Waaaaaay back when I was a school-aged kid, the thought of a flipped classroom was something that would only have appeared on "The Jetsons." The Jetsons was a futuristic cartoon that featured things like televisions in cars and portable telephones that seemed so outlandish that it was almost impossible to imagine any of it happening in real life. Fast forward to 2018, and the flipped classroom (along with televisions in cars and portable telephones) is a reality for many.
As a child, I think I would have loved the idea of being able to watch and listen to a teacher's lecture on an electronic device at home in a quiet setting without the distractions of my classmates. If I needed something repeated, I could replay my teacher's lecture as many times as needed in order for me to understand the lesson. With this in mind I love the idea of offering my own students that opportunity. I regularly post informational videos on my Google Classroom for students to watch in advance of an assignment or an activity that will be completed at school the following day. Once my students have attained at home the necessary background information they need, we can dive into our work at school, and I can spend my time helping them and assessing their understanding instead of lecturing.
Flipped classrooms do have challenges, however. When students can't access the internet at home or they forget their school-issued Chromebooks at school, flipped classrooms are useless. When this happens, I always make sure there is time set aside at the beginning of class for students to catch up and watch what they weren't able to at home. Overall, our Jetsons' flipped classroom scenario is working well.
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