Monday, June 13, 2011

Reflection on the past semester

I can't believe that my last post was in March! We have just finished the spring semester at the Murrieta Middle School Academy, so I want to take some time thinking about the implementation of flip teaching in my Pre-Algebra class. I have invited my students to complete a survey (a Google form) about the flip teaching. So far I have heard from about 1/3 of the students. Here are some things that I think went well or could have been done better.
1. Training parents and students
We started the semester with the new format with very little fanfare. I explained what we were going to do to the students and wrote an email announcement to parents. I think a short training session with the parents would have been helpful. The students took to the format like ducks to water. I think that when I publish the videos in the future, I will publish in both web compatible and phone compatible formats.
2. Getting the videos up on the website in a more timely manner.
I was often making the videos the night before or the morning of the day that the concepts were introduced. I think that I will have the time this summer to create many of the videos ahead of time so this will get better. The students mentioned in the survey that they liked it better when they watched one longer video rather than 3 short videos. Once I switched to Camtasia I was able to make longer videos.
3. Encourage students to use the videos for test review.
One of the questions that I asked the students in my survey was if they viewed the video more than once and if they use the video for test prep. The students indicated that they were not. So, how can I encourage my students to do this?
4) Students liked the practice in class.
Most of the students that answered the survey indicated that they really liked doing the homework in class. They also liked the videos. However, since only 1/3 of the class has responded, I am probably only hearing from the students who had very positive experiences. Hopefully a few more responses will trickle in over the next few days.

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