The topic was universal gravitation and the core idea revolves around the relationship between the attraction of gravity between two objects if A: distance changes, B: mass changes. The challenge that I find with this unit is that there are very few personal experiences that students (or anyone) has experienced on the topic.
Beyond, bouncing astronauts and zero gravity movie space scenes, there is little experience (or interest) in changing gravitational fields. I'm quite certain there is something that I am missing as far as proper instruction and leadership that could instantly change this scenario, for now I will work with what I have available to me.
To the point, this is the third time I have moved through this content and I can predict a high need for extra explanations due to a uniformly low amount of background knowledge and conceptual basis. I am quite proud of this decision as it demonstrates that my interest in furthering this flipped experiment, does not blind me to what reason calls for.
Direct instruction is still good and will always have a place in teaching. It is also extremely efficient when everyone is at the same place and has similar needs. Although it does not have the sex appeal of digital lessons, differentiation, or PBL, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that in my classroom there will always be some room for a teacher standing in front of the room talking to a large group of students. Especially if that teacher (me someday) is a master in the content, which means there is a tight understanding in what examples best serve the transfer of the idea as well as what prompts best encourage mental engagement and thought.
Cheers :)
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