This is my entry into the “Flip This Classroom” contest. The winner gets to choose a Steelcase classroom furniture configuration. Wish me luck!! WATCH HERE !!

So far, I am having a fantastic year! I’ve kept the flip going for the second year, and have added some things to allow students to take ownership of their learning:

• iTunes U – My IB Math course is now publicly available! Check it out here! This took some time to get all of the students enrolled, but since I also implemented the First Five Days again this year, I had some time to get everyone enrolled before the first day of actual curriculum. With one exception, all of my students are enrolled in the iTunes U course. The one student is more comfortable on a laptop, so I directed him to the website I created last year, with the same videos and activities, so he’s not missing anything.

• Flip Discussion – In Algebra 2, I decided to spend one day at the beginning of each unit talking about the concepts and seeing how much they know before any new material is presented. I am surprised at how much my students remember about systems of equations! Because of this, I can summarize the graphing, substitution, and elimination sections all in a day, and move on to solving using inverse matrices and Cramer’s Rule.

• Flip Mastery – In IB Math, students are staying on track, and some are even working ahead in order to manage their time and complete everything for all of their classes including mine. They are very grateful that I have given them all of the material in advance, allowing them to work at their own pace.

• Summary at the Beginning of Class – This is going very well. I recap the previous night’s video with a simple example and ask students if they can make an example that is more complicated. When they come up with something, I ask them to explain what they would do differently to solve the new problem. This gets them thinking about the style of questions that are asked on tests versus daily class assignments. I then allow them to work while I make myself available for individual questions.

• Unit Projects –In IB Math, students have a choice on how much they can receive as a maximum score on their end-of-unit project. For each section in the unit, if they find a problem from a different textbook or from the internet, and solve it on paper, they earn a maximum of 80. If they record their solution in a short video that explains their steps, they earn a maximum of 90. And if they make a video, or series of videos, that summarizes the entire unit, they earn a maximum of 100. We have only completed the second unit and already the results are amazing!! Almost everybody decided to go for the 100! One student went so far as to compile her videos onto a website! I asked her if I could post the link, and she said I could, so here it is!

So everything is going very well. I am excited to see what happens as the year progresses. I plan on asking students, via a Google Form survey, whether they feel the same way about this year as I do. Results will follow after I get them. Oh, and great news – two “Raw Hundos” on the very first test!

It hasn’t been a full week yet, but I’ve had a great time with my department!

This morning, at our morning meeting, most of them showed up wearing blue shirts and khaki pants!! Of course, this was the ONE day I didn’t wear my signature colors. How embarrassing.

But what an unbelievable surprise!! Thank you guys so much!! Here’s to a great year!!