Wednesday 18 July 2012

Time has come today

Not really sure what is meant by my title (It's the title of a song that you either love or hate - from the 60's), but it seemed apt as I have just found some TIME right now to do a bit of blog reading that I had put off, discarded or lightly scanned.

Where do all these Bloggers and Tweeters find the time and energy to maintain their public monologues? And for teachers doing flipping, cramming an extra hour or so into their days... How do they do it? But I do understand that the returns for this extra time certainly justifies it.

Okay so I'm not saying anything new here.

I finish my summer school teaching tomorrow, and then I will be able to dive right into the school scheduling. Will I get it done in my self-imposed three week time limit? Otherwise, does anyone know a good divorce lawyer? The number of times I've fallen asleep at my computer working late at night, or mornings when I wake up seemingly minutes after my head hits the pillow (thank heavens for morning showers)... I fear something's gotta give.

But I am determined to flip the classroom this upcoming year, and I know I can't just dabble in it halfway. Starting with the Kirch model of parent letter, training the kids how to watch a video, WSQing, and then figuring out how to make best use of the class time - it'll be a challenge. And as Crystal Kirch pointed out, being the pioneer in your school likely gets you dubbed as "the expert" who is expected to have all the answers. And how can you say no when you see your eager colleagues ready to take the plunge.

I quickly read something someone said about how "assigning reading homework to students so that we can discuss it in class the next day" has always been a flipped classroom idea. But now putting some structure around it, with ways to evaluate, AND FOLLOWING THROUGH should be able to make it work for ALL the class, and not just the geeky chosen few.

Making students responsible for their own learning...

Why do I get the same feeling as when I'm looking up on that scary ride at the amusement park. "Just get on it and stop thinking about it. You'll figure out the details in TIME".

2 comments:

  1. Hi.. this is Katherine Solomon. You were one of my teachers in the mid 90's at Centennial. Are you still there? Glad to see you are still teaching!! it would be great to hear from you if you remember me.

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