24.13: Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day, by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams (2012 paperback)

This past October, three Redwood Writing Project colleagues and I attended the Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference in American Canyon. In addition to picking up some great tech tips and new app recommendations in workshops, I had the opportunity to attend the keynote given by Jonathan Bergmann. I was looking forward to the session, as I had been hearing about the "flipped" classroom for the past year or so but hadn't had the chance to look more deeply into the concept. Bergmann and Sams, while not really inventors of the flipped classoom, are two teachers considered to be leading experts; they've put the name to the practice, have extensive experience using and refining it in their own classrooms, and are actively sharing their knowledge with other teachers in both print and face-to-face venues. Bergmann was engaging, intelligent, and motivating. I bought the book.

During finals week I had a bit of down time, and the book was sitting on my office desk waiting for the right time. I picked it up, started reading, and was immediately attracted to the possibility of using the flipped-classroom approach for a new class I'll be teaching this coming Fall: the first of a new two-semester freshman composition class we'll be offering at HSU. The concept of the flipped classroom is quite simple: rather than lecturing or providing students with content in class and then having them do homework to reinforce it, the content presentation occurs out of class (through video, most frequently) and students do their work in class. Bergmann and Sams are math and science teachers, so for them this means that students watch short lectures and content reviews on videos on their computers, phones, or other media; when they come to class, they begin by getting their questions answered and then work on science experiments or math problems, take tests, hold discussions, and complete the other things they would have usually done on their own. The premise is that it's during this work time that students most need teacher support: to answer questions, explain concepts, etc. When those things are done in the classroom instead of at home, response is immediate and students continue on their work rather than quitting when they hit a wall. Another layer can also be added to the mix if desired: a flipped mastery classroom, in which students have set objectives and work at their own pace to accomplish them.

Even though spring semester is not underway, I'm already thinking forward to fall, so this week I finished reading this book and am considering how flipped teaching would work in the composition classroom. In many ways it seems like returning to a writers workshop model, with technology enhancements for the mini-lesson and resource-topic components. If my students did their reading and watched short videos about research, revision, and writing strategies outside of the classroom, in class we could break into groups for peer response, discussion of reading, student-teacher conferencing, and individual research and drafting sessions. This semester I'm giving some thought as to how this would actually be structured and paced--and I'm giving the book to my colleague Nicolette in hopes she'll be interested in joining me in the project. I figure it would be more interesting for students to have access to videos and materials produced by the two of us instead of one person (Sams and Bergmann collaborated to create their videos), and we could spend time this summer preparing for our fall class offerings.

As far as this book goes, it's a nice, quick read (112 pages, including Q & A and example stories), provides the basic premise and rationale regarding the flipped classroom, and offers guidance as to how to get started. I recommend it for teachers of any discipline interested in technology, student-centered classrooms, and/or project-based education.