I am writing this during final exams week.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/taylorhand/2456076004/
For me Final Exams week has always been one
of the most productive weeks of the
school year. While the students are
busily taking a 90 minute exam I am proctoring and working. It is during that closing time of the
semester or school year that my mind, thoughts, and action drift to the future
or at least the next semester. I can
usually be found with a copy of the textbook, materials I have used in the past,
old calendars, and my favorite piece - the calendar with dates yet to come.
If I am planning for the second
semester I usually gaze up at the students taking the exam and think
specifically about them. What I have
learned about them as individuals and as a group. What is it that has worked well and what
could be better? Invariably, however, I
fall into an educational trap! I start
looking a lot more at what I have done in the past. By the end of the exam period or finals week
I have created a very similar
calendar to the one I used last year or maybe even three years ago. But, I am a good teacher! If it has worked in the past surely it will
work again! Even as I think it, I have
the ping of hypocrisy in my heart. I don’t
just want to be good – I want to be innovative, cutting edge, and doing right
by these (and future) kids.
My inspiration in education passed
away last summer. His name was Gerry
Boevers and he was innovative and doing right by his kids. I had the great fortune of student teaching
under Gerry in the fall of 1997 at Niles West High School in Skokie, IL. What impressed me most about Gerry was that despite
having been in the same classroom since about the time of the JFK assassination
he was really up to speed. He kept
everything! What amazed and inspired me
was how little of what he had kept that he actually used. There was some great stuff there in one of
the seven 4-drawer file cabinets along the wall.
Gerry let me take copies of
everything. He did, however, have a
piece of advice – don’t just update the date, update the assignment. He taught me a lot about teaching and
education but the idea of not resting on the good stuff you have created has
been a continuing goal in my teaching career.
It is hard for me to know for sure but I think Gerry would be flipping
his classroom in the next few years. I
know for sure he would have read about the benefits, drawbacks, and philosophy
behind the movement. And so I have.
Now here I sit looking at the
blank calendar. Only this time I do not
have the old binder, the old calendar, or any of my go to assignments. I am starting with the blank calendar, a copy
of the US History course standards and targets, the textbook, and - well fear!
What I am going to do over the course of
the next few months is Flip my US History class for next year. Over the course of this journey I am going to
document the curriculum adaptation process, the calendaring, the creation of Videos
(Vodcatsts) and other at home “work,” the creation of engaging and informative learning in class activities, and finally data and anecdotes during the implementation
process. This idea is exciting and
daunting. It is inspiring me but also
making me very anxious. I am going to
give this my best shot.
I have tried my best to learn as much as I
could this past year about technology in the classroom, Webtools, Google Apps
for education, and their usefulness in a Flipped classroom.
I surely invite comments and
suggestions on this Blog from those that have tried and succeeded or are trying
this for the first time as well.
Here we go!
