A Day in the Life of the Flipped Classroom

So...with direct instruction moved outside of the classroom, what exactly do I do all class period?

The short answer:  all the activities I've never been able to do with my students.

My Pre-AP Algebra 1 students have always been shortchanged when it came to variety in the types of activities they were able to do in class.  There were exceptions, but most days were a seemingly endless cycle of lecture+notes and working problems in the book.  Direct instruction took most of the class period, so the only option for practice was book work or worksheets.

Now, the sky's the limit.  Foldables, scavenger hunts, task cards with QR codes, sorts, cut-n-paste, relays, group work, partner work, and lots and lots of problem-solving.  There are still times of problems out of the book, but I am often able to chunk it into manageable, not-too-boring, small sections of time.

Class is usually broken into three 15-minute parts, give or take a few minutes.  Depending on the activity, we may only do two activities.  There is something on the board for the kids to do when they enter the room.  It may be prep for the day, or it may be some problems allowing students to demonstrate their understanding of the lesson video.  There is usually a "main" activity where students practice and/or apply the day's material.  I like to wrap up the day with some sort of exit slip.

Here are a few pictures of some of the activities we've done over the last several weeks.

Group work, discussion, iPad use

Foldable in the spiral notebook

Laying the Foundation lesson; math+writing

Partner problem-solving

While many of students refuse to say they enjoy math, they will say that math CLASS is enjoyable. Fun, even.

Me? I'm having a blast.