Science+-+Cudzilo,+Steve

===Note: Steve's videos are currently posted on his classroom website. He may be redoing these in the fall and uploading to Ensemble.=== =This is my current stakeholder plan= September 4, 2013 Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year. Do you remember when 2013 was a lifetime away? The world changing at breakneck speed. 20 years ago, most of us were not regularly using cell phones and computers, but today, they are part of our everyday lives. In those 20 years, however, the model of education has changed little to incorporate these new realities. Technology is a basic part of everyday life for today’s students and we must embrace the new age of technology that current students have grown up with if we are to get them to become lifelong learners. The model we currently use was developed during the late 1800’s during a time without the technology or ease of access to information that we have today. If we are to educate today’s students, we must do it in a way that is easy for them to learn, which is by using the technology that they are familiar with. Students are comfortable learning this way. This year, I am in the beginning steps of ‘flipping’ my classroom. What this entails is during a couple of units this year, some student homework will entail watching videos I have created. The goal if this is to have students become engaged in learning at their own pace through technology that is nearly always within arm’s reach. Not only can a flipped class utilize technology to allow students to learn material ahead of time at their own pace, but it allows for more productive classes where we can look deeper into concepts, rather than spending time introducing in class and reviewing at night. Students can learn the material at their own speed and classes become more interesting as we can spend time looking more deeply or to discuss real world uses for the knowledge. The flipped model allows us to begin the transition in education to more technology based instruction and allows the students to have more responsibility in their learning. The students can schedule their education to take place when they see fit, but the responsibility is on them. If we are to prepare our students to be career and college ready, this is how we do it. Online education already happens in the post-secondary school world. It is our job to train the students of today to be successful by teaching them how to take responsibility for their own education. This is not to say that our students will be solely responsible at this age, but that we teach, at an age appropriate level, what they will need to do once they leave our system. The flipped class allows for a deeper understanding of content by having students use ‘homework’ time to get the basics of a lesson. This will not be very different from the way in which my classroom already runs. Students work in groups of 2-4 students quite a bit as it makes it easier for me to conference with smaller groups. Homework in a flipped class would be more about what’s coming up, rather than reviewing what we have just done. If you have any questions about the flipped classroom, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support!

= = =Assignment #3= 1) Flipped instruction is a method by which students will be able to take more responsibility for their learning, allowing the teacher to use class time in a more productive manner. A concept, for example, could be introduced by video, allowing students to ‘rewind’ the teacher if something is difficult. Often times, students do not ask questions in class after material is taught for fear that others will think less of them. Class time would be spent with students looking more deeply into the concept, often with a partner or group. In this setting, the teacher is able to go around the room and conference with each group, ensuring that all students understand the concept. In a smaller group setting, students are also less fearful to ask questions themselves. The flipped class allows for a deeper understanding of content by having students use ‘homework’ time to get the basics of a lesson. Homework in a flipped class would be more about what’s coming up, rather than reviewing what we have just done. 2) Parents may initially wonder why we think the old model is broken. My response would be that with the world changing at breakneck speed, education is too. We must embrace the new age of technology that current students have grown up with. They do not know the world we grew up in. If we are to educate these students, we must do it in a way that is easy for them to learn, which is by using the technology that they are familiar with. Students are comfortable learning this way, it is the adults who think this is a big deal. Not only can a flipped class utilize technology to allow students to learn material ahead of time at their own pace, but it allows for more productive classes where we can look deeper into concepts, rather than spending time introducing in class and reviewing at night. Students will enjoy this method as they will be using familiar technology, can often learn the material at their own speed and classes become more interesting as we can spend time looking more deeply or to discuss real world uses for the knowledge. 3) The flipped model allows us to begin the transition in education to more technology based instruction. Many advanced courses in business and college, are taught online. Where we once had to be in a room to hear a great professor teach, that same person can now instruct hundreds or thousands of students around the world by computer. The difference is that the learning is now the student’s responsibility. The students can schedule their education to take place when they see fit, but the responsibility is on them. If we are to prepare our students to be career and college ready, this is how we do it. Online education already happens in the post secondary school world. It is our job to train the students of today to be successful by teaching them how to take responsibility for their own education. This is not to say that our students will be solely responsible at this age, but that we teach, at an age appropriate level, what they will need to do once they leave our system. 4) I believe I will begin flipping at the beginning of my units. This is the low hanging fruit. I always hate the introduction because the kids have little knowledge of where we are going and I always get ahead of myself because I can’t wait to jump in. However, there are often certain parts of each unit that just have to be taught and written down so that we can build the foundation of that unit. I would love to have students be able to learn this basic material on their own and then be able to apply it in class. I think students would also be able to see some success with the flipped model because they will see that something that they learned at home was applied in class the next day and that they were successful at knowing what to do. Those who don’t do the assignment would have significant difficulty and would see the value in getting their work done at home. = = =Assignment #2= p14 "I don't have to go to school to perfom 5 times per day, instead I spend my days interacting with my students". How many times have you woken up in the morning only to sigh and feel like you just want to sit in class like the kids and let someone else do the talking? Flipping puts a lot of the workload onto the students to explore and discover answers and to make appropriate connections to their personal interests. Reading some of these posts has recently caused me to explore a minor change to how i am managing time in class and what the students are doing. I have recently discovered (during final exam review), that if I just give the students an answer key to a practice test and walk around the room while they grade, many more kids will ask me questions and I can personalize my responses to them (instead of going over it with the whole class and nobody having questions). They are not being put on the spot in front of the class and can have my individualized attention, like a tutor. I am so used to having to do everything, that I love the idea of giving the students some autonomy to take responsbility for their learning and not to have the excuse that "they missed that day" or "you didn't go over it in class" when it was really that they were zoned out during that part of class.

p22 "Our students appreaciate the flexibility of the flipped classroom". Many students have a lot going on, especially in middle and high school as music and sports become important to kids. The flipped class allows students who want to move forward or just to review on their own time, without having to stay after school and miss practice.

=Steve Cudzilo - Science, Earth Science=


 * 1) What are the pros and cons of flipping instruction as you see them?**

Students will hopefully begin to take responsibility for their own learning. There are so many 'easy' concepts that I teach that just take time. It would be nice to cover that content as a video and have students just learn it and come to me if they have problems. I would also love to introduce concepts, just to let them run through it once and simmer. The next day, they are familiar and more likely to have thoughtful questions.

A disadvantage, however, could be that students will not take or find the time to get the information in a timely manner. I could also see it being very challenging from an organziational perspective.


 * 2) For each stakeholder you've identified, what are their demographic-specific concerns?**
 * What are various groups of stakeholders ignorant about, need your expertise?**

Parents would wonder what happens if their computer goes down or there are multiple kids at home who need to use the computer that night. I could envision some of my students not getting the work done and being behind and frustrated, due to overscheduling, but I suppose that would change as they adapted to the new method. I would say that I am ignorant about what to expect and am therefore don't know what to expect; nervous because I don't know what I don't know.

A flipped class seems more advantageous because it puts the burden of learning on the student. There are no excuses, such as "i wasn't in class that day". Students can go at their own pace and rewind you if they need. The information is delivered in a more concise manner. I could reasonably see a half hour lecture being taught in 5-10 minutes and then to ask students for analogies the next day, rather than the way I am currently doing it, where I give them everything. The idea that students can also slow a teacher down, rewind and to follow a line of thoughth with drawings seems especially interesting.
 * 3) (How) does a FlipClass better address student needs than does a traditional class?You must be able to tell this story believably to a variety of people who will challenge. You must be ready to explain your pedagogy, with sources, often and eloquently. What evidence will you need to collect to satisfy your critics?**

I think I would need examples of studies showing that this is a growing trend and that we are in the beginning of major shift in education. Is it possible that the kids who are introduced to this today will accept this as a valid model for them and their future children? Will these kids remember these as being the 'old days', when school was much different than schools of the future?