A Few Gifts in December

For the past few months I have been loving what is going on in my classroom. In December, students were doing on some great, inquiry/project based learning.

Western Civilization students worked in groups to create an Art Gallery Tour, answering the question, "How did the Renaissance bring us both back to the past and into the future?" Students used Power Point, Prezi, or Google Presentation to put together the works of art and then use www.screecast-o-matic.com to narrate the screencast. I talked a little about the Explore-Flip-Apply approach I used with this here. The products were great. I was really pleased with their command of the content. I also like how some of their personalities came through in the tours, like this one.

My United States history course, had followed more of a "flipped-101" style. Now that we have progressed through the year, I wanted to step it up. We briefly went through information on Manifest Destiny. To get the students to process the information and create something meaningful, I turned to this awesome post, 15 Assessments that Don't Suck. I decided to use the Notecard Confessions assessment. I found it very valuable to have students approach Texas Independence and the Mexican-American War from the perspective of Mexico. It was so nice to come alongside groups, checking in and encouraging them to add more in various areas. It really helped students to not settle for the result being "good enough." But instead they know I am there to push them and support them to do their best.

Flipped History Google Hangouts

I work in a school where I practically the entire Social Studies Department. I crave collaboration. Twitter has been a wonderful gift in that regard. About a year ago, I noticed a link to a Flipped History discussion. I even sat and watched several, either live or posted on YouTube. Since then I have been invited to participate in them and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a great group of educators and I love the opportunity to discuss what is going on in my classroom and get new ideas.

One of the more interesting trends of these discussions is that we all claim to be be "flipped" history teachers but we all have a different way of implementing it. I think it speaks to the truth that the flipped classroom is a mindset, not a strict list of rules. I think most of us started with Flipped 101 and then it evolved into the various ways we help the students take more ownership in their education. I think it develops differently for each of us based on our personalities and the students we serve.

Below you'll can check out some of the Hangouts I have been a part of.

"Just in Time" Learning and Part-Time Flipping

It has been awhile since my last update. Last time I was wrestling with helping my students find balance. They are overwhelmed with school and the National History Day projects. As far as the Middle Ages project, I did some "traditional" lecturing for two days instead of having students research and dig for information from a variety of resources. And then I had them actively apply it in project format. I gave them the choice of a board game, timeline, or European trip itinerary. Students could chose what project interested them and what felt manageable in terms of their strengths. They could work alone or in groups. I was able to lighten the load of the timeline student by directing them to this awesome tool. I felt happy about the "compromise." Although the accumulating information was teacher-driven, the application allowed the students to process the information and included student-choice.

For the next short chapter, I went back to the way I had been teaching it for years. Basically, in the past it had been a really fun unit for the students and resulted in learning. We had "Oprah: Crisis in the Church" skits, a Black Plague simulation, and a history bowl. It also helped keep homework loads light as students were working toward a big deadline for the NHD project. I was feeling a little guilty about not flipping this unit, but in the #flipping20 chat on Twitter, @kennybosch talked about the idea of Part-Time flipping, which he discussed in a chapter of the Flipping 2.0 book (Kenny's blog and book ordering information here). Basically, it boils down to the fact that you don't have to flip every unit. Just give it a try, get started, and you might find it works better for some units and not others.

Now we are back to flipping. I would call it flipped inquiry, but it is also taking on traits of Explore-Flip-Apply. My approach is based off of a Google Hangout I had with other flipped history teachers, in particular, @phillige. Students are trying to answer the question, "how did the Renaissance bring people both back to the past and into the future?" Students have been exploring websites and watching some videos to uncover the answer to that question. As they were exploring today, trying to come up with solid examples of "past" and "future," I was getting a lot of common questions. I talked over those key points aloud. But this is where the flip is needed. I plan to make a screencast going over those points I said in class today. Why make a video of it? Firstly, students researching at computers aren't always the best listeners. Secondly, maybe they didn't need that information yet. Carolyn Durley's awesome post talked about providing "just in time learning," rather than "just in case learning." Students are learning at different speeds. I noticed some kids struggling in the lab today, but some may not have been struggling yet and may need that information later. When I said it in the lab today, it may not have been relevant to those students. Even for the students that needed it at that moment, maybe they will need it again later. So I will "flip" that lecture, not because I planned to, but because that is what these students needed. Next, they will work to apply their knowledge by answering the focus question through an Art Gallery Tour. I look forward to seeing the results.

Enjoy the links above. The Flipped Community is about sharing, I would not be in this place, if it weren't for the inspiration of my Personal Learning Network (PLN). #thanksgiving

National History Day and Flipped Class Doubts

This is my first year ever, being involved in National History Day. I have been aware of it since my teacher ed days. The focus this year for our school's Open House is history, so I though it would be a great opportunity to try it out (kind of like a Science Fair for history). I attended a workshop about it a few weeks ago at the University of Washington and that only got me more excited. I love the historical, critical thinking skills it develops. NHD's website has many great resources for teachers. I am getting students started on it now and even tried to break it down nicely for them, handing out a weekly timeline from now until the end of January (the due date).

In stress surveys I handed out this week (something we are trying to do weekly for each of our classes this year), many students were positive. Saying they were nervous about the project, but appreciated the break down I gave them today. However, just one student wrote some nasty words to me, including "why are we doing this, again?" Ouch, it stings.

So now I start thinking about priorities. How do I continue in my "flipped" classroom? I have been planning for the upcoming Middle Ages unit already. I wanted them to crowd source information and then in groups make a Medieval Game of "Life" or "Monopoly." But I'm worried. Is the thought of another project, granted, mostly in-class, going push them over the edge? Do I resort to passive, teacher-centered lessons? Is there some happy medium in-between?

A Quick Update

I know that I rarely have a brief post, but I am really going to try with this one. I haven't updated in awhile because the craziness of the school year is in full swing!

Western Civilization--For Greece we looked at this article from "The Onion." It claimed that Greece was made up my historians, there is no way that one Ancient Civilization did all those things that have such a lasting impact on us today. We built some schema and then students researched and presented on a particular area they were interested in. It was successful, but I heard the first rumblings of dissatisfaction from a student that prefers to hear lectures (he is a motivated student that loves history). I did explain my aversion to lecturing and he seemed to understand. So, now with Rome, I am doing a few more "teacher-directed" things and we'll see how it goes. So far, I don't like it.

US History--After taking some time to model, we are getting in the full swing of Flipped 101. Students are watching some lectures at home and it opens up time to do some great stuff in class. What stuff? Check out this and this from this awesome site.

Teacher's Convention--Last week I attended the NWCSI convention of Christian school teachers from around Washington and British Columbia. I presented on the flipped classroom. I was really happy with the turn-out, the great questions, and overall enthusiasm from teachers in the room. I was worried I would have a room full of skeptics that might "attack," but that was not the case.

Wow, I really was brief! Check out those great links and I hope to update you on my slightly more "teacher-centered" Rome unit soon.

Student Ownership

One of the main principles of the flipped classroom is student ownership. Students should own the content by being more active in discovering and learning it. The teacher should step aside in order to guide and coach students.

This week I continued my flipped inquiry teaching. Students were to decide who was the "greatest" of ancient, Mesopotamian civilizations. They began in teams of their own choosing and researched their civilization. Again, this went well. I checked in often, guiding them to points they may have overlooked and pushing them to dig deeper when they though they were "done." I laughed as one student felt he took "like, the most notes ever." Funny because it was not prompted by me, he was just motivated by his teammate and his learning. I loved hearing students say things like, "We should look that up." Then as I prompted students to figure out how to combine notes and make sure it was easy to read (for when they would be separated from their partner), a student said "we should think about this." With these comments, I felt like students were owning their learning.

On Friday they were separated from their partner and participated in mini-match-ups with another civilization. One-to-one they debated who was the greatest. Walking around the room there was excitement and engagement. When finished they needed to chat with their teammate about information they felt they still needed as well as ways to counter the civilization they had just faced. Rather than digging very deep here, they asked for another round of mini-match-ups. I was a little disappointed, but happy about their enthusiasm. I had originally planned to have the match-ups on Friday and Monday, hoping the students would refine and revise over the weekend. However, I got the feeling they were ready to go and I wasn't going to convince them they needed to dig deeper, and perhaps they knew better than I that they were ready.

Monday we had the open discussion. We had seven students in the inner circle (one for each civilization) and seven in the outer circle. Originally, I want the outer circle to have a backchannel discussion. I had never tried this before and unfortunately "Today's Meet" was blocked. Instead the kids in the outer circle took notes down and then switched places for round two. The discussions were great. Students had good content and helped draw quieter kids into the discussion. Everyone was very prepared.

Finally, students posted power rankings (NFL style) on Edmodo. Students did a great job with this. Here's an example:

#1. Persians: Having the biggest empire in the area until Alexander the Great conquered the Persians certainly makes the Persians the favorites in the power rankings. Tolerance of the conquered, excellent road systems, standardized coinage and not to mention the invention of ice cream makes Persia the undisputed king of the power rankings.,
#2. New Babylonians/ Chaldeans:The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Gate of Ishtar, Tower of Babel, what more can I say? How about this, the Chaldeans had a great double wall and an army that conquered the mighty Assyrians. Combined with great knowledge of the skies, time and mathematics, the New Babylonians firmly state their case for their #2 ranking. 
#3. Assyrians: Tough fighters, the Assyrians fight their way up to the #3 spot. Equipped with iron, siege weapons, and the most disciplined army in the world, the Assyrians ruled Mesopotamia with a literal Iron Fist. On the flip side, in the capital city of Nineveh contained the world's largest library. Proving once again that you need brains as well as brawn to rule Mesopotamia.
#4. Sumerians: Sometimes being the first to do something doesn't mean you get to be #1 in the power rankings. This is true of the Sumerians. Although they were the first civilization, created a writing system and sparked the beginning of the Bronze Age, the constant warfare that Sumer succumbed to in the real world also puts them at #4 in the power rankings. 
#5. Phoenicians: It's hard to judge where exactly Phoenicia fits on the rankings due to their different nature. The Phoenicians' vast trading of their snail's purple dye and their abundant cedar trees benefited every civilization. The great ships and command over the sea edges the Phoenicians over the Amorites because of it's strong fleets which allowed for trade in far away lands. 
#6 Amorites: We have to give the Amorites and Hammurabi for creating the first unified code of law, but there's not much else to write home about. They did conquer all of Mesopotamia for the first time though.
#7 Israelites: Rounding out our list is the Israelites. Known as God's chosen people, the Israelites have been through their share of history. They built a grand temple which was pretty impressive. Maybe if they had only listened and followed god's commandments they would be higher up this list.

Excellent, right? I followed that with a quiz today where accomplishments were listed and they had to identify the correct civilization. Many students expressed frustration that some of the items on the quiz weren't in anyone's power rankings. Some said they wanted a study guide or continued to struggle to know what is expected. This leaves me wondering about student ownership. Do they have it? Its seems a bit like they still want to know what the "right" answer is. Perhaps, I didn't need to give them a quiz. Maybe the power rankings were enough to assess their learning. I'm not sure. I have not graded them yet, which may give me a better read. But certainly, I am left with questions. Questions about what I am doing and how I am teaching.  The Flipped classroom and increased student ownership is definitely an adjustment for the student and for the teacher.

What is "Flipped Inquiry"?

Today I introduced my second "flipped inquiry" unit of the year. What is "flipped inquiry," you might ask. Good question. I like to frame any of my flipped definitions from the "Flipped Mindset" blog post. Off the cuff, I would say it includes:

• High-level thinking--investigation of non-googleable questions (in my case historical);
• involving student choice with resources (which might involve video clips/screencasts), product, and/or questions,
• Best use of face-to-face class time--coached & guided by teacher, 
• refined and revised with peer and teacher feedback

In this unit we are looking at Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations. Students are in self-selected pairs. In random order they were able to select their top choice based on availability. They have a variety of sources to help them defend their group as the "greatest." In the first steps today, students did a pretty good job of identifying the "best" parts of their civilization. However, something felt off, they were not going deep enough. Next class I will encourage them to face the aspects of their civilization that don't seem as great and get them to attempt to spin it in a positive light. 

Some potential EduFails with this one:

• How can I get them to dig deeper? They seem to be satisfied finding a few positive accomplishments and ignoring the rest.
• I can't shake the feeling (stemming from the last project) that I want more student choice with the questions/investigations. Can I let go (of control)?

I'll try to keep this process updated as we proceed with this unit/process/investigation. In the meantime, how might you define, "Flipped inquiry"?