As an elementary school teacher with 2nd and 3rd grade students filling her classroom, I believe that my feelings and thoughts about flipped learning and challenge based learning will vary greatly from teachers of middle or high school students. With that being said, I will explore the two within the context of my teaching, and that of other grade levels and subjects, here.
Flipped Learning This is a concept I have heard of over the past few years. It involves students doing some learning at home and the majority of the work at school. I appreciate this concept, particularly because I have felt that traditional homework is a waste of time for both the student and the teacher. It adds stress to the student and work for the teacher with little to no feedback and often no learning value. My Classroom Context This year in my 2/3 combo class, with authorization and encouragement from the principal, I have eliminated traditional homework and only send home collaborative family projects related to something we are studying or discussing at school once per month. Students are also expected to read at home 20-30 minutes 4-5 days per week, and to work on an online math program at a self- driven pace to supplement the time they spend on it at school. I have chosen this model to relieve stress from young learners, to allow students to spend more quality time with their families, to relieve frustration of parents who have limited understanding of new math teaching strategies, and to give students more freedom in what they learn and do outside of school- with extracurricular activities in mind. Another driving force behind this model is that there tends to be one or two students in a class who do not complete their homework. At this age, it tends to be more of a family issue than a student issue. If a 7-9 year old student is never reminded or prompted to complete his/her homework by an adult at home, or given time and space to do so, it is rare that it is going to happen. I believe that these students do need to take responsibility for their own learning, but at a developmentally appropriate age. Other Classroom Contexts As students get older, I do see value in being able to manage some homework as a part of their daily lives- and for this age group, I think flipped learning is a great idea as it has the potential to allow students to spend their time at home doing valuable learning as opposed to busy work, to receive more feedback from their teachers, and to explore concepts alone with the chance to process and inquire before coming together for a conversation or activity related to the learning. Cons The biggest challenge I see with flipped learning is that students do not have equitable access to technology at their homes, so students without that access would be either unable to complete the assignment, or would be spending class time watching the content and missing out on the designed accompanying activity, singling them out and defeating the purpose of the flip. Pros Using content as homework though, does eliminate the stress and frustration many students feel when working to complete assignments at home. Students could record questions about the content for the teacher to answer during the following session if they are confused. This seems like an extremely valuable model of teaching and learning, and while I do see it's challenges- I hope we are able to overcome those and give learners in the upcoming years more valuable home learning experiences. Summary I will not be using flipped learning for my current research project, or in my elementary class this year. I would definitely consider flipped learning in the future, and especially for older grade level learners. I can see myself sending home content videos to elementary school students to watch and reflect on, and being able to come together to have a discussion or work on a project would be very nice. At this point in time I still have too many issues with the equity of the flipped model at an elementary school level to implement it, but I can see that this is where we are heading in the future and I am excited to see it happen. Challenge Based Learning Challenge based learning is something that I have seen a desperate need for in education, especially in recent years. After looking at Apple's model for CBL, I can actually see how this type of learning is weaving it's way into modern curriculum and teaching practice. There are elements of CBL in PBL (project based learning) which has become a prominent method of teaching and learning in the past few years. My Classroom Context This year I have a group of very capable students, and I often feel that they become easily bored with the curriculum or content and are in need of a challenge. When I give these students group work, or have them write down questions they have- they light up. They come alive and interact with each other, they engage in problem solving, and they are completely immersed in the work. Our new language arts curriculum begins each unit with an "essential question" that students explore throughout the content of the unit, which is why I feel that this model is already presenting itself to us in small ways. Recently, I created a math challenge binder, out of necessity, for students who find the math work we are exploring too easy. If they can quickly show me they can understand and apply the current concepts, they can go pick a challenge page out of this binder to work on. They are multiple step problems that build on and extend concepts we've covered, and add an element of puzzle or something to be figured out. The students work together on these, and they talk about strategies, draw, write, sketch, inference and eventually agree on an answer. If students could always be this engaged in the learning, school would be a very different place than it is currently in the majority of classroom settings. Other Classroom Contexts This model seems to me to be capable of spanning all grade levels and content areas. Students love to be challenged and tend to rise to the occasion when presented with one. It seems like a great way to get students involved in the world around them through learning and working together. Cons The only negative that I can think of in relation to this model of teaching and learning are those students who are unable, unmotivated or unwilling to participate in group learning. This can be a challenge for them and for others in their group. Maybe it is possible that this student explores the challenge on their own rather than in a group. This model could pose a challenge for educators who are not used to teaching in this type of environment. Overall, I think this is an excellent model and can't think of many reasons not to use it! Pros Challenge based learning allows students to interact with and have an impact on their real world community. You start with a theme and a question and then there is a challenge that students begin to explore possible solutions to. This is unique because there isn't a specific answer that students are trying to find, but probably every group of students who explored the challenge would come to a different conclusion, or have a slightly different outcome based on their approach to the challenge. Students are engaged in high levels of questioning, evaluating and problem solving. Students are often collaborating as well, which provides them with 21st century skills they will need in the workplace. Summary I can already see that I use a bit of challenged based learning in my classroom and I definitely plan to use more. I am going to explore more resources for creating challenged based learning activities within my classroom context. I can see this being helpful for my current group of students, and for all my future students as well! I am looking forward to more curriculum switching to this model and allowing students and educators a little more freedom in the discoveries they make while learning together.
3 Comments
Ben
11/25/2017 09:26:47 pm
Love your impetus for doing flipped learning, i.e., the little value to Homework and the feedback opportunity lost through HW. I often wonder why in a learning environment we continue to maintain an allegiance to HW. I get it once students have mastered a skill, but we seem to assign HW at an exponential rate under the guise of practice. Kudos to you!
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Lisa Gottfried
11/27/2017 06:45:02 pm
The Math Challenge Binder sounds particularly engaging for those students are ready for it. I wonder how you could take the elements you talked about and apply them to the students who are not ready for the high level challenge yet? Or what would happen if you offered the challenge to ALL your students and then provided extra support for those who need it. Especially with math, just because a student moves more slowly through the math, doesn't mean they aren't ready for the high level thinking, they just need more time to work through it. How can the elements if drawing, writing, sketching and critical thinking can be brought to every student? Just wondering out loud.
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Marisabel Olguin
11/30/2017 07:47:56 pm
I couldn't agree more about the flipped model helping with the HW issue. Our school gives minimal homework and sends mostly projects to be worked on. Students always seem to be more enthusiastic about doing projects than HW.
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AuthorKayla Bryant is an elementary school teacher in Napa, CA. This year she teaches a 2/3 combo class. She keeps a journal with funny quotes from her students, and enjoys learning and laughing alongside them. Some of her main educational interests are related to goal setting, growth mindset, and creativity. Archives
July 2018
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