Flipped Learning PD - Braintree, MA

This past week, fellow social studies teacher Brian Germain and I were fortunate enough to conduct an introductory flipped learning workshop for Braintree Public Schools (Braintree, MA).  We filmed the session and have posted it below for anyone interested.  I have also included a link to the Google Presentation shown in the video.  I hope this helps educators interested in flipping or those experienced flippers who would like to hear our take on the concept, its principles, and basic implemntation techniques.

Link to Google Presentation
Link to Workshop Video

Designing Your Flipped-Mastery Unit (Part 2)

PART 2:  ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS & LEARNING GOALS

In PART 1 of this series, I provided a brief overview of the flipped-mastery unit design that I have implemented for the past year.  I posted a link to our UNIT 2 OBJECTIVES GRID as an example.  For this post, we will be taking a closer look at our UNIT 1 OBJECTIVES GRID from the Ancient Greece and Rome Unit.   You can click on the link in the last sentence to view the file.  I will also provide some screenshots and text from the document below relating to the commentary.  Although this is social studies specific, the design principles certainly apply across disciplines.
 
First, I am a firm believer in the "backward design" model and feel that all effective instructional design follows this procedure to some degree.  Therefore, I began constructing the unit by developing essential questions, learning goals and objectives.   These were developing using three particular sources:

1. Connecticut Social Studies Curriculum Framework
2. Common Core Standards for ELA & Literacy
3. Framework for 21st Century Learning (Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Most, if not all of us, are familiar with essential questions and their role in curriculum design, so I will spare you a description of what they are and why they are needed.  I will, however, briefly describe how I use them in a flipped-mastery unit.  First, here are the essential questions from this unit:

  

We typically begin each unit with an introductory lesson based upon these essential questions.  It can be something as simple as a brainstorm and group discussion.  The point is to have students grapple with these big ideas before diving into the unit.  Not only will this (hopefully) make the unit seem more relevant and engaging, this introductory lesson should also help "frame" the rest of the unit.  In general, I try to drive home the point that history (and learning in general) is more about questioning and problem solving rather than the accumulation of a vast amount of facts. The culminating project and summative assessment will also address these essential questions and serve as a "bookend" to the unit.

LEARNING GOALS

In the past, I have not made the distinction between learning goals and unit objectives.  This past year, however, I developed four particular learning goals for each unit that I wanted all students to achieve.   I created one goal that was content specific, two that were skill-based, and one that was reflective.  Here is what I came up with for this unit.

Learning Goal #1
Demonstrate an understanding of significant events and themes in world history/international studies.

Learning Goal #2
Create various forms of written work to demonstrate and understanding of history and social studies issues.

Learning Goal #3
Use evidence to identify, analyze and evaluate historical interpretations.

Learning Goal #4
Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes.

First, I did not come up with these entirely on my own.  Many of the learning goals derive from the three frameworks linked above.  You may also note how broad they are.  This is true, but the point of these is to help my students make sense of the unit objectives and learning tasks (which I will address in PART 3).   Each one of them is specifically geared towards one of these goals.  Therefore, as they demonstrate mastery of the unit's learning objectives, they are also moving towards meeting the learning goals for the unit.

This also helps me differentiate the unit.  You will see in the next post that there are several different objetives for each goal, and each objective can be mastered in many different ways.  I can therefore have students meet each learning goal, but do so by following (or should I say blazing) their own particular path.

I actually include Goal #4 (Reflecting Critically) for each unit since I believe it is incredibly important.  Developing students' metacognitive skills should be a goal for all educators, and this helps me make sure they are working on these skills year-round.

In the next post, "PART 3," I will discuss in more detail the development of Objectives and Learning Tasks for each flipped-mastery unit. 

COMPLETE Flipped-Mastery Article Series

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 1: An Overview

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 2: Essential Questions & Learning Goals

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 3: Objectives & Learning Tasks

Managing Mastery: Structure

Managing Mastery: Goal Setting, Progress Monitoring & Reflection

Managing Mastery: Swiping In

Designing Your Flipped-Mastery Unit (Part 1)

PART 1: OVERVIEW

One of the major barriers to adopting what many term the "flipped-mastery" approach is its practical application within a traditional high school setting.  Lets face it, most of us work in districts that are not conducive to the type of self-paced and student-centered practices necessary for this model to work.

There are, however, ways that you can design your unit that will make flipped-mastery manageable for both you and your students.  The unit template below is one that has not only helped me wrap my head around each unit, but has helped students conceptualize their skill progression and make sense of their learning.   

There were many influences on this document.  First, it is firmly grounded in backward design, or UbD, and mastery learning.  I also drew inspiration from samples I had come across from Jon Bergmann and Brian Bennett.  Both of these educators have had great success with this model, and much of that I'm sure has had to due with their ability to communicate to their students the learning expectations as well as their progress throughout the unit.

I will further explain each component of the unit plan in "Part 2," but for now, here is the link to the sample document.  Feel free to use this as a model for your own unit design and of course let me know if you have any comments or questions about the document. 

World History Unit 2 Objectives Grid


COMPLETE Flipped-Mastery Article Series

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 1: An Overview

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 2: Essential Questions & Learning Goals

Designing Flipped-Mastery Part 3: Objectives & Learning Tasks

Managing Mastery: Structure

Managing Mastery: Goal Setting, Progress Monitoring & Reflection

Managing Mastery: Swiping In

Flipped Learning & Democratic Education: The Complete Report

I recently completed the Flipped Learning & Democratic Education research study as part of the integrative project (think "thesis") for my MA program at Teachers College, Columbia University.  If interested, here is a link to the complete study:

Flipped Learning & Democratic Education (Complete Study)

Here are some highlights from the research:

Democratic Elements of Flipped Learning

• Personalization Through Differentiation, Asynchronous Pacing, & Student Choice
• Social Interaction & Student Expression
• Active & Experiential Learning Experiences
• Equitable Access to Instruction 
• Promotion of Student Initiative & Ownership of Learning
• Development of Critical Thinking & Collaborative Problem Solving

Results From Student & Educator Survey

• 78% of students have more frequent and positive interactions with their teacher.
• 79% of students have more frequent and positive interactions with peers in class.
• 80% of students have greater access to course materials and instruction.
• 79% of students have a greater opportunity to work at their own pace.
• 69% of students are more likely to have choice regarding what learning tasks they engage in.
• 76% of students have more choice regarding how they demonstrate their learning.
• 66% of students are more likely to engage in collaborative decision-making.
• 70% of students are more likely to engage in critical thinking and problem solving.
• 68% of students report that their teacher is more likely to take into account their strengths, weaknesses, and interests.
• 83% of students report that their learning is more active and experiential.
• 96% of teachers report that positive interactions with their students have increased.
• 84%  of teachers report that interactions between student and student have increased.
• 96% of teachers report that instruction has become more differentiated and personalized. 

      Brief Conclusion

      The flipped model, along with a supportive school environment that values 21^st century skills, student inquiry, and effective leveraging of new technologies, has considerable potential and promise of improving and democratizing education in a profound way. 

Two Views of Flipped-Mastery in Action

I recently came across the following video by Karl Lindren-Streicher (@kls4711) on his excellent blog which provides a look inside his flipped-mastery social studies class.   I recently posted a video of my own flipped-mastery course, so it was great to see what a fellow educator's class looked like from the inside.

Below is Karl's time-lapse video, which is followed by the one I created a few weeks ago.  You will notice some commonalities between the two, students are active and engaged!  We did not record "our best lecture," but instead captured students engaged in various learning tasks.  You will also notice that Karl is able to spend a considerable amount of the class time talking with students and helping them individually as they work through their assignments.  This is one of, if not the most, important advantage of flipped learning practices.

A Day in a Flipped History Class (by Karl Lindren-Streicher)

Flipped Mastery in Social Studies (by Tom Driscoll)