Differentiated Suprise

Student have different needs...all of them...all the time

(friggin awesome video by the way, thanks Tammy Heflebower!)

After my first week of out of the lab flipping (that is too say instead of practicing in the computer lab, they actually did the work at home).  I came a cross a curious senario. 

Big gaps in needs based on assessment results on the idea that we covered (Newton's 2nd Law).  Some students totally understood what I asked them to learn.  Other students understood the core idea, but have gaps in their ability to take it to the next level when it comes to 2nd Law.  Other's are lacking application and understanding of the basics.  Once upon a time...next topic, or work my but off to create a 3 tiered lesson, mostly help one group while managing the others.

Now that I have been busting my but to produce online content in order to flip, I find myself uniquely qualified to handle the problem in a non-flipped way, using the material I have created.  

Group 1:  8-12 kids with me working in groups of two at the most in the front center of classroom.  Use a preexisting worksheet that I had that covers the three levels of understanding.  

Group 2:  5 or 6 kids can work on the following:  create extra problems with explanations on the computers (that I have attained through grants) show the set up and explain how to solve it or...move on to extra credit content requested by our AP physics teacher.  Both options I love by the way, they are making stuff that will be posted on my website to help other students who need more practice (and probably explain it better than I do) or do work that I regret is not worth presenting to the whole class. 

Group 3:  Students with holes in their learning working in groups of three or four.  Individually these student's don't understand everything, collectively 1 in 4 can help on any particular problem, question, idea.

The best thing about this lesson was my prep time was already paid when I created my lessons and coached them on how to navigate the content.  The membrane between the groups was semi-pearmeable (I'm teaching two sections of biology this year), that is to say students could demonstrate a level of learning and move to a different group or assignment.  Finally...it worked!  

I had a room full of people not just working, but doing the right work for them.  This is very difficult to plan, but the flipped culture (not just the structure) allowed the students to completely understand the design of what we were doing this day.  

Given that I am regularly struggling with actually home participation (more on my soon to be weekly "by the numbers" blog post) in the lesson viewing it is important for me to focus on small victories.  

Is this a victory?  Many that could be watching them at home are not.  The test is friday and purhaps the results will provide opportunity for a "come to jesus" talk about their own levels of participation.  

What if the home participation is low, but the test results are better than last year given the change in lesson delivery (even if it is mostly still happening in class)?

thoughts?

Cheers

Week 2: Agency

agen·cy

 noun \ˈā-jən(t)-sē\

plural agen·cies

Definition of AGENCY

1

a : the office or function of an agent

b : the relationship between a principal and that person's agent

2

: the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power : operation

3

: a person or thing through which power is 

exerted or an end is achieved : 

4

: an establishment engaged in doing business for another <an advertising agency>

5

: an administrative division (as of a government) <the agencyfor consumer protection

So far the classroom is barely flipping, I'm really struggling with curriculum pacing mixed with practice, application, and labs. There isn't really "homework" anymore...just work.

Lack of solid design, direction, and structure hurts my chances at a successful flip. By success I mean the biggest thing most teachers I know are curious about. Will the students watch the lessons at home?

Most students continue to do stuff in house...which is not what I hoped for, but it's early.  What this in class practice and experiment with unit pacing has produced is a high amount of student agency. They regularly choose what to do next based on personal progress.  After our initial, inquiry experiment that lets them feel what we are about to get into (example:  inertia olympics), the week then opens up into a list of objectives, with assessments coming mid week or end of week (or both) depending on the size of the idea.

There are early signs that students have the potential to work the system if I could ever figure out how to lead them through it. Their video lessons involve an intro with examples of things they should know or be able to do already. Then reminded that if they do not understand this base idea, to follow a link to the precious lesson.

And it worked...students were regularly making the right decision about what to be doing...which is awesome by the way. When they start a day based on their needs, they respond better to peer and teacher support. They make better decisions about what to work on after the lesson and who to work with.

So far I cannot claim that my students are doing more work, or if they are it isn't noticeable. What I see without a doubt, is student doing more of the right work...and my friday assessment results reflected that. I need to share this with my class and share that this first step...good decision making and self directed progress is a first step. The next move is to utilize home access to increase support time in class and take it to the next level.

More on this topic on my post about a differenciated suprise!