A few years ago I was given an 8th grade block class with all the struggling students. From the get go these students were not easy to motivate. They  were upset that they missed an elective to have two periods of math which was a subject they already disliked. They obviously were not good at math because they were placed in this class.  Although it was a smaller class, 18 students, it was larger than it should have been with where these students were in their math skills .  There was no way I could spend the time with them that I needed to with all of their needs and so many of them.  I knew I had to do something! In the mean time our tech coordinator had been bugging me to flip my classroom for a while.  I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.  So with the help of our tech coordinator, I started researching and planning and gave it a go. I started with just that class.  I needed more time with these students. Although I had them for 82 minutes a day, the time I had with them each day wasn’t quality time.  Because I started flipping and giving the students some background knowledge before they came to class I was able to arrange my time in class into different stations where they could be somewhat independent for a little bit without me in some of the stations so I could meet with small groups. They were with the same group for a week or two and then I would mix them up.  They would rotate through the stations starting with a different one each day (according to the schedule). This allowed for me to meet with everyone in a small group each day.

That was 4 years ago and I did so many things wrong!! Now my classroom is almost 100% flipped and it has evolved so much.  It is not for everyone but I hope by sharing my journey I can help someone who is interested in joining in on flipping!  By sharing all the things I did wrong I hope that anyone who thinking about flipping can do it without making the same mistakes I made. Mistake #1: I started out using screencastify because the thought of taping myself everyday was not high on my list.  I wasn’t interested in being in the videos.  However, it is much more engaging for the students to see you and for you to be able to do it along with them.  Now most of my videos include me.  There are still times when it is easier to do them on paper, but I never use screencastify anymore.  An example of when I would do them on paper is during the transformation unit when I like for them to see how the shapes/objects move.  Mistake #2: trying to do a whole lecture in one video.  At the beginning my videos were about 20 minutes long. YIKES! I would never have one that long now.  They are about 5-10 minutes which is just right to keep their attention and accomplish the goal.  Mistake #3: assuming they know how to watch an education video.  In this day and age kids watch YouTube videos which is not how they should be watching a flipped video.

I will take you through my twists and turns of started a flipped classroom.  The benefits, the challenges.  How to not make the mistakes I mentioned.  I love having a flipped classroom and can’t imagine going back to a traditional classroom.