The vast majority of people I have worked with in my thirteen years of teaching are excellent educators. They challenge, motivate, and inspire their students. Their classrooms are well-oiled machines where students are maturing, growing, and learning. But just as there is no perfect person, there is also no perfect teacher. We can all improve in our trade.
And this is where instructional coaches enter the picture. Instructional coaches support and collaborate with teachers as they continue to master their craft. Whether a person is in his first or twentieth year of teaching, he can partner with an instructional coach to develop or enhance his skills.
Below is a list of some specific examples for how instructional coaches can work with teachers.
Behavior
Collect data on the ratio of positive to negative interactions with students
Help create effective, corrective comments when addressing student behavior
Document students' time on task
Provide support to increase the number of opportunities student have to interact in a learning activity
Content
Assist with the creation and modification of learning targets
Work with PLCs to determine power standards and mastery or learning
Organize a unit of study
Clarify what content will be taught in a unit
Help enhance instruction so students master more content
Instruction
Model lessons
Collect data on types of questions asked in class
Improve the quality of student activities
Formative Assessment
Aid in developing appropriate, high-quality assessments
Assist with providing student feedback that is quick and authentic
Are you looking for ways to differentiate learning in your classroom? Would you also want to create more opportunities for higher order thinking? One of the newer trends in education that incorporates differentiation and higher order thinking is flipped learning.
What is flipped learning?
According to the Flipped Learning Network, flipped learning is "a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter."In other words, flipped learning is where the instruction occurs outside of class, and the activities and deeper learning occur in the classroom. In flipped learning environments, the students have direct access to the knowledge, freeing up the teacher to be a guide and mentor to their learning.
What is the difference between flipped classroom and flipped learning?
Flipped classroom and flipped learning are actually two different terms. Flipped classrooms are classes where students learn the material outside of class and complete the homework in class. Flipped learning is like a flipped classroom on steroids. It includes the basic notion of a flipped classroom, but it requires a more interactive environment within the classroom. To create a flipped learning environment, educators actively engage in the Four Pillars of F-L-I-P.
What are the Four Pillars of F-L-I-P?
The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P stand for flexible learning environment, learning culture, intentional content, and professional educator.
Flexible learning environments include changing work spaces and timelines for learning based on student need.
Learning culture refers to a classroom where the focus changes from teacher-centered to learner-centered.
Intentional content is when teachers determine what they should teach and what students should learn on their own in order to maximize learning for all students.
Professional educator is when the teacher monitors student learning and reflects on his/her practice as a flipped learning educator.
Why should I flip my learning environment?
It allows students to take charge of their own learning.
It fosters development of 21st century skills.
Flipped learning lends itself more easily to higher order thinking skills.
It allows for differentiated learning to occur.
It enhances learning outcomes.
What do I do when students don't have Internet access at home?
Several options are available for students in flipped learning environments who do not have Internet at home, including:
place materials on a flash drive or DVD for students to use at home
go to a public library or another person's home to access the Internet
use a smart phone
utilize school technology during study halls or before or after school
How do I go about making a video?
There are numerous platforms for creating a video. Teachers can record on a camera, use a webcam, create a podcast, and much more. Once the video is created, teachers can upload it to a classroom website, a common drive, or another place that is easily accessible to students.
Aaron Sams, founding director of the Flipped Learning Network, has tips for creating videos for flipped learning.
Sit in a room with good lighting, a quiet background, and a non-distracting background.
Don't worry about creating a perfect video.
Create videos that are approximately the same number of minutes as 1-1.5 times the grade level of the students (e.g.- videos for 8th grade students should be 8-12 minutes in length).
What do I do when students don't complete the assigned learning outside of class?
Just as there are students who don't complete homework assignments, there are students who will not complete the assigned learning outside of class. There are safeguards, however, to engage students and keep this number to a minimum. Examples include:
require students to take notes over the material and show these to the teacher the next day
include a Google form with basic questions of understanding for students to complete after watching the video
pose a question in the video that students must answer as an entrance ticket into class
Even with these safeguards in place, there will be students who come to class and have not watched the video. These students will need to watch the video in class while everyone else partakes in the other activities and receives assistance on the more difficult tasks.
What do I do when my students watched the video but still don't understand the lesson?
Many times, students don't understand the lesson because they passively watched the video. They don't have the skill set to view a video for learning, and as a result they watch a flipped lesson video the same way they would watch a movie or a television show. When creating a flipped learning environment, students need to interact with the video.
Teachers can use numerous methods to bring interactivity to a video lesson. Here are just a few ideas:
Create a graphic organizer or notes packet for students to complete as they watch the video.
Create a Google form for students to answer questions during or after viewing the video.
Use free tools, like Zaption, to assist in creating interactive videos.
Require students to post questions and comments about the video via Google Classroom or Edmodo.
Do I need to flip every class or can I go back and forth between flipped and traditional learning environments?
The great thing about flipped learning is that is does not need to occur everyday. Teachers can flip a lesson, a unit, or an entire class. Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams from the Flipped Learning Network recommend starting small. Pick out something that students struggle with and turn it into a flipped lesson. Doing so will create the opportunity for differentiated learning and deeper understanding.
Want to learn more about flipped learning? Check out these videos.
