The whole purpose of flipping your classroom is to create time so that more active type learning can occur. The teacher creates a screencast that delivers basic information. The content that fills up this class time is not set. What works for one teacher does not work for another.  My math class is 100% collaborative. Students are divided into groups and together they work on projects, look for patterns ,argue, discuss, research etc. Another teacher has a project -based learning class while another has a mastery class. The content of what happens in a flipped classroom is unique to the teacher and the students she teaches.

 

So often teachers get so up caught up in the videos that they forget that this is all being done for the sake of true learning in the classroom.  There are as many different ways of running a class as there are teachers. Think through your goals for your students. What kind of learning meets their needs?. The answer is very subjective yet it’s  the most important part of the flipped classroom. 

 

Before considering flipping your class I recommend performing some thought experiments.  Pick a short lecture that you deliver and make believe that you already have a video of this lecture. Keep in mind that the amount of time taken up by a video typically takes two to three times as long to deliver.  Now consider what you will do with  the void of time that you just opened up.  What type of learning do you want your students to experience?  What type of skills do you want them develop?  What type of feedback will be experienced in the classroom. By this I mean teacher-student, student-teacher and student-student  types of feedback. What are the  outcomes from your class? 

 

Do this for several lessons. Think through carefully what you want to accomplish. If you find yourself getting excited by the prospect of changing the way your students learn then and only then you are ready to begin the  process of flipping your class.

 

Good  Luck!