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The following is a co-post from The Daily Riff on what a good flipped classroom looks like:

by Brian Bennett, Jason Kern, April Gudenrath and Philip McIntosh

The idea of the flipped class started with lecture and direct instruction being done at home via video and/or audio, and what was once considered homework is done in class. So, the order of the “lecture” and “homework” components of the class are, well — flipped.

Now, it is becoming much more than that.

The main reason, maybe the only reason, to flip a class is to provide more class time for learning and that is the major shift that we are seeing as the flip gains popularity across content areas. Other than that, a good flipped class should be like any other in which good teaching and effective learning take place. Flipping the class is not the end-all solution to finding the “best use” of class time, but it does allow for varied forms of instruction. And after all, doesn’t anything that results in more in-class learning a move in the right direction?

A lot of flipped class discussions focus on moving away from a traditional lecture format. While some lessons lend themselves better to a lecture format, others will be more appropriate as a flipped lesson. The classroom environment and learning culture play a large role in determining the best pedagogical strategy. This decision-making is a vital part of providing a constructive learning environment for students.

Switching from a traditional classroom to a flipped classroom can be daunting because there are a lack of effective models. So, what should an effective flipped classroom look like? In our experience, effective flipped classrooms share many of these characteristics:

• Discussions are led by the students where outside content is brought in and expanded.
• These discussions typically reach higher orders of critical thinking.
• Collaborative work is fluid with students shifting between various simultaneous discussions depending on their needs and interests.
• Content is given context as it relates to real-world scenarios.
• Students challenge one another during class on content.
• Student-led tutoring and collaborative learning forms spontaneously.
• Students take ownership of the material and use their knowledge to lead one another without prompting from the teacher.
• Students ask exploratory questions and have the freedom to delve beyond core curriculum.
• Students are actively engaged in problem solving and critical thinking that reaches beyond the traditional scope of the course.
• Students are transforming from passive listeners to active learners.

The flipped class is not for everyone, but it offers the best way we know of to maximize in-class learning opportunities. If an individual learner or group of learners needs something akin to lecture, that can be done. Small group discussions? No problem. Plenty of time for interaction with the teacher? You bet.

The best way to understand how the method works is to see it in action. If you are interested in the Flipped Classroom, you are not alone…find and begin building a support network at The Flipped Class Network. Look at the network resources, connect with other professionals, or even visit a class and see what the buzz is about. Chances are the flip will be coming soon to a school near you, if it hasn’t already.

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Once again, we recognize that the flipped class does not and cannot end with the flip itself.  You, as a teacher, have to make intentional decisions about how to best meet the needs of your students.  It might begin with videos, but it might (and probably should) move away from them as you and your learners figure out how they learn best.  There is no one “correct” model of a flipped classroom.  If you ask me, I would say a “flipped” class is one where the majority of class time is spent working collaboratively and intentionally to give learners a chance to explore, explain, and create content.

The vocabulary and title of the class are the biggest talking points.  Let’s stop focusing on the title of the class and start talking about all the opportunities students have in school, wether its in a “flipped” class or not.

I was at Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, CO last week at the 2011 Flipped Class Conference.  This is my second year at the conference (last year, attendee, this year, presenter) and I was extremely excited about the size of the conference this year…around 130 participants!  We talked about everything from what a flipped class is to how to more effectively run your flipped classroom.

At the pre-conference, the presenters sat down to write a “Flipped Class Manifesto” of sorts to try and answer some of the major concerns that have been brought up about the flipped classroom.  You can read some [STRIKEOUT:opposition] articles that raise valid questions about flipclass and its implementation here and here.  In response to this, we decided to begin drafting this document.

Essentially, too much discussion has been given to the videos in the classroom (Sal Khan, anyone?) and not nearly enough on what happens inside an effective flipped classroom.

The Daily Riff has agreed to post this article in a three-day series on the Flipped Classroom from the perspective of teachers that use it effectively. Each day will focus on a particular aspect, starting with what do you need to flip and ending with what a good, effective class looks like.

You can read part 1 and part 2 on the Daily Riff’s website. I’ll be co-posting part 3 (my part) after it is published on their site.

Let’s start to pull away from what mass media is saying and show what a true, effective flipped classroom looks like.

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Note – I unintentionally misrepresented Dr. Jackie Gerstein’s article as opposition. I apologize for the mistake and I’ve made the appropriate correction. You can read more of her posts at User Generated Education

As my website and work has grown, I’ve tried to organize my resources and files a little bit better. There were some in my blog, on the main page, and on my Learn page. So, here’s a quick breakdown of what’s going on:

ohheybrian.com

This is the landing page and will house all of my professional files. If you want to know about me, my philosophy, see resumes, or read summaries of work and presentations, this is the place to go. You can also find contact information for me if you would like to track me down for something.

the Blog

If you like to read ramblings, thoughts, opinions, or the occasional epiphany, you want to check out the blog. I’ll post links to interesting stories, my thoughts on class/curriculum/education-at-large, or even see some occasional student work. Probably the least formal of my pages, but maybe the most transparent.

Global Learning

Finally, this is where many of my files, presentations, and resources (both student and teacher) resources will end up. We are all learners and we live in a global learning community, and I’m trying to promote that throughout my curriculum. For presentations, I’ll usually link the presentation file for reference only. If you need the actual file, we’ll need to do some talking. For resources, you will be able to find those and use them however you want. This site is probably the most layered with sections for teachers and students, both organized independently.

Thanks to everyone for all the support I’ve gotten though the spring. I’m excited that the flipped classroom is gaining some attention in education and I’m going to continue to work hard to work with teachers and students on building a culture of active and productive learning.

Unfortunately, I need to leave the conference early today, so I’m writing before I hop on an airplane for a few hours.

There is some great stuff being shared again and the attendees are much more vocal with their ideas and thoughts as they get more confident with the ideas we’re trying to present.

I got drafted this morning to put a video together today highlighting some teachers as they think through some things they’re going to be doing.  It is very inspirational to me (as a presenter) to see people excited about the prospects of turning their classrooms around.  And, it isn’t even all teachers here.  There are technology directors, district-level employees, and other here that aren’t in the classroom but are committed to improving their methods.  You can watch the video in a pop-up player here or you can watch it on YouTube.

Right now, my presentations are sort of all over the place, and I will be working on consolidating them all on my Learn page. I’ll tweet it out when everything is consolidated for sure.

If you were at the conference, thank you SO MUCH for all of the discussion, encouragement, and inspiration you’ve given me this week. Please always feel free to write or comment because we need to continue the collaboration.

As we headed into day 2 of the flipped class conference, I was really excited about some of the discussions that are coming up with educators from all over the place.  Some of the big takeaways from today:

LiveScribe – If you can write with a pen, you can do a screencast.  This is a great tool if you’re not into using a tablet.  You can still have the feel of paper and pen without having to mess with learning how to use a tablet.

• Pros – Easy to use, low learning curve, cheap ($50 for 2GB pen), all videos are taken care of LiveScribe (hosting, etc), very portable.
• Cons – No editing power (what you do is what you get), no images or video can be included, audio and pen writing only.

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I am not a Moodle user, but I’ve wanted to be and I am planning on working on using it on my own next year (unless my district has it already).  I’ve already tried to look at adding test questions with a lot of variation, but I couldn’t figure the interface out.  Then, I met Phil McIntosh.  He teaches MS pre-algebra and algebra and is the Moodle WHIZ.  You can connect with him on twitter by following @MisterMcIntosh.

Just to give you an idea, he has test banks that have almost 9,000 combined questions.  He has worked very, very hard over the last year to develop well-balanced, reliable, test questions that focus on best practices.  His seminar was incredibly precise and organized and you definitely need to get in touch with him if you’re having trouble with Moodle or if you want help setting up a thorough, well-organized test bank.

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Again, today was a great time of collaboration with other educators and some great ideas being shared.  Its very exciting for me as I continue to meet other teachers that are feeling challenged and excited about flipping their class.  Tomorrow is the last day and I’m hoping we can make some new connections that will continue to push teachers to try and improve their methodology.

I haven’t written in a long time and it is primarily because I’ve been traveling for a couple of weeks from Korea.  I have another longer post slated for later this week, so this is just a quickie with some good stuff from the first part of the day at the Flipped Class Conference in Woodland Park, CO.  You can follow some of the discussion here or you can follow the Twitter hashtag #flipclass11.

I presented this morning on making accommodations in the flipped classroom (or in any classroom for that matter) and the topic of mobile devices came up.  Some resources I’ve not heard of before are:

Cellular Education – From their website:

Cellular Education is primarily focused on consulting with Teachers, Administrators, and IT personnel to increase the use and effectiveness of wireless devices in Elementary and Secondary classrooms.

You can follow the founder, Victor Fitzjerrald, on twitter.

Mobile Learning Group – This is a branch of ISTE and they focus on bringing mobile devices into the classroom in professional and manageable ways.

SIGML is the ISTE special interest group that is an advocate for mobile learning worldwide, and promotes meaningful integration of mobile devices in teaching and learning in formal and informal learning environments.

Both groups work to promote mobile learning, especially in schools.  As students become more and more connected, education should be shifting that direction as well.  But, we can’t latch on to the technology as the perfect solution.  We still need to make sure we’re using the technology in a meaningful way, and not just for the sake of it.

More to come as the conference progresses.

This week in #edchat we spent time discussing how to change teacher’s images in the media, community, etc.  Its a great topic and one that is certainly worth discussing.  Teachers are facing more and more scrutiny about testing results, summer break schedules, pay…you name it.  So the question that begs asking becomes: “How do we as teachers show that good work is happening inside schools today?”

I posted the following tweet when I joined in on Tuesday:

It was like the floodgates had opened.  I received tweets about “safety issues” and “security concerns” that can arise from opening school doors.  There are bigger ideas behind that tweet than what people initially read.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for safety and security for children in schools.  But we can’t let that fear of something going wrong stop us from making meaningful connections outside of school.  Open doors aren’t always a physical requirement.  To even begin to actually open those front doors, we have to be mentally prepared to make that shift.

How do we prepare to open doors?

First, stop worrying about what can go wrong.  If you’re afraid of people seeing your classroom, there are probably bigger issues at hand.  Learning is collaborative…we all know this from experience.  Why can’t we be okay with people – our colleagues, administrators, friends – stopping into our rooms?  We shouldn’t be afraid of sharing what we do with people that can push us to be better teachers.  Teachers complain all the time about being evaluated by test scores, but then they refuse meaningful evaluation when someone steps into the room.  There is a severe problem that needs to be addressed concerning this disconnect.

Second, step out digitally before you open up physically. It can be intimidating to share thoughts and ideas openly without knowing you’ll have encouragement from someone.  There are a TON of resources tutoring newcomers through Twitter, blogging, and connecting with other educators.  It takes some practice and commitment, but the connections that can be made really will build your confidence in your trade and you will come away feeling encouraged and supported by other teachers working for the same goals.

Third, be proactive. Education has always been very private…but that isn’t the way people work in the 21st century.  We need to make meaningful connections in order to stay relevant, but it doesn’t just happen.  No one is going to bug you about the way you teach unless you ask them to…and even then, it might take some prodding.  Be vocal about your desire to be more open to the public.  Take time to meet with administrators, parents, and other members of the community and let them know you want to build relationships, not just talk at their kids every day.

The mental shift is the hardest to make because you have to make it happen.  Be the change at your school and you’ll start to see amazing things happen.

I love opportunities to brag on students that do some great work.  As often as I can, I’ll send something in to Twitter or other teachers in our school.  It’s always great sending something out, but it’s even better when it is a student that blindsides you with an amazing project…and that happened to me today.

I assigned a research project where students picked any topic, as long as it related to chemistry.  They chose three essential questions and then did a project sharing what they learned.  A lot of students build a Blogger site or a Wix page, and some did powerpoint presentations in front of a small group of students.  Others chose to do videos, and the video I’ve linked below from a student really blew me away with its simplicity and the personality of the student that comes through.

Take a couple minutes to watch these…I’d love to be able to pass some comments along to this student about her work.

We see more clearly in retrospect…sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so good.

Thinking back on this year, I realized that I’ve gotten lazy with some of my favorite chemical demonstrations.  They’re small things, but in a flipped class, it is so easy to come to school, remind kids of the benchmarks they have to meet, and then move away.  Mark Siegel wrote about this and how he also missed this aspect of chemistry.  He implemented Demo Wednesday to make sure he still included all of the fun stuff for chemistry that is too dangerous for labs, but still great illustrations of chemical principles.  I loved this idea, but never really implemented it.

A good friend of mine is an English teacher at our school and he has had a hard time with one particular class.  This morning, I decided it would be fun to go in, interrupt class, and have a brief chemistry teachable moment. I did a demo with potassium permanganate and glycerin.  It produces a lot of smoke and bright purple flames.  I had fun, he had fun, and his class seemed to wake up a little bit when it was over.

I say loosen up because we get so caught up in the content that we forget that school is supposed to be fun.  Should we wait until the end of the school year to do this?  I don’t think so.  I wish I had done more like this during the year, just to build relationship with other teachers and help spread the fun in school.

It is so easy to go day by day and think about content…getting it in for the sake of doing it.  Be sure to connect with your colleagues.  Take 5 minutes to do something fun with the kids on a random day.  It is all part of having an open mentality about education.

Don’t limit yourself to your classroom.

My AP Chemistry class has published their final draft of a general chemistry lab manual.  You can see and download the student edition here or you can ask me on twitter for the teacher’s edition (problems worked, etc).

As I continue musing and thinking about the last year using a flipped classroom, ideology and philosophy changes that I’ve made flood my thoughts.  At the beginning of the flipped class, I really sold the idea hard to parents and students…harder than I had to sell it to administration (a HUGE blessing).

I think the biggest selling point of the class is that I was going to work very, very hard to make sure students have every opportunity to succeed in my class.

Once the ball got rolling, students realized that this would not be a walk in the park class and that I meant business.  They were still expected to work hard to learn the material and that leaving their work until the last minute would hurt their progress.  I mean business in my classroom…and now my students mean business about their learning.  They are not content to be fed information…they want to be challenged and pushed to their potential.

Another major shift I’ve had is that I want people stopping by my room…interrupting students…asking questions.  I remember prior to flipping, it would be a major inconvenience to me if someone stopped in.  Now, I can’t get enough people to drop by!  I’m trying to show people how powerful this tool can be, but the interest isn’t there or I’m selling it wrong.

This isn’t just a whimsical idea that putters out after a year.  I feel more on fire for teaching than I was after graduation from university.  I want to share ideas and create new ways of doing things.  I want to collaborate, challenge, question, and encourage other teachers interested in the same things.  I want to have a classroom that is open to discussion, dissonance, and new ideas.

I do my best to encourage other teachers to open up and share through “unconferences,” meetings, or even lunch.  But, its going to take more than that.  We need to change the entire attitude about sharing our materials and really work to make connections to help kids.

It has been an insane three weeks for my wife and I and I am just now getting back to writing and following Twitter again.

Coaching has changed my life.  I am the varsity soccer coach for our school and I had the opportunity to take our team to a tournament with schools from all over Korea and Japan.  We ended up winning the tournament (one of the team goals this year) but there was also a lot of good time talking with players about school, soccer, food…you name it.

The most poignant moment came when one my seniors called me out during a halftime meeting.

We were in the finals and our first half was a little rough.  During halftime, many of my players looked angry, so I asked what was wrong (thinking they would be working things out with one another).

Jona (in white), a senior on the team, told me that the game wasn’t fun because all I had been doing for the past few games was telling them constantly what they had been doing wrong.  He also said a few guys on the team (underclassmen) had been down because I had ridden them pretty hard in one particular game.

I didn’t expect that at all.  Our midfield and defense weren’t working well together and I expected the conversation to focus more on that…not on how I was acting.

It made me think about my attitude in the classroom versus on the field.  In the classroom, I’m a teacher…I’m supportive and encouraging to kids that don’t “get it.”  I wouldn’t ever dream of telling a student they keep blowing assignments or tasks and that they’d better get their head straight.  Why do I do that on the field?

One [cop-out] answer might be that I’m an American and American coaches are big and loud.  Another might be that I see coaching and teaching as two different venues that need different personalities…and in one sense, that’s true.  I do feel more free to “ride” players a little more vocally or to call someone out on the field.  But, my players are still students and I need to teach them the game…I can’t expect more than what I’ve taught, and that’s something I forgot this season.

I’m grateful for the relationships we form each year.  I’m very proud of all my students and very proud of my team this year.  I’m more proud, though, of the leadership shown by Jona and that he was willing to call me out and speak for his teammates.  It was a simple statement and correction that changed the way I think about coaching.

Needless to say, the second half was much quieter from the bench and we went on to win.  The victory, however, was built on trust and open communication…and that’s a sweeter feeling than anything.

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Jona Park is a senior graduating this year.  He plans on attending and playing soccer at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL next fall.

As we head into the end of the school year, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on the content I was able to finish this year.  I am fortunate in that I don’t have standardized testing to worry about and that my principal is very “hands-off” and lets me try new things with my class.

We’re down to 3 weeks before exams and I decided that I’ve taught enough this year.  I’m going to be letting my students direct their own learning on a topic of their choice.  They still have to apply it to chemistry, but apart from that, it is totally up to them.

I got this idea from Jabiz Raisdana (twitter @intrepidteacher) as he posted links to student surveys and questionnaires during their chosen unit of study.  He was kind enough to send me links to his own unit plan for turning the learning over to the students.

I do have to admit, I am terrified of this backfiring totally…like riding a bike without using the handlebars.  But, I have faith in my students and that they’ve learned enough about their own learning styles to really grab on to this project.  You can follow the updates from my class website if you’re interested in seeing my framework.  I’m sure it will also inspire multiple blog posts over the next couple of weeks as I figure out if this was a good idea or not.

Any time the iPad is mentioned, mouths start watering and eyes well with tears as they think about the possibilities…myself included.  The iPad has some amazing features (not to mention the iPad2 upgrades) for education and the accessibility of content has opened up enormously.  I’m encouraged by teachers that are blogging about their use of iPads and engaging students in new ways.

However, there is a line we need to be aware of.

I read a column this morning by Mike Elgan as it flooded #edchat on twitter entitled “Why Every Child in America Needs an iPad.”

Naturally, I was curious, so I clicked on the link and began to read.

And my heart fell.

Granted, the post was on a website called “Cult of Mac,” so I wasn’t terribly surprised about the tone of the post.  The author leads in with,

Everybody’s asking: Are iPads healthy for children?

I’m here to tell you: That’s the wrong question.

The right question is this: Is the iPad a healthy *replacement* for TV? And I believe the answer is a resounding yes.

He then goes on to make good points about content control available and how games, books, and other interactive content can be used.  But, I think he blows right over the questions that arise about constant connectivity.

What happened to tossing kids outside during the weekend to get dirty, run around, and interact with the physical world, rather than sitting inside on their iPad (instead of TV) watching a nature show?  I think there is inherent value in figuring out how to climb a tree in real life than how to climb a tree in the game they’re playing.

Why don’t we teach our kids to use technology in a responsible way and in certain contexts instead of handing them a shiny screen and walking away?  It is our responsibility as teachers (and especially as parents) to teach discretion.  I feel like this post is encouraging parents to disconnect from their kids and allow the iPad to become an “iDad.”

Don’t get me wrong…I would love if someone wanted to give me an iPad, but I would be much more interested in using it in the classroom rather than handing it straight to my kids to replace television.  The potential is much larger than using it to entertain…let’s not miss the forest for the trees on this one.

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Note: I am simply a teacher, not a parent…yet.  This is purely my own opinion and in no way do I mean any disrespect to Mr. Elgan or his opinions.

Ok, so the title is a little self-indulgent, but don’t judge me just yet.

I was thinking back about student teaching earlier this week and how my cooperating teacher made me reflect on everything and how I got so tired of it by the end of student teaching. She was constantly pushing me to reflect in writing on every single lesson I taught, which was significant in and of itself. What made this really special to me was the fact that she always made me take the time to identify strengths before weaknesses.

It seems like a little thing, but how often do we sit down after a lesson and immediately think of the things that went well? If you’re like me, probably not very often. I’m usually thinking about what didn’t go well before the lesson is even over. I don’t usually take the time to think and reflect about what made a lesson or unit succeed. Hence, the title.

I know teachers can be afraid to affirm too much for fear of a “feel-good” class where students don’t need to face reality. That’s not the point of this. The whole idea is to take some time and identify what things you are doing on a daily basis that probably go unnoticed, but really impact your teaching and your drive to become a better professional. These are my top three:

1. I talk to every student every day.
2. I take time to reflect and make notes on each unit I teach.
3. I ask other people for help when I know I’m in a jam or when I could do something better.

It isn’t vain or conceited to say these things make me a great teacher.  I am not saying I’ve reached my pinnacle…these are things I did well this year and things I hope to continue to do well.

I suggest you take some time to think about things you do that make you a great teacher.  I’d love to see some thoughts in the comments.

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Heidi Anderson is a teacher at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, KY and was one of the most influential people in my teacher training. Thank you, Heidi, for your hard work with me and for all the lessons I learned when you handed me your classes.

As I was browsing the internet this morning, I noticed a new discussion has been posted on the Vodcasting and Flipped Class Network. It was a forum post by Greg Green, principal of Clintondale High School in the metro-Detroit area. With all of the work I’ve done with building a flipped class, this quickly stood out to me and I immediately began reading in earnest.

Some background: Greg’s school is 72% free and reduced lunch and has a minority base of 65% African American and 35% Caucasian in the school. He didn’t provide many details about the project in his original post, so I wrote him an e mail.  I mentioned that I had done some presenting on the flipped class and that I was curious to hear about the decision making process that was involved in deciding to flip the entire school in one go.  Here’s what Greg had to say in his response:

This is evidence of the flipped classroom at its best.  Greg has given the support to teachers to make an effective change in a difficult situation.  He went on to say:

This is a man I want to meet.  Greg understands that the entire purpose of education is to meet the needs of the students, not to have comfortable, routine-driven teachers.

One of my biggest questions had to do with the enormous undertaking of recording the entire curriculum for the next school year.  Greg explained that the school (as a whole, cooperative unit) was “…creating screen captures as departments and automating the delivery of those captures out to our students.”  Cooperation in this task is essential for effective implementation and I want to commend the entire staff for setting a great example of a functional, cohesive school working together for student growth.

For those crying out “standardization is bad!” here is some food for thought:

Standardization of content helps students make long-lasting connections that will lead to higher order thinking.  This is a great example of standardization at its best.  Teachers still have the autonomy to make their own decisions about the class, but now, the entire faculty knows what to expect from every student at the completion of every year.

Finally, if you’re thinking, “This would be great if I were in a 1:1 school, too,” this is Greg’s closing thought:

The money is there.  The technology resources are available.  All it takes is a vision for something bigger and better than what has done in the past to make significant changes in kid’s lives.

Congratulations Greg and staff of Clintondale High School.  You are modeling effective education and I hope, someday, to be able to set as good an example as you.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Greg and Clintondale [Flipped] High School, you can follow their journey here.

I recently had a discussion with other science teachers about the role of writing in our classrooms.  The discussion that ultimately emerged revolved around the idea that science shouldn’t be teaching students the writing process…that is the English teacher’s job.

I highly respect the opinions and views of my colleagues, but this belief blew my mind.  Perhaps I’m naïve (second year teacher) or an idealist, but I don’t see how we can “teach” writing without teaching (or at least reinforcing) the process as we go.  To me, this is the same as saying “Meet me at my house, but I want you to get directions from someone else.”

The problem with writing (or rather learning how to write) is that it is quarantined to the English classes.

I do agree that the bulk of writing is learned and practiced in the English class. But, if we’re trying to teach the whole student, why are we ignoring their other learning? Schools are always pushing teachers to make cross-content connections with kids and writing should be one of the easiest ways to do so. There are a multitude of tools teachers (not just English/Language Arts) can use to help students become better writers.

One in particular I like is the 6 +1 Traits of Writing, written by Ruth Culham. I had a college professor use this book in a class called “Reading and Writing Across Curriculum” and I instantly fell in love with the model.

Ms. Culham’s premise is that writing is not a static process and that all writing can be broken down into 6 [+1] traits that are easily taught, improved, and assessed. The traits cover “Ideas” to “Sentence Fluency” to “Voice,” and the teacher has students focus on one trait at a time until students have developed that writing skill and they are ready to add another layer. The book includes rubrics that help us assess their writing in quick, effective manner and students can get meaningful feedback on their work. Do note, that this is not a summative process…this is formative and should be used to build their writing skills.

In science, we like to “focus on the content” rather than the actual writing and I am challenged by teachers to show how I effectively teach writing without sacrificing content.  Well, I use 6 +1 in AP Chemistry all the time because readers want clear, concise answers to questions and this is an easy way to improve student word choice, organization, and ideas while still communicating the content.  In General Chemistry, I can tell students to focus on the idea of the paper (how chemistry has changed over time) or the voice (passive voice of a lab report vs active voice of a persuasive essay).  Again, the content is there and at the same time (with minimal “extra” work) I can require them to improve their writing in an applicable and meaningful way.

We can teach students to use good writing habits while assessing the content. If we are teaching students to make connections between content, we should be modeling that with our teaching and our assignments.

I’m fairly new to the education blogging realm. I haven’t even been posting consistently for a year now, but I’m getting better at it and I’m refining my ideas and my voice as I continue to post.

I’m even newer to Twitter, having just signed up for an account in March. Again, I’m finding my voice as I explore opportunities and ways to build a PLN.

I do have one pet-peeve, however. I hate “X number of ways to use awesome-internet-tool-Y.”

I feel like many times I have my twitter feed open, that’s 90% of what comes through.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some great posts out there with resources for classrooms.  But, how do I know which ones are the “good ones” and which ones will I open only to close again in 3 seconds.

To me, the “good ones” are pages or blog posts that give A) fewer than 10 resources and B) actual uses in the classroom.

Think about it…if you’re looking for a hotel when planning a trip, obviously you need to do some searching through the haystack to find your needle.  But, if you have a friend or an acquaintance that recommends a hotel and why they like it, 9 times out of 10, I’m staying at the friend’s hotel.

The internet is the same way.  I did a Google search for “word cloud software” and got 130 million hits.  Talk about a haystack.  I don’t have time to go through them all.  I want to know which ones work and which ones do other people like.

I love collaboration and I love finding new tools.  But teachers, let’s face it, we don’t have the most free time in the world to sift through dozens and dozens of web tools in these types of posts.

Let’s share the best of what we’ve found and let’s stop filling web space with empty lists.

I have to be honest…I almost posted this yesterday, about an hour after I posted about the fishbowl discussion.  But, I decided to bite my tongue and think through everything that was flying through my head.

Not many things increase my blood pressure, but when I read this article from the Boston Globe website, I probably should have taken an aspirin to lower it a little bit (it isn’t long…I suggest you take a look at it).

Essentially, the Rhode Island legislature is reviewing a bill that would “prohibit students from using cellphones during the school day.”

Seriously?

We need to stop making cellphones the scapegoat and start engaging students when they’re in the classroom!

The problem isn’t the phone, which is what the legislators and teachers are focusing on.  The problem is that teachers aren’t challenging students with relevant, meaningful instruction and students are bored with school.

The article concludes with the following:

“They can live without distractions for a few hours every day,” she said. “We grew up without them.”

If this is the prevailing attitude, we’re never going to reach a reform in education.  As teachers, it is our job to convince parents, administrators, colleagues, and even the government that we don’t need more oversight…we need more freedom of technology use.  Students today are growing up in the 21st century…and like it or not, that includes cell phones, smart phones, ipods/pads, and a thousand other tools.  Instead of fearing the change, we should push the change and teach these kids how to effectively use the power of information availability.

Don’t jam 21st century learners into a 20th century learning model because that’s what “we” had to do.  Let’s continue to dialogue and set the example so we can push education forward, and not backward.

As a science teacher, we don’t get many opportunities to discuss difficult topics. Sure, content discussion happen, but I envy the english and philosophy teachers who get to discuss the deep thinking questions. True debate is hard to come by with some of the other more “empirical” contents.

My AP Chemistry class was debating a particular concept (what is the pH of water) in class and I decided to see what we could do with it. I knew the “answer,” but a lot of students were struggling with the idea that water’s pH could be lower than 7 (neutral) at different temperatures. I decided we would fishbowl this question to try and come up with an answer.

In a fishbowl, there are two groups…the outside observers and the fish

inside the bowl. The inside group is having a “traditional” discussion…oral debate and conversation. The outside group, on the other hand, is in a chat room (or public document) and they are having their own discussion about the inside group. Many times, these lead to two completely different discussions.

Some tips if you’re interested in trying out a fishbowl discussion:

1. Your questions has to be open ended.  Discussions are no fun if everyone agrees.  Try having an open-ended discussion in which there is no one “right” answer.  I also have found that controversial questions lead to good discussion.  Some I’ve heard of: “Was Kierkegaard really an existentialist?,” “What is the most significant development of the 20th century?,” “How did the end of WWII change European and Asian history?”
2. Be okay with arguments and disagreements. Students don’t always need to agree to find meaning in discussion.  Obviously, keep it civil, but if minds aren’t made up, that’s fine.
3. Pre-assign groups (if necessary). This is not a come-in-and-start sort of discussion.  There needs to be some preparation by students.  Some teachers have half the students students blog the information and the other half reads the blogs and then becomes the inner discussion group.  This works well with particular concepts, but might not always be necessary.
4. Have follow-up questions ready. Not all discussion will reach an adequate depth when they start.  Be ready to have some probing follow-up questions to push students to deeper levels.  Be willing to play devil’s advocate to get them thinking about topics form a different perspective.  Questions or statements that catch them off guard are always good, too.
5. Pick an outside discussion medium before starting.  In other words, make sure the chat room works.  One good one is Chatzy.  Totally free, instant chat rooms.  One problem is that if you have a large group on a school network, Chatzy will filter the chat because the same IP address is sending information and it is marked as spam.  The way around this is to have students log in with their Facebook accounts…the IP marking is overridden then because it recognizes individual users instead of “guests.”  Another good option is TypeWithMe.  Not a huge fan because it isn’t as quick as Chatzy, but there are no IP limitations.  You can export chats from both to distribute to students after the discussion.
6. Consider recording the chat.  With free recording software readily available, it isn’t hard to record a discussion for later reference.  Audacity is probably the most popular freeware for recording audio.

Discussion can lead to some of the most meaningful learning.  Consider taking a day to step away from cramming in content to give students an opportunity to find true meaning through debate.  Enjoy the struggle of learning first-hand.