In the the last blog post, readers were encouraged to help mobilize knowledge regarding flipping instruction for their students, and perhaps (by 'reading between the lines of the last post'), professional development for their colleagues. I guess that you could say that I feel that this is one of my purposes as an educator. And, if I might go so far as to say, it could very well be one of the major legacies, along with establishing relationships with our students and colleagues, that we leave behind for future educators and students.
The concept of mobilizing knowledge is not simply the act of passing along information. According to Dr. Cathy Bruce (Trent University), it's about extending our learning to a larger audience by means that are relevant. Also, the learning that is shared can be (near) readily implemented or taken further by others.
As far as this post and those that come before it are concerned, the digital nature of this blog accounts for the relevant means of transmission. Relevancy of the transmission is deepened when educators take on this opportunity for self- and/or group-directed professional development using a flipped model of learning--first-exposure learning of ideas outside of class (on your own, during a department meeting, at a staff meeting, ...) followed by future inquiries done with one's students in the classroom.
The actionable nature of the content is how readers choose to react to the sharing of my own learning--take it for what it is or go beyond what is presented in a way that best serves your own learning and that of your students and/or colleagues.
As for the remainder of this post, I have two objectives:
1. to show readers how I am challenging myself to learn more about flipping classroom instruction ...
AND what I will uphold as being equally, if not more, important ...
2. readers accessing the actionable nature of the content presented: taking up the learning challenge presented--going beyond and continuing to mobilize their own knowledge in relevant and actionable ways.
mobilization by best ted-Ed flips
Aside from creating my own screencasts for students, I've recently taken an interest in exploring other sources of first-exposure learning opportunities for students.
There are innumerable sources like YouTube, Vimeo, and Kahn Academy, but I thought that I would give TEDEd a try.
TEDEd "Find & Flip" presents an opportunity for educators to mobilize their knowledge of teaching using a flipped model of learning.
As this is also my first time using the service, I determined that if I'm to take a lesson and/or flip one of the lessons already provided, I need to register for a free, TEDEd account.
Next, I am reminding myself of the instructional goals for engaging in transforming my students' learning experience using a flipped model:
first-exposure learning as homework so that collaboration, active learning opportunities, and removing myself to actively listening and participating in my students' learning prevails.
The last goal, of utmost importance, is illustrated below ... changing one's position in the classroom.
Across the province of Ontario, proportional and algebraic reasoning are mathematical domains that are receiving lots of attention; in fact, the attention of many educators is being drawn towards improving student achievement in these areas, as they are "gate-keepers" to experiencing growth and success in the learning of mathematics.
Given this, I'm going to consider how TEDEd might be useful in helping Grade 9 students learn about proportional relationships. Before embarking on this, let's give some consideration to two documents--the first, to see what expectation(s) students are required to meet provincially; the second, to help guide us towards thinking about the enduring understanding(s) of the mathematics of proportional reasoning we'd like students to develop/have as life-long learners.
Firstly, the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum (MFM 1P, p39) provides the following overall expectation:
"... students will solve problems involving proportional reasoning; ..."
This expectation is drawn out specifically whereby students illustrate, represent, and describe proportions and use proportional reasoning to solve problems. When it comes time to address the relevancy of the video and additional materials posted for use on TEDEd, I'm going to continue to refer to these expectations.
At first glance, the web looks incredibly complex, yet impressive. When thinking about the content of the lesson material, I'll also be
contemplating how/if the video and additional materials can be related to these areas. Based upon students' experiences with proportional reasoning up to this point in time, I would expect many of these areas to be accessible to students.
At this point in time, I'm going to digress somewhat. I've begun by explaining that its key to begin building the lesson with the curriculum and to frame this in the context of a much larger picture, but the learning goal(s) of the lesson, assessment of prior knowledge, etc. can be addressed later--better yet, make these topics for discussion as you collaborate with your colleagues about the lesson's design and application in each of your classrooms.
TEDEd "Find & Flip" Lessons
Let's move onto perusing the TEDEd site and selecting a video that might be suitable for the mathematical concept at hand.
You'll notice that the website is well-designed and relatively easy to follow. Along the left-hand side, we can select "Mathematics."
Once this has been done, you'll note that a cursory look at the first page doesn't seem to be showing material relevant to the mathematics at hand, but on page 2, there is 1 min 48 sec video on average speed.
As you're watching, ask yourself if the video would be appropriate for first-exposure learning (i.e., will it help to successfully 'open the door' to students collaborating over authentic, proportional reasoning tasks in class the next day?)
Video
Thus, on its own, would this video be appropriate for first-exposure learning?
There's more than one answer to this question. The decision can be based upon a variety of factors, but I'm going to err on the side of teacher control over where students go with the mathematics.
This is one way to view intentionality: "I know where students need to get to; thus, I can scaffold the lesson through carefully designed tasks and questioning to do this."
Based on this perspective, one would need to engage in designing a task that students could engage in immediately after watching the video in class. This would require prior assessment of students' experiences working with proportions and proportional reasoning. Perhaps first-exposure learning would be a video for homework that engages students to review contexts in which proportional reasoning is used and some sample problems to get them thinking about them. Not that I'm advertising for any particular response system platform or their use (I've been known to use clickers in my own classroom), but by inserting questions into your videos (e.g., YouTube) using a service like EDpuzzle, your video is paused and playback is made possible once a question has been answered. Furthermore, the service will provide some assessment information as to how the class handled the questions ... checking them at the start of the day could help to determine next steps in class.
Here's another way to view intentionality: "I know where students need to get to. I'm going to take an inquiry stance and follow my students' lead. Based on the work they've shown, a math congress could help us get to the learning goal(s)."
Based on this perspective, there might be less planning to begin, but having a clear understanding of the mathematics and mathematical pedagogy, along with a readiness to be responsive to your students' thinking, are paramount to helping your students reach the goal(s) of the lesson. Thus, first-exposure learning could take place by having students watch the video at home. By posing one or two open problems to students about the video, they could return to class the next day ready to discuss their ideas.
If you're considering the second perspective (above), you might find that an exploration of the "Think" problems could set the stage for the learning that goes on when your students return to class the next day.
The "Dig Deeper" section includes some problems regarding average speed that students could collaborate over in class the following day. Using some means of making student thinking public (bansho, math congress, gallery walk), you could help students reach the learning goal(s) of the lesson.
Lastly, the "... And Finally" section engages students to think about any assumptions with the model(s) their using.
Circling back to the two objectives for this post (listed earlier), I hope that I have been able to show you how I am challenging myself to learn more about flipping classroom instruction.
As for the second objective ...
"readers accessing the actionable nature of the content presented: taking up the learning challenge presented--going beyond and continuing to mobilize their own knowledge in relevant and actionable ways"
... I hope that the nature of the work and knowledge shared here challenges you to explore this lesson further with your students (As TEDEd members, you now have the opportunity to flip this very lesson by clicking the "Flip This Lesson" tab ... I haven't tried it yet; how about yourself?). If so, return to comment on this post by sharing your experiences so that we can continue building a legacy of mobilizing knowledge for our students.
Next Post
Tentatively, the next post will focus on the assessment of student understanding from the videos watched for first-exposure learning. If you have had some experience with this that you'd like to share, please feel free to share your expertise as a guest to this blog. Moreover, if you have a particular request for a topic and/or request to blog as a guest, please feel free to share your thoughts with me electronically using the contact form below.
Sincerely Yours,
Chris Stewart