Category: Jon Bergmann

equity through pedagogy - Part 3: Flipped Learning

1/28/2019

Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

Leading up to the Mid-Atlantic Conference for Professional Learning, March 13-15, in Atlantic City, this marks the third in a series of posts devoted to pedagogical practices and frameworks that educators can leverage in their collaborative efforts to respectfully and equitably honour student voice.

1. Introduction
Envision learning environments where students and their teachers are engaged to interact in profound and meaningful ways. The engagement in these environments results from relevant, meaningful, and applicable learning (Sheninger & Murray, p66) being moved into a student’s time and space.

In this post, Flipped Learning is defined, its characteristics explained, and suggestions are made for how you and your students can experience success with this pedagogical approach.

As you continue with the post, consider framing your thinking against these, sample goals:

(Teacher-focus) To deepen my understanding of practices that engage students with differences in backgrounds, learning strengths, needs and interests.
(Leadership-focus) To inform next best moves to supporting the growth of individual and collective teacher learning and practice.

"Having explored a Flipped Classroom, as a part of my pedagogical
practice, transformed both my teaching and student learning."

2. Flipped Classrooms - An Introduction

What is a Flipped Classroom?

As I began my own journey with students into “Flipped 101” (Bergmann & Sams, 2014), I created video lessons--sometimes with ‘checks for understanding’ integrated--for consumption outside of our typical classroom space and time.

Upon returning to the group learning space, with thinking activated, students would work alongside their peers solving problems and engaging in rich tasks. Often times, students would leverage their autonomy to check-in with others, and through facilitated discussions around intentionally-selected and -sequenced artefacts, students’ voices were honored and a collective responsibility to building understanding for oneself and on behalf of others was cultured.

As more content was created for student consumption, this opened up a new opportunity: student agency could be increased; teacher-pacing, decreased. With on-demand access to content and coaching in active learning strategies, students were in a far-better position to manage portions of the subject matter independently and creatively--working towards mastery of learning goals and demonstrating evidence of course expectations.

Four students looking at a laptop computer

Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

This is but one example of many, where educators have flipped their classrooms to empower students to becoming leaders of their own learning.

3. What is Flipped Learning?
To clarify, it’s not what it is; rather, it’s how you and your students are intentionally building conceptual understanding and procedural fluency, while going towards a more, personalized learning model. Bergmann & Sams (2014) sum this up with the expression: “What’s the best use of face-to-face time in class?”

“...it’s not what it is; rather, it’s how…”

As an approach, Flipped Learning lies along one end of a continuum of evolving, pedagogical practice--one that is shared by educators and their students. As mentioned in the introduction, this approach serves to move direct instruction, typically occurring in a grouped learning space, into the individual, student’s learning space. As a result, the group space can then be transformed by teachers and their students to becoming more interactive.

Through increased opportunities for collaboration, teachers are then putting themselves in a position to better differentiate learning. It is not uncommon, in these learning environments, to see and hear students actively involved in knowledge-building, applying concepts, and engaging creatively and authentically in their learning (Flipped Learning Network, 2014).

Let’s take a closer look at Flipped Learning as a continuum of evolving, pedagogical practice. Consider viewing the Prezi (embedded, below), as you read through the accompanying explanations.

In the introduction, I described a typical starting point--similar to my own experience--with the Flipped Classroom. In the beginning, you’re creating and/or curating an archive of video content for students’, on-demand use.

Moving towards ‘Step 2’, you’re providing opportunities for students to move through the curriculum at their own pace...students accessing content when required.

As you continue along the continuum--coaching students and increasing their opportunities for agency--projects and rich tasks become the vehicles for developing understanding and building and transferring key competencies.

Once you and your students are experiencing Flipped Learning, learning is more asynchronous...more student-paced. At this stage, you’ll find students creating projects and crafting their own problems.

As students work through these challenges, teachers are continuing to provide support (e.g., guiding to content when it’s required), but the teaching-learning relationship has now evolved to one where “...[students] and [their] teacher [are learning] together in a collaborative relationship, each playing an active role in setting learning goals, developing success criteria, giving and receiving feedback, monitoring progress, and adjusting learning strategies” (Growing Success, p30).

4. Final Remarks
As you reflect, how are you seeking to co-create conditions that can give life to equity in the teaching and learning you do with students and your colleagues each and every day?

How might you FLIP LEARNING in your pedagogical practice?

In closing, I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning. As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks.

I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and across Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own. If at any time, you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at Flipping the Focus.

Sincerely,

Chris Stewart
Education Leader, Flipping the Focus (c) 2019

CONTACT

BOOK CHRIS

5. References
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Gateway to Student Engagement (1st ed., pp. 21-38). Eugene: ISTE

Flipped Learning Network. (2014, March 12). Definition of Flipped Learning. Retrieved from https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/

Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario’s Schools. (2010). Toronto: Ministry of Education.

Sheninger, E. C., & Murray, T. C. (2017). Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow’s Schools, Today. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

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developing through Assets: Initiating the School-based Flip to supporting Pl in mathematics

3/22/2015

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus

In the last post, I shared some additional thoughts regarding digital leadership by sharing my developing experience with using the web-based, story-telling platform, Storify. Also, mathematics teacher, Kyle Pearce (Ministry-funded 1:1 project, Tap Into Teen Minds) shared his experiences with the pdf annotation tool, GoodNotes. You can access Kyle's comments, along with those made by others regarding other digital technology tools for the classroom, using the button provided (see right).

Today's post takes us into the realms and intersections of educational leadership, teacher professional learning, and of course, flipping our role from teacher to facilitator-collaborator. Throughout, I've inserted some prompts to consider information and/or to engage in reflection. If there are parts of this post which you're connecting with, are curious about, and/or have challenged your thinking/beliefs, please feel free to help build our community of professional learning by leaving a comment (comment button located at the end of this post).

TECH TOOLS

A) Taking Action: A Plan for Improving Mathematics Education

To get things started, let's consider the recently-released A) 2014-15 Mathematics Action Plan (Ontario Ministry of Education, January 2015) for improving Mathematics education in Ontario, some factors that have been identified as contributing to B) gaps in students' developing mathematical understanding, as well as some facets of C) educational leadership. Altogether, these works might lend themselves to helping frame our thinking around how we can be further D) innovative to helping derive student-centred learning that impacts engagement in school and achievement.

1-TRY THIS
If you haven't yet had a chance to take a look at the Action Plan, I've posted it below for your perusal.

Take Action: Having reflected upon the plan, consider sharing what has resonated with you and/or connections you've made to practice by commenting to this post.

According to Ontario's Deputy Minister of Education, "...increasing mathematics achievement will remain as the Ministry of Education's first student achievement priority." Deputy Zegarac also asks that each school board in Ontario continues to work with the Ministry to "...go deeper with ... shared efforts through the ... Action Plan."

If you've been a part of system- and/or school-based collaborative inquiries, then we might be able to connect readily to one of the three areas of support listed: increased in-service supports and professional pedagogical learning. And as far as the various practices that can be used to provide such supports, it is recognized that there is no single, best practice to support the plan for improving student achievement. In more detail, the increased professional pedagogical learning can be broken down into the following aspects: mathematics content knowledge for teaching, pedagogical knowledge, effective assessment, and deep knowledge of the mathematics curriculum.

Among the various conversations that I have had with other educators around the topic of professional learning in mathematics, it seems as though we are working towards deepening our shared understanding of the four aspects through problem solving and communication in mathematics, as they are "central to doing and learning mathematics" (EduGAINS).

Case Study: Junior Mathematics Study, Upper Canada DSB

For example and representative of Foundational Principle #4 (Support Collaborative Professional Learning in Mathematics) in the Upper Canada DSB, the Junior Mathematics Study serves to help focus professional educators' learning largely through the lens of what occurs 'at the student desk.' By supporting teacher learning through classroom inquiry, we are deepening our content, pedagogical, and curriculum knowledge concurrently. Let's consider what activities constitute one cycle* of support for professional learning.

As schools gather together for a co-facilitated study day**, the day generally begins with a sharing of what inquiries are being explored and/or questions that have been arising within and across school teams to build in 'flow' from one cycle to another and to help the family of schools build capacity and strengthen relationships.

Typically, and following this opening exercise, with problem solving and communication in mind (as they relate to the lesson prompts being shared with students that day), educators take some time to read and/or view videos (research/expert-based), dialogue and discuss connections of research to practice. With a broadened perspective coming from external frameworks, it's time to 'try on' some of the mathematics for ourselves. During this time, educators reflect upon how they have tackled the problem (various ways) and to anticipate how their students might approach such a problem.

Prior to any classroom experience, we review the rationale and importance of remaining within a descriptive mode of observation (City et al., 2009)--taking time to sit with pairs of students, documenting and allowing students some space to think mathematically.

The classroom experience, as facilitated by mathematics resource teachers, provides students and teachers an opportunity to consider the complexity of teaching and learning mathematics. Instructional moves, student voice, classroom community, assessment for learning, questioning, responsiveness, and helping students to consolidate their thinking to forming new knowledge and developing problem solving skills are a variety of pedagogical factors under consideration.

Following one or more classroom experiences on the study day, classroom experiences are debriefed--describing observations of student thinking, co-planning consolidation of student thinking, anchoring into curriculum, resources, and/or external frameworks. And as the end of the day of study draws to a close, the day is summarized and the group breaks into their school teams to reflect upon the day. School teams will also think about their first follow-up half-day*** and consider what their 'in-between' work might be (e.g., consider how the group's study can be aligned with school-based practices) leading up to the their second, half-day*** of collaborative study.

Graphic: The Upper Canada DSB Junior Math Study Cycle

Definitions:

*Cycle = One cycle is composed of one, full day of group study; followed by two half-days*** of study in each of the schools that form the group. There are 6 cycles of study over the course of a year.

**Study Day (co-facilitated) = 4 to 5 schools meet at a host school site ((average of 3 teachers + administrator)/school).

***Half-days (co-facilitated) = Each school receives two, additional half-days of support for math study in their respective schools. The first half-day allows the school to engage in the group lesson from the Study Day. The second half-day is differentiated to provide opportunities for schools to engage in additional activities to help support professional and student learning in mathematics.

B) Factors Contributing to Gaps in Practice and Student Learning

The sustained support of collaborative professional learning in mathematics, as exemplified across nine district school boards (EOSDN: Eastern Ontario Staff Development Network), is critical to transferring learning into teacher practice (Professor Don Klinger, Queen's University).

As a part of a presentation made to the Council of Directors of Education (i.e., on the day following the release of the 2014-15 Action Plan), Mary Jean Gallagher (Chief Student Achievement Officer, Assistant Deputy Minister, Student Achievement Division), brought forward "...hypotheses and supporting evidence regarding the causes contributing to declining mathematics performance, as measured by EQAO assessments in grades 3 and 6." The information provided was submitted by 110 knowledgeable others invited to share their expertise. Based on 44 submissions, five themes emerged from an analysis made by Ministry staff. The themes or "gaps" are as follows: Approach, Conceptual/Contextual, Engagement/Confidence, Measurement, and Curriculum/Resources.

2-TRY THIS
a) Take a moment to scroll through the following set of slides to familiarize yourself with the five themes ("gaps").

E.g., Upper Canada Connection: As evidenced by the success of the first year of our network of collaborative professional learning, I believe that we are engaging in a form of learning that has the potential to help professional educators work with/counter each of the gaps mentioned (above).

b) Try scrolling through the slides a second time. Think about how the professional learning and practice you're engaging in works to minimize these gap factors.

Take Action: Contribute your thinking by sharing through commenting to this post.

3-CONSIDER THIS
Alternatively, ...

is it possible that we might be able to see these factors as descriptions of assets...of partially-grasped ideas/plans in action?
Through sustained professional learning and transferring learning to practice, do we see these factors as themes for the development of the "instructional core?"

C) Educational Leadership

Thus far, much has been said about system-directed professional learning in mathematics, but as indicated in the 2014-15 Action Plan and in Paying Attention to Mathematics (K-12), the "instructional core" is also strengthened when instructional leadership, at the school-level, helps to foster high-quality teaching and learning. Through effective leadership, aligning school goals with systemic direction can further support a professional learning model that can counter the "gaps"/move learning forward by describing assets gained working through these themes.

As of late, something that I've been wondering about is what it takes to effectively lead strengthening of the instructional core.

What practices have the greatest impact on its improvement?

Recently, our team of mathematics facilitators was reviewing some of Viviane Robinson's (Academic Director, University of Auckland Centre of Educational Leadership) work (pictured below) regarding leadership practices that impact the quality of teaching and learning.

The graphic, below, indicates 5 dimensions of student-centred leadership--"leadership that makes a difference to the equity and excellence of student outcomes." Each of these dimensions impacts the development of high quality teaching and learning in schools. The second graphic depicts the effect size of each of these dimensions. Readily observable is the relatively larger effect size for "Leading teacher learning and development." Viviane describes this dimension as "[l]eadership that not only promotes but directly participates with teachers in formal or informal professional learning."

A Note on Effect Size: 0.4 is representative of the average impact/effect that one would expect to occur from one year of schooling.

As per this definition, "Leading teacher learning and development" has a significantly greater impact on student learning outcomes than any of the remaining dimensions.

4-CONSIDER THIS

Is this what you would expect? Why or why not?

TRY THIS

Have you had experiences that confirm this or otherwise? Consider sharing your expertise by commenting to this post.
For further reading about leadership that participates with teachers in professional learning, consider Principals as Co-learners: Supporting the Promise of Collaborative Inquiry

Graphic: Leadership Dimensions

Graphic: Effect Sizes for the Five Leadership Dimensions

Five Dimensions of Student-Centred Leadership (Robinson & Emstad)

D) Innovating Practice that Cultivates Student-Centred Learning

Giving consideration to going deeper with the provincial mathematics action plan to address the "gaps" identified and to the impact that leadership can have when leaders are not only promoting but directly participating with teachers, ...

What is it that we are doing/could be doing differently in our schools to help improve students' educational experience and achievement?
What can we innovate to meet the demands of transitioning to a practice that supports student-centred leadership and learning? And these demands are real and important to pay attention to. In fact, upon examination of a listing of Hattie's effect sizes, student-centred learning approaches (e.g., self-report grades, 1.44; acceleration, 0.88; meta-cognitive strategies, 0.69) seem to have an impact relatively greater to a variety of other approaches--approaches that we might categorize as being more teacher-driven.

In a September 2014 interview with Professionally Speaking, Professor Emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto, Michael Fullan, made a statement how project-based and flipped learning are strategies that could help students to further deepen their understanding.

In fact, there is a growing number of educators who are sharing their perspectives as to how flipped learning is not only transforming their practice but is resulting in increased student engagement, and in some cases, achievement (Bergmann & Sams, 2014; Flumerfelt & Green, 2013; Horn, 2013; Kim et al., 2014; McEvoy et al., 2014).
_______________________________________________________________________________

QUESTION
What is it about the flipped learning strategy that has educators and their students pushing the boundaries of teaching and learning and resulting in greater engagement and achievement?
________________________________________________________________________________

I believe the answer (as you might find through the references listed at the end of this post) lies in the manifestation of a shared and social endeavour (collaborative, purposeful learning)...a learning strategy that puts learning into the time and space of the student (autonomous, mastery learning)...and described by the Flipped Learning Network as ...

"... 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 learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter."

The dynamic and interactive nature of this learning environment is supported when students and teachers blend on-line with face-to-face learning components. The on-line component can involve video delivery of content and/or instruction; the face-to-face component, discussion feeding into and resulting from students engaging in collaborative problem solving.

Ultimately, flipped learning has the potential to reinforce student-centred learning—learning where students can interact with content at their own pace, in their own place and time, and work towards deepening their understanding. In my professional experience as a classroom teacher, I designed, implemented, sustained, and measured the outcomes of a flipped classroom model in a senior mathematics course (2013). Through the co-learning experience (i.e., with students), we refined the model so that it helped them to best meet their expectations of learning. For example, shortening instructional videos and providing templates for creating summaries were students' suggestions used in refining and renewing the process we were following.

E) Getting Started with Innovation

Alright. Where to begin?

The beginning or initiation might be to consider our own efficacy regarding planning and implementing a flipped classroom approach to differentiating the learning process for our students.

Sometimes, we need to have a variety of different types of experiences to feel that we can really impact student engagement and achievement by trying something new. As described by Bandura (1977), there are certain kinds of professional learning experiences that we need to experience to help impact student learning (and our own). These include vicarious, social persuasion, affective feedback, and mastery experiences.

vicarious experience = an experience that includes observing teachers and/or students 'trying on' something that is new to the observer
social persuasion = believing that one can try something new because others are trying it and experiencing some success (builds collective efficacy)
affective feedback = experiencing positive and encouraging feedback from students and/or colleagues (e.g., a student describing how helpful a particular technique was to their learning)
mastery experience = an experience where, having had an opportunity to practice/develop (possibly) a particular pedagogical strategy, an educator senses that there is 'flow' to a lesson, students are engaged and learning.

Co-pioneer of Flipped Learning, Jon Bergmann, hosts a radio show called "The FlipSide." Through the interviews that Jon conducts, various aspects of the flipped classroom are explored through the experiences of educators working through the model in their practice.

5-CONSIDER THIS
Below, I've included links to three podcasts and excerpted descriptions of each of them. This is but one way that we might readily, through this forum, gain some 'experience' (vicarious and/or social) with flipped learning. For instance, you might be wondering about the successes and/or challenges associated with the strategy.

Take Action:

Listen to any or all of the podcasts provided.
Having reflected upon these educators' experiences, consider sharing what has resonated with you and/or connections you've made to practice by commenting to this post.
Consider commenting about mindset also. Do you feel like there are some 'hurdles' that you'd have to clear before trying a flipped lesson, or do you feel like you'd be clearing 'hurdles' through the process of trying a flipped lesson?

Podcast: http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WFLP.Kirch.cfm

"Crystal Kirch is a high school math teacher from Southern California who has transformed her classes with a flipped learning model over the last three years. She enjoys sharing her journey with other educators through her blog, Flipping With Kirch (flippingwithkirch.blogspot.com) handle is @crystalkirch."

Podcast: http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WFLP.Meyer.cfm

"Amanda Meyer has been teaching High School students in rural Minnesota for over ten years. She employs aspects of project-based learning, inquiry, and flipped learning in her Biology, Anatomy, and College Biology classes."

Podcast: http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WFLP.avon.cfm

"Nicole Avon, twitter handle @AvonPhysics, teaches a Flipped Physics Class at Mars Area High School (site of FlipCon14), where she has been a teacher for 11 years."

In the "Take Action" activity (above), I provided a reflection prompt regarding how we might consider addressing challenges/clearing 'hurdles' with flipped learning. Recently, I got together with a few colleagues who are currently teaching Intermediate Mathematics (Grades 7 to 10) and who had expressed interest in learning about the strategy of flipped learning.

During the course of our discussion, we covered such themes as pedagogical approach, engagement, measurement, and curriculum/resources--these themes just so happen to be ;) the gap factors associated with the Provincial Action Plan and/or, if you like, themes/assets to guide improvement of the "instructional core."

You can see these themes in the first column of the table that I've provided below--"Innovating Towards Student-Centred Leadership: Learning through the 'Flip.'" The table summarizes the discussion, next steps, and lead change agent(s) for each next step.

Table-Innovating Towards Student-Centred Leadership: Learning through the 'Flip'

Upon examination of the discussion details (table, above and below), you can see that there are pedagogical and logistical challenges being highlighted. Under "Next Steps," resolutions or next steps have been proposed to seeing that the achievement factors are able to further impact student learning. Lastly, the final column lists those individuals who might have the most change influence to starting to move the learning (flipped) forward. For example, if we consider student engagement, then there is a shared leadership amongst teachers, administrators, and parents to helping create, implement, and sustain a successful flipped learning model.

6-CONSIDER THIS
If you take a second look at the final column of the table(s) above, you'll notice that teachers, administrators, and parents have a proposed role in helping to move learning forward. But...we're missing one critical element, or rather 'group' element, to more fully understanding the complexity of teaching and learning--our students!

Take Action: Alright...please share a few, final thoughts.

One more time, take a look at the themes, discussion, and next steps for any or all parts of the table. Where would you/how would you incorporate student voice/choice/input/leadership/etc so that you could list "students" as a group responsible for leading/influencing change?
If there doesn't seem to be a part of the table that fits your thinking about incorporating student leadership, what 'part' would you devise and why? Explain how you incorporate student leadership.

F) Some Concluding Thoughts

As this post has developed, we've had an opportunity to reflect upon improving the "instructional core" from a variety of perspectives--provincial-, system-, school-, and classroom-based perspectives--only to see the innovation of flipped learning fold back on/fold into where we started--an action plan for improving achievement in mathematics. I believe that the development of this post and the mention of using a blended model of learning (i.e., flipped learning) is consistent with this plan: "...as far as the various practices that can be used to provide such supports, it is recognized that there is no single, best practice to support the plan for improving student achievement" (2014-15 Mathematics Action Plan).

So what will it take to move us forward? Even if it's just one of us?

There is a shared responsibility around leading the 'charge,' but it appears as though building momentum can come from the following:

"increasing in-service supports and professional pedagogical learning" (Action Plan)
Let's add that the pedagogical learning is done through the lenses of problem solving and communication in mathematics (EduGAINS)
identifying and working with learning assets from the five themes: approach, conceptual/contextual, engagement/confidence, measurement, and curriculum/resources (Mary Jean Gallagher, Action Plan)
focusing leadership initiatives around teacher learning and development (Viviane Robinson)
To the leadership aspect, let's add that teacher learning and development is done through collaborative inquiry (Principals as Co-learners; sustained support to transfer learning into practice, Don Klinger-Queen's University)
Through effective leadership, let's cultivate innovation that puts student learning not only at the forefront but makes learning student-centred (Robinson, Hattie)
For culturing innovation, let's try a variety of approaches--inquiry-based, project-based, and flipped learning (Michael Fullan)
To see that flipped learning has an impact on student learning, we need to build our own efficacy...best done through collaboration and with support from others. And as part of the group of 'others,' let's not forget our most important audience and contributing collaborators--our students

Thanks, in advance, for your participation with Flipping the Focus.

Sincerely Yours,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Program Resource Teacher-Mathematics
Upper Canada DSB, Brockville, ON

G) References & Further Reading

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Gateway to student engagement (1st ed., pp. 21-38). Eugene: ISTE

City, E. et al. (2009). Instructional rounds in education: A network approach to improving teaching and learning. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Education Press.

Flumerfelt, S., & Green, G. (2013). Using lean in the flipped classroom for at risk students. Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 356-366. Retrieved January 27, 2015, from Academic Search Complete.

Hamdan, N., McKnight, P., McKnight, K., & Arfstrom, K. (n.d.). The flipped learning model: A white paper based on the literature review titled "a review of flipped learning". Retrieved from http://researchnetwork.pearson.com/wp-content/uploads/WhitePaper_FlippedLearning.pdf

Horn, M. (2013). The transformational potential of flipped classrooms: Different strokes for different folks. Education Next, 78-79.

Kim, S., Park, N., & Joo, K. (2014). Effects of flipped classroom based on smart learning on self-directed and collaborative learning. International Journal of Control and Automation, 7(12), 69-80. Retrieved January 27, 2015, from Academic Search Complete.

McEvoy, C. S., et al. (2014). Use of medical students in a flipped classroom programme in nutrition education for fourth grade school students. Health Education Journal, 1-9. Retrieved February 21, 2015, from hej.sagepub.com

Self-efficacy defined. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2015, from http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/BanEncy.html

What is Flipped Learning? (2014, March 12). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from
http://flippedlearning.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=92

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Why I Teach Math: A Reflection (or Two)

2/10/2015

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus

Last time, the FtF community was introduced to an opportunity to building capacity through exploring and sharing its knowledge and experiences regarding digital leadership. The shared, Google doc has been updated with a contribution from one of my colleagues, Connie Boros. Connie has provided some details and links to resources to help teachers and students develop facility with OneNote. Contributions regarding Chalkup (Web 2.0) and Voxer (app) are on their way ...

Today, I digress from digital leadership to something else--the reflective practitioner. Through my role as a Program Resource Teacher, I find that I'm very privileged to be receiving what a close colleague of mine describes as, "a day of professional learning, everyday." Last week, as I was rummaging through a few folders on my laptop, I stumbled upon a personal reflection about the teaching of mathematics that I had penned about four years ago (to put this into perspective, I am in my 13th year as a professional educator) to a not-yet-imagined professional learning community/network. This reflection sent me into a period of reflection--an important aspect of teacher professional learning--and I thought that I would share this with our learning community.

Without any précis or foreshadowing, here it is:

From a time not so long ago ...

A smile.
The look of satisfaction.
“A-ha!”

Each of these responses can be the result of solving a challenging math problem. As far as life goes, it’s riddled with challenges. What better challenge than to solve a problem that is outside of the realm of every subject?

Granted…I have some ‘math-ability’ and an intrinsic appreciation for the subject, but even with these qualities, would I be in this role today? Likely not; I had some inspiring teachers who believed in my abilities—that I had something more to offer. They challenged me to think beyond any current circumstance to solve problems.

I’ve been teaching math at ND for nearly 9 years and have loved every moment of the ride. To be practising a hobby during the regular workday…what could be better?

Many students have come and gone. Some have expressed that they’re not the ‘math type’. That’s okay, but I would continue to encourage them not to shut the door on math. Remember, math is a human endeavour—it’s been around forever, as much of our history has been created through this subject, and it continues to be something that both young and old can discover.

Go through the discovery process. Be challenged. Be enlightened. Be more with mathematics, as the world will challenge you to be math literate.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. C. Stewart

Thoughts for Today?

As a reflective practitioner, I thought that I would add some new thinking (as comments, additions; in-line) to the reflection, above. The additions are representative of some of the thinking/learning that I've done, but I'm anticipating that, even as I engage in this process, I will determine some new goals--short- and long-term. If new goals are to come out of the act of reflection, I will share them in the "Some Final Thoughts" section (below).

Double-Take ...

A smile.
The look of satisfaction.
“A-ha!”
("I like learning math this way.")

Each of these responses can be the result of solving a challenging math problem. [And when problems (Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) monograph) are open, accessible and authentic, students are given time to work together, are encouraged to communicate their thinking, and collaboration occurs to construct meaning (OME monograph) of the mathematics at hand, students begin to enjoy mathematics, see its relevance, and improve their achievement. For example, take Dan Meyer's 3-Act Math Tasks: Who wouldn't want to engage in learning mathematics that's rooted in such problems? Check out what Dan has shared, here, via a Google Spreadsheet]. As far as life goes, it’s riddled with challenges. What better challenge than to solve a problem that is outside of the realm of every subject? [By persisting with challenges, students stand a much better chance at developing 21C (infographic below) skills that will allow them to find personal satisfaction through their contributions to others.]

21C Infographic (from Achieving Excellence, OME)

Ontario Students Achieving Excellence: Video

Granted…I have some ‘math-ability’ and an intrinsic appreciation for the subject, but even with these qualities, would I be in this role today? Likely not; I had some inspiring teachers who believed in my (not developed as-of-yet) abilities—that I had something more to offer. (Despite challenging work, setbacks, self-doubt, and the occasional entrapment by performance), they challenged me to think beyond any current circumstance to solve problems. [Today, I've grown to understand that I have been developing a growth mindset--a personal belief that I have the ability to effect change in my learning outcomes--achieving excellence through hard work, persistence, and a 'can-do' attitude (see video below; Carol Dweck, Growth Mindset).]

Video: The Growth Mindset

I’ve been teaching math at ND (North Dundas District High School) for nearly 9 years and have loved every moment of the ride. To be practising a hobby [really ... taking leisure in the immensity of the devotion to collaborating with students around non-mutually exclusive aspects of learning--relationships, content and curiosity (Bergmann & Sams, 2014)] during the regular workday…what could be better?

Many students have come and gone. Some have expressed that they’re not the ‘math type’. That’s okay (for the moment), but I would continue to encourage them not to shut the door on math. [Everyone has the potential to achieve at the highest levels in mathematics (Dr. Jo Boaler, below).] Remember, math is a human endeavour (, binding us together)—it’s been around forever, as much of our history has been created (and understood) through this subject, and it continues to be something that both young and old can discover [, enjoy and share with others. For example, take the TED Talk on The Mathematics of History: Jean-Baptiste Michel (below) delivers a captivating account of how Mathematics is helping us to understand the evolution of humanity through its history--language as one marker of this process.]

Jo Boaler (www.youcubed.org)

Video: Jean-Baptiste Michel

Go through the discovery process (, and work hard to construct meaning amongst your peers). Be challenged (, as your mind will grow through making mistakes, questioning errors, and pushing your thinking to understand). Be enlightened. Be more with mathematics (everyone can achieve at the highest of levels), as the world will challenge you to be math literate [having great fluency and flexibility to work with numbers as well as the ability to apply problem solving processes (pictured, below) to solving problems].

Mathematical Process Skills (Ontario Curriculum)

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. C. Stewart

Some Final Thoughts

We can accomplish much, alongside our students, to helping them improve their learning outcomes if we truly live and love learning together. What is it that you've been learning about your students? What is it that you're wondering about your students? What should you do to go where they are (i.e., re: student thinking)? These are just a few questions to prompt reflection and to help us learn, collaboratively, through FTF.

Please feel free to respond to this post with your reflections, comments and/or questions. Based on the number and depth of additions I made to my 'old' reflection, I know that I have learned ... that I have changed my understanding of what constitutes good, formative assessment, student achievement, the conditions necessary for the effective teaching of mathematics, and that collaboration will be key for student-teacher relationships moving forward.

Next Time on FtF ...

Next time, FTF continues the exploration and sharing of digital leadership. In the meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about this exploration and/or contribute to it, you can access the Google Doc here.

Sincerely Yours,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Program Resource Teacher-Mathematics
Upper Canada DSB
Brockville, ON

Additional Source:
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Gateway to student engagement (1st ed., pp. 21-38). Eugene: ISTE.

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Exploring & Sharing Digital Leadership

1/1/2015

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Welcome back to Flipping the Focus.

In the last post, our community was engaged in contemplating how flipping professional development could lead to making further gains in improving teaching and learning (more to follow on this). Today, we continue the journey towards continuous improvement of teaching and learning through active participation about a topic that is part of the this very same 'fabric'--that is, leadership. In the case of this post, digital leadership.

In "Flipping the PLN?" (blogpost, November 2014), I encouraged our community to champion the collaborative relationships in our midst--student-student, teacher-teacher, and teacher-student. And this is for quite a good reason. Veteran, world-renowned educator, Michael Fullan describes a "new pedagogy" as being one where teachers and students are collaborative partners exploring teaching and learning through flipped classrooms and project-based learning (Professionally Speaking, September 2014). Also, Bergmann & Sams (2014), authors of Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement, highlight the importance of the intersection of three elements, critical to deeper learning--content, curiosity and relationships. As you can see (and I'm sure, relate), there is much to be gained by teachers and their students when we focus our efforts upon collaborative and supportive relationships.

And as a part of this professional learning network (PLN) at Flipping the Focus, I believe that it is incumbent upon us to explore the 'democratization of the classroom', as put by Tom Driscoll. Tom also writes that "It is ... my duty to make the most of the promise and potential that these times have to offer" (in Bergmann & Sams, p106). What Tom is pointing to is how we are living in times where a vast number of educators are experimenting with leveraging technology to study/apply pedagogy in ways that have not ever been possible--all of it to effectively engage students and to deepen their learning such that they are prepared for the 21-C they're about to make.

With this in mind, why don't we consider how we'll support one another (through this forum), to making "the most of the promise and potential" that we have available? In fact, why don't we all examine--in a collective sense--our digital footprint?

In his blogfolio, George Couros (Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning at Parkland School Division, Stony Plain, Alberta) wrote that he "wanted to highlight ... tracks on the Internet and ... try to contribute to the strong educator community." At Flipping the Focus, we can do so collectively to not only track and share our usage of Internet tools, but there are certainly a host of apps that we can also use and discuss to contribute to the development of "the strong educator community."

Below is a snapshot of a Google Doc that I've started that we can share and build together. Helping one another in learning about how these technologies can be used to experiment with pedagogy and classroom practice will allow for some of the vetting of the usefulness of the tools to be done and can move us to being all that much closer to giving them a try in our schools.

Table-Digital Tools to Deepen Teaching & Learning

Digital technologies to engage teachers and students in exploring collaborative learning through flipped and project-based models of learning.

How Can I Contribute & Learn?

The button (see below, "Tools for Teaching & Learning") provided will link you to the Google Doc that I've created. And to facilitate its use by the community, permissions have been set such that anyone can access and edit the document.

Upon closer examination of the document, I've also elaborated upon the rationale for this shared experience, some definitions, and tips on how to participate.

At this time, if you're also engaged in learning about flipping your classroom and/or are flipping the learning in your classroom, I would like to encourage you to help build our registry (button, below right), the Flipped PLN Finder--a convenient way to connect with other educators...each experimenting with flipping their practice.

Tools for Teaching & Learning

Flipped PLN Finder

Featured Tool this Post: Diigo

Lately, I've been exploring a social bookmarking tool (available for smartphones, iPads, PCs) called Diigo ("Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff").

Technically, Diigo acts as a social bookmarking, highlighting and annotating tool with various other helpful tweaks and add-ons for the experience--one of which, creating a group knowledge repository--that I find potentially interesting and useful for my role as a resource teacher to other educators.

Pedagogically, and as outlined in the chart (above), there are several reasons for why and how you could be using Diigo in your classroom.

Below, I've captured a few screenshots of some of my highlights, annotations and sharing I've done for an article that

Diigo (Social Bookmarking Tool)

I've been reading on the Internet--"The Seven Pillars of Effective Digital Leadership."

Further to this, I've embedded a few videos that describe some of the features of Diigo.

Highlighting

Once you've accessed your Diigo tool-bar (following sign-up at www.diigo.com) in your favourite browser, you'll see several options that you can choose from while reading and thinking about your reading.

As a browser, I use Chrome which has a couple of options for accessing Diigo tools. One option is to add a bookmark widget to your bookmark bar; the other is to install the Diigo Chrome app that will act like other plug-ins you're already using in Chrome.

As far as highlighting is concerned, you can see that I have added some highlights (currently, 4 colours available) during reading. The numbered tag refers to sticky notes attached to a specific highlight. You might also have noticed that the annotations are locked (private). You have the option to make your highlights and annotations public. In my particular case, I have kept these elements locked but have opened them up (shared them) with one of my Diigo groups (more on this, below).

Annotating

As shown above, you have the option to annotate your highlights by adding sticky notes. In the note above, take note that you have the option to keep private or to share with a group. Those with whom you've invited to be a part of your group can add their own bookmarks, etc. for the group, add sticky notes to current articles in the shared library, and post comments to create a threaded discussion about the group's reading.

My Bookmarks

Anytime that you bookmark a webpage, you'll see it posted in 'My Library' upon returning to your Diigo webpage. While bookmarking (in your browser--e.g., Chrome), you can edit the bookmark by adding a description, applying searchable tags, and controlling privacy/group sharing settings. All of this can also be done from your Diigo account 'My Library' page. You can also send your highlights and annotations to other friends on Diigo. Annotated links can be shared with a larger audience through email, IM and embedding into your website.

Sharing: Threaded Discussion, Adding Sticky Notes & Groups

As mentioned (above), sticky notes and comments can be added to bookmarks of articles that you've made and shared (publicly or to group). As each member in a group can contribute to the repository, this can be an effective tool for facilitating the growth of a group's knowledge about a specific topic. For example, I have created a Diigo group called 'Flipping the Focus.' As I, and other group members, post articles, our collective knowledge grows. The group can also grow as readers of this post request to join the group (a link for sending a request for joining this group can be found below).

Groups

Joining the Diigo Flipping the Focus Group

If you'd like to join the Flipping the Focus Diigo group, I've embedded a group badge (see right) that will allow you to send a request to join. Joining the group will help us to collectively grow our knowledge regarding flipped learning through sharing bookmarks, annotations, and comments with each other.

If you're also looking to find other educators to consult with over their

experience(s) with flipped learning, you might also choose to use the Flipped PLN Finder.

Taking a Closer Look at Diigo: Video

Below, I've assembled a few videos from the Diigo website that introduce the tool and discusses its uses for professional learning and sharing and collaborating on research with a group. I've also taken some time to review a few YouTube videos on the topic of Diigo that you can find on my YouTube channel here and listed under the playlist titled, "Social Bookmarking."

Introduction

Building Your PLN

Diigo V4 Sharing ~ build a personal learning network from diigobuzz on Vimeo.

Fostering Group-Based, Collaborative Learning

Diigo V4: Collaborate~ Create a Group Knowledge Repository from diigobuzz on Vimeo.

Some Final Thoughts About Deepening Teaching & Learning through Diigo and Other Tools

I hope that you have found this post not only informative but helpful in your journey towards helping students deepen their learning through the effective use of technology. If you have been using Diigo or other apps/web 2.0/computer programs in your classroom to experiment with pedagogy and practice, I would love it if you could contribute to our learning community at Flipping the Focus.

There are several, easy ways to get involved:

contribute to the Google Doc featured (above) on an ongoing basis
join our Diigo group (badge, above)
add your name and a few other details to the Flipped PLN Finder registry
consider collaborating around flipping professional development through Flipped PL
participate as a guest blogger on Flipping the Focus. Send your post to flippingthefocus@gmail.com along with a short bio, link to your site, etc. Upon approval, your bio will be added to the side-bar (see right) and post made to this page.
leave a comment to this post (form, below)

Looking ahead, we'll reflect upon the growing number of contributions being made to Exploring & Sharing Digital Leadership along with their potential impact. In January, stay tuned for more details regarding Flipped PL--flipping components of professional learning for educators.

Sincerely Yours,

Chris Stewart
Program Resource Teacher-Mathematics
Upper Canada District School Board
Brockville, Ontario

Additional Sources

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2014). Flipped learning: Gateway to student engagement (1st ed., pp. 21-38). Eugene: ISTE.

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developing through Assets: Initiating the School-based Flip to supporting Pl in mathematics

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