Flipped Classrooms

There are a lot of teachers out there who are starting to move over to flipped classrooms. This may not be the type of instruction that works for all teachers, but it would at least be worth a try to see if it works for you. Flipped classrooms are exactly what the title says they are. In a flipped classroom the time meant for homework and activities and the time meant for instruction are flipped. So instead of teaching during the class time and giving homework to do after class, the teacher instead assigns a video taped or recorded lesson for homework and then assigns activities or homework during class.  The teacher can now spend more time helping students with work and participating in engaging discussions rather than spending most of the class period trying to get the information across. Once students get the core knowledge and general background information from the taped lessons, it is far easier for them to complete activities and accomplish tasks in class with the guidance of the teacher and peers. One excellent recording tool that I have found to work very well with the flipped classroom is VoiceThread. This is an interactive and collaborative video making tool that allows you to record yourself, videos, text, and any other information you might find important. After you have completed your video simply give the students the link. The next day you can complete a variety of tasks and activities based on the video you assigned to your students. Following is a link to VoiceThread: VoiceThread