Let my teacher career Begin!

I will be a first year teacher for the 2012-2013 school year!

I will be a floating teacher without a classroom to call my own!

I am going to flip my instruction!

I am nervous but at the same time excited!

 Bring it on!

This will be my first teaching job for the 2012-2013 school year as a high school chemistry teacher. I am very excited and there are so many tools and resources out there that I want to integrate into my classroom. The major problem will be that I will not have a classroom of my own and will have to float from room to room pushing a cart. While that will be a whole different challenge of its own, I am preparing myself to take on another challenge. I am going to flip my classroom!

While I was student teaching for a 10^th regular chemistry class this pass semester, I notice several things.

1.)   The turn in rate for any given homework is no more than 75%. (Usually 50%)

               

                  I questioned several students and their responses ranges from:

    “I did not have time.”

    “The homework was too long so why bother.”

   “ I forgot I had homework.”

   “ I lost the worksheet.”

   The most numerous responses were that, “I attempted my     

           homework, but I don’t remember how to do it.”

2.)   How do I help students that were absent for whatever reasons catch up?

                I asked my cooperating teacher and she said, “ it’s the student’s responsibility to catch up.  Tell the student to copy a classmate note and to come in for tutoring if they need extra help. While I totally agree with this statement, the answer still was not satisfying.  I remember being very shy in high school. I did not really talk to anyone or have any real friends. I would be too shy to ask someone for his or her notes. I would also be uncomfortable to come in for tutorial.  Even if I did copy a classmate’s note, it does not mean that I understand the material. Especially in a chemistry class, I need someone guiding me step-by-step thru the process. If I looked at someone’s note, it already has all the steps worked out. This would be a challenge trying to figure out what goes first and what how to get from step 1 to step 2.  When I was student teaching, there were many times students came up to me and said that they don’t understand the material because they were not here. I told them there was not enough time in class to go over the material one-on-one because I have to teach the lesson of the day. I told them to come in for tutorial. While some did, the majority said they have to work after school or have extracurricular activities such as clubs, band, football, softball or cheerleading. When you are a teenager, it’s hard at times to understand which priority would be most beneficial to you in the future.  Many would rather live in the moment and to go dance practice after school than to come in for chemistry tutoring.

     3.)   There is just not enough one-on-one time during a 50min class period.

            When I go thru the lesson cycle, there are usually about 10-15mins left of class for independent practice. I tried to go around to see how everyone is doing, but there is simply not enough time to effectively help all the students that are struggling.  I also want to be able to talk with each one of my students every single day. I want to have time to build positive relationships with all my students.  I believe this is so crucial if I want my students to succeed.

After my student teaching, I reflected back on my experience and I thought to myself, I have to find a way to solve my dilemma for next year when I get my first teaching job. I did some research and somehow I ended up finding the flip classroom model.  The basic concept is to have the student watch the lecture at home so that would free up more class time.  I can have more time to help them one-on-one, more hands on actively, effectively differentiate my instruction, and more time for students collaboration. The flip model takes care of students who are absent. If they are not here, they can watch the video at home. For students who are struggling or did not understand the first time, they can pause and rewind me. I noticed that I tend to teach to the middle level students. I was going too fast for the lower level students, and way too slow for the higher-level students.  With the flip classroom model, students can learn at their own paces! Of course this is not the magical solution to everything that is wrong with education, but this seems like the most ideal answer to my dilemmas. 

In order for me to pilot this at the beginning of the next school year, there are still many things I have to learn over the summer. What hardware and software should I use to record my videos? How do I check for student accountability? What do I do about students without Internet? How will I present the flip model to my students and their parents?  Where should my videos be hosted? Should I make my own website or use a learning management system like Edmodo, Moodle, or MyBigCampus? Will this work since I do not have my own classroom? There are so much to think about.

 My goal for this blog is to use it place to reflect my journey as a first time teacher, a floater, and a flipper.  I will record the struggles that I will face and all the success that I hopefully will have.