Middle of Summer Thoughts

Taking inventory of my situation. I dabbled at flipping during the last two months of school (with my grade 9 math class). I made my own videos of me teaching, but still didn't get a handle on how to run the class time.

I've read about flipping til my head spun, and I kind of like Sophia (I even did the tutorial and got the free t-shirt) as the means of organizing my videos/powerpoints/handouts, although we use moodle as the "doorway" at my school. The techie's at my school take it very personally if you don't adopt their "favourites".

I plan to dive in whole hawg come next year, but I know I will need to educate my students on how to actively listen to videos, and take notes (someone mentioned the Cornell method of note-taking). I also know I will have to step away from the stage in the class, a do some EBWA (educate by walking around) - something I'm not used to.

I've been reading all the Crystal Kirch stuff with WSQ's and I like the format. But the main thing I'm not confident about is how to make them responsible for their own learning. I can see that as twice the challenge for lower grades. One thing's for sure, I know I can get the parents buy into the concept once they realize they may not have to sit down and teach their kids (or they can learn from my videos if they like), and maybe even forego the math tutor.

Just like switching to a Mac from a PC (which I actually tried unsuccessfully), the best way to go is to just discard the "old way" and just take the plunge. It's hard to think about in the middle of summer (actually summer school for me), but i know I have to plan, plan, plan.

Now to find the time to plan...