This is my seventh year implementing the Flipped Classroom model, and I don’t know why, but I feel more excited than usual about this new year.

Maybe it’s because I’ve moved to a new classroom. For the past several years, I’ve been in a hallway with my fellow IB teachers, but now I’ve moved back to the math hallway. I will definitely miss my IB colleagues, but I think it will be good for me to be around more people who can talk math with me. Also, it will be a chance for them to learn more about what we actually do in IB Math classes.

Maybe I’m excited because I just came back from presenting at my second conference this year. Earlier this year I presented on “The Flipped Classroom” and “The First Five Days” at the Common Ground conference in Ocean City, Maryland, and was well-received. Last week, I presented on the same topics, plus “Making Assessments Cheat-Proof,” at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teachers (CAMT) in Houston, Texas, and the response was amazing! The first session was three-quarters full and the other two were completely full! After the conference, I received multiple emails asking me to share my resources (which I gladly did).

Or maybe I’m excited because, while keeping all of my IB Math classes, I’ve gone from teaching Algebra 1 to teaching AP Calculus BC this year. It’s been a while since I’ve taught Calculus, but there are a lot of the same concepts in my IB Math courses. There are just a few lessons that I need to brush up on, and then I’ll be fine.

As far as flipping goes, I will still do that in my IB classes, because that continues to be successful. I think I will use this year to make my classes more asynchronous and mastery-based, but I know I will have to teach the students how to manage their independence. I still start the year keeping everybody on the same lesson on the same day, and then as the year progresses, assign firm deadlines but give more freedom as to how they get there.

I don’t feel comfortable flipping Calculus yet, especially since it’s my first year. But I will use this year to see which IB videos and activities I can directly transfer to the Calculus classes. Then next summer I can craft the necessary playlists for those classes.

Again, I don’t know why I’m excited. I think it’s because I get to work with more of those precious seniors than usual. Yes, I look forward to teaching them mathematics. But more importantly, I hope I can gradually build their sense of integrity and character, and give them a sense of assurance that life after high school will be okay.