No more a belieber but a flipper!

       Last week, I was enthusiastic about Schoology.  Starting this week, I will strive to be a flipper.  I think these are some of the criteria for a flipper

  1. Be thoughtful about how you use it (http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/3367)

It is said in the website above that flipped classroom is not the only approach to the teaching and learning process.  Thus, put aside some time to ponder on how to use this approach to the maximum, the suitable resources needed by both the learners and yourself and of course, the learning outcomes.  At the moment, I feel that this approach is very suitable for the teaching of English Literature Component where summary of the poem/short story/chapters from novel are uploaded in Schoology platform.  Then, prescribe 1-2 questions that go along with the uploaded materials.  I just need to find out how to upload materials like text and visuals to Schoology

2. Turn your classroom into a language laboratory

I feel that flipped classroom enables the process of using the language among students come alive.  Teachers are actually using the language as they interact with students in completing their task – individual or group tasks.  From experience, every time I set up a language task for a class, I wish I have lots of time to sit with each group or student and listen to them explaining and I would love to provoke them with questions that will make them think and talk.  But, usually time is spent more on the process and procedure of doing the task so it ends up as teacher talk not students’ talk.  Flipped classroom allows students’ talk to be the core of the lesson.

3. Learn the technology

  One must be ready to learn the technology skills involved in preparing materials for one’s flipped classroom.  Movie Maker is one tool to be learned and it takes practice and patience to get the video ready.  This is the perfect place to practice one’s Movie Maker skill.  For some, uploading is a scary process but just upload!  I guess as we grow older, trying out something new is a skill that we need upgrade.  Basic technological stuff like Power Point and Word is a good start, right?