no child gets left behind!
Time to look into some advantages of a Flipped Classroom.
- There is more one-to-one time between teacher and student.
This is extremely valuable as teachers can give each student the appropriate attention required. It allows them to individually clear their doubts and seek help in certain areas of difficulty.
2. Flexibility is a possibility!
Since students are allowed to learn at their own pace of comfort, there is no longer the constant pressure of having to “keep up” with the rest of their classmates. Neither is there a feeling of embarrassment if they ask a doubt they think others would find “stupid”. If students also feel like they haven’t understood a topic well, they have the freedom to revisit the videos anytime.
3. It encourages students to come to class prepared.
How does this happen you may ask? Well, there is no escaping the teacher by avoiding eye contact or pretending to find a pen in your bag. Every child is expected to demonstrate their understanding in class through interactive sessions and activities.
4. More collaboration time for students.
Collaborative learning activities could increase student engagement, improve student understanding, and enlighten their temple of knowledge as students would share different perspectives with each other. This is usually done through team building activities such as debates and discussions.
5. Subject matter content becomes infinitely richer.
A flipped classroom can be described as multiple streams of knowledge flowing into a river. This basically means that students are provided with multiple sources of information as well as perspectives that would nurture a profound understanding in a subject.
6. No time to bunk class!
Since students are learning the content at home, attending classes is a MUST because they would feel the need to clear their doubts. Even if a child misses class due to sickness, they wouldn’t have to worry about missing an important lesson.
Here’s a quick and easy 6-step guide to implement this in your classroom!
A quick guide you must abide by.
Make a plan: Identify a particular topic you want to flip and outline learning outcomes you would want students to acquire by the end of the lesson.
Record or Search: Now, it’s time to create your own video by recording yourself teaching the lesson. If you’re camera conscious, no worries! You could always find a relevant and appropriate video online that is best suited for your lesson.
Don’t forget to share!: Share the video or presentations with your students. Make sure the video is clear, concise, and creative. You don’t want them sleeping off.
Change: After the students have watched the lessons, it’s time to change things up and bring them back to class where you can observe how much knowledge they have grasped.
Group them up!: Divide the class into groups and assign a task for them to engage in for example a debate, or a group presentation, or maybe even a song. Let them go crazy with creativity!
Regroup: Bring the class back together to present each group’s work with everyone. Don’t forget to ask questions, kick start a discussion, and maybe even play with their minds if you have to but it is important to figure out where to help each student.
A brief tour into the benefits of a flipped classroom for teachers and students.
Flipped classrooms help students of all abilities to exceed in class due to customized active learning. It diminishes the stereotype of back-benchers as EVERYONE has to participate. This encourages a sense of proactiveness, preparedness, and responsibility. Lecture videos help students review for exams much easier because they wouldn’t struggle to find and make last-minute notes as everything is readily available.
For teachers, it allows them to understand their students better. It destroys the barrier between a student and their teacher as it makes the class transparent. It also fulfills every teacher’s dream of an interactive class full of mind-stimulating activities and discussions.
Now, of course, we can not fail to mention how it benefits parents! Throw your worry out the window and schedule a pamper session because your children will now be ready to embrace responsibility and independence.
No more excuses to not do homework anymore, what a pleasant surprise!
Urge your teachers to flip their classrooms and don’t forget to leave a comment and share if you were enlightened by this article!
