#flipclass Flash Blog: Building Community Outside of School

Tonight's #flipclass blog prompt: How do you find/build community outside your school site?

The short answer: Twitter.

When I first joined Twitter I was very lost; it has a learning curve. Now, if I could only have one social media site, Twitter would be it.

When I decided to flip my classroom a year ago, I found #flipclass chat on Twitter and made so many helpful, like-minded connections. Those connections often lead to other connections. I could not have flipped my classroom without the help and encouragement of the Twitter #flipclass community.

I made a connection with @RoxyGirlTeacher on Twitter. She teaches 8th grade math, too, and has been an invaluable source of help and information and resources.

Through my blog I've made a connection with another 8th grade math teacher in Illinois. We comment on each other's blogs, ask each other questions, and get ideas from each other.

One of my newer connections is a teacher in a nearby district. We met at a tech conference in June. We stay connected via - you guessed it - Twitter.

I am thankful for the community I continue to build. I love being able to throw a question "out there" and get so many ideas and answers. If one of my connections doesn't know the answer, I'll be directed to someone (new!) who does. I love being able to share new ideas and resources I learn from my online connections with those in my building.

My growing community has made me a better teacher.

North Alabama Technology Conference 2015

This past week I attended the North Alabama Technology Conference (NATC) at Hazel Green High School in Hazel Green, Alabama.

I was encouraged to apply to present my flipped classroom by our system's technology coordinator. I was accepted, and I used the presentation I gave to my school's faculty in April.

My session, "Flipping - It's Not Just for Cheerleaders Anymore," was in the first time-slot of the first day. After getting a couple of technical kinks worked out, I attended the morning's keynote presentation (more on that later), and went back to my room to present.

Two people attended my session. One was the mother of a student I taught this past year; she is working on her education degree and subs in our system. The other was a Hazel Green High School chemistry teacher. She had done some flipping by providing videos for her students who needed extra instruction.

The session was very laid back. The current education student was able to ask some questions, and the two veteran teachers were able to share things we had done in our classrooms for our students.

And I got to talk about what I love. :)

Sure, I would have liked to have had a room full of people, but just getting to practice sharing my flipped classroom was good, and reflecting on the year got me excited about it all over again.

The rest of my time during the two days of the conference was spent learning.

The opening keynote was presented by Travis Allen, CEO and founder of iSchool Initiative. Oh, and he's a college senior. He was amazing. He was just the person we veteran teachers need to tell us how to reach "that kid" in our classrooms: the bright but bored and disengaged student. It was great to hear about the progression of technology and how to best use it in our classrooms from the perspective of one who has grown up with it.

All three of my Tuesday sessions were spent with Barry Wiginton, a representative from Alabama Technology in Motion, a wonderful resource for Alabama educators I was unfamiliar with.

His first presentation was on SMART Boards. I am in constant need of learning and being reminded of the capabilities of my board. My biggest takeaway from that session was a shortcut for how to get to the orientation screen. I'm not sure how I've had my board for so long and didn't know that trick.

After lunch I went to the presentation about Google forms and Flubaroo. I played around with Google forms just a bit this past year. He showed how to use them for formative assessment and how to grade those assessments with the add-on Flubaroo. I plan to use Google forms for students to enter summaries of videos this coming year.

I finished the day with a presentation about Google extensions. There are a lot of possibilities out there that have applications for classrooms. Of course, now I need to go back through everything he showed us and remember what I wanted to try, but thankfully Mr. Wiginton has all of his PD sessions on his website.

The second day started with a presentation from Internet safety expert, Katie Greer. I learned so much from Ms. Greer. I wish every educator, parent, and student could hear her speak. Our students have no idea the situations they're putting themselves into with what they share and who they connect with on social media and through various apps (some of which are frightening!). I highly recommend everyone follow her on Facebook.

I attended a session on Plickers. I'm not sure I will use Plickers, as I have other options since we are 1:1, but they were fun to learn about. And they might be good to use from time-to-time in my classroom just to swap things up. I have found my middle school students (maybe all students?) get tired of the same "cool" tech thing being used all the time.

I heard a fourth grade teacher's journey of flipping her classroom (math first, then social studies). While her situation is obviously different from mine, our journeys were much the same.

After lunch I went to a workshop led by the chemistry teacher who came to my session. Hazel Green High School is a BYOD school, and she was sharing tips for managing the BYOD classroom. Our 1:1 classrooms don't have all the challenges of a BYOD classroom (I only need a basic understanding of how to troubleshoot a single device), but it was good to get more classroom management tips for a classroom where everyone is holding a technological device in their hands.

While I had an hour's drive each way and was very tired at the end of the two days (I was also finishing up the last week of teaching summer school this week), I am glad I went and I learned so much I can't wait to try this coming year. I am wanting to garner the power of Google for my classroom. I go to an informative session at my high school Monday to learn more about Google Classroom, and am excited to learn how I can do so much for my students with things that work so well together and can enhance what I'm already doing in my classroom, including flipped lessons.

I have to give a short personal story about the conference. I was the only teacher from my district there, and I was probably one of only a few who had traveled so far to be there. Most everyone there was from the same district (Madison County); their conversations were very district-related, and I felt very out of place.

I was relieved to find a lady from my church there the first morning to sit with for the opening keynote address, but most of the time I was by myself. A lot of time I felt pretty lonely.

Everyone was very friendly, and I realize my feelings came from my own perceptions, but I observed how we as teachers - human beings - interact and respond to others. We stay with our group of friends and don't often reach out to those around us. It happens in faculty meetings (I know how terrified we get in my school if they make us sit with those not in our normal circles), it happens at PD events. I decided I don't like going to things like this by myself.

At lunch the second day, I felt like I was back in junior high. There were all these groups of friends/teachers, and I was sitting by myself (I was one of the first ones to sit down for lunch). I was so happy to see the Hazel Green chemistry teacher come toward me with one of her friends and ask, "May we sit with you?"

I did make new connections and new friends, and I'm very thankful for those. But I hope my experience will make me more aware of others who need reaching out to the next time I'm at an event like this.

We teachers can learn from each other. And we need each other.

The Most Tiring, Most Rewarding Year of my Career

Whew...I made it!

No...WE made it! I've been rereading blog posts from the beginning of the school year (I'm SO glad I made the decision to blog my journey), and this was definitely a trip I took WITH my students.

We began the year a little excited, a little nervous, a little uncertain.

We end the year satisfied, glad we took the journey, knowing it was the right thing to do.

And tired. While some would say I just forget or block it out, I don't remember ending a school year so tired. I began the process of flipping my Algebra 1 classes before the end of June last year and have worked on it since then with relatively little off time.

But it's been so worth it. Yes, I would do it again.

The benefits?

I think I've discussed most of the benefits in posts throughout the year. But they're worth summarizing again. :)

•  Time. A detailed blog post is here, but the flipped classroom has been the best use of my and my students' time.
•  Classroom management. SO much easier when I'm not the "sage on the stage." I've said several times this year that if I had a traditional classroom, my 7th period class and I would not have liked each other very much.
•  Priming the pump. I love students coming to class truly ready to learn. They know what the day is about and are able to get down to business in a short amount of time.
•  The location of the struggle. Students and their parents appreciate that the "hard stuff" is done in class. Students love that I am available for questions when they need me the most.
•  Manageable homework load. 'Nuff said.
•  Deeper learning with (what felt to students like) less effort.
•  Student responsibility. Students learned how to be in control of their own learning.
• Mathematical discourse. Lots and lots of mathematical discourse. Music to my ears.
•  Fun class time. Well..."almost bearable," "halfway fun," and "not so bad" in the words of students as written in my yearbook. I'll take it.
•  Relationships. I've always prided myself in my relationships with my students. But this year was different. As everything I read last summer predicted, being able to spend so much more one-on-one time with my students allowed me to know and understand them even better. I said it many times, but I had a much better feel for the mathematical pulse of my students and how to help them. On the flip side (no pun intended originally), my students understood better than ever that I'm on their side and have their backs.

A Year's Collection of Flipped Lesson Videos

Where do I go from here? What do I change next year?

•  Some videos will need to be revised; a few need a complete overhaul.
•  A written summary of each video by students. It's something I wanted to do since early on in the process but never kicked off.
•  Continue to work on timing of class activities. I don't worry too much about the days where there's not enough time to finish what I have planned (although unfinished activities bother me a little), but the days where the planned activities didn't take as long as I thought they would and more meaningful learning could have taken place need to be improved.
•  Continue to find meaningful activities. This was harder during the "tough" times the year - close to Christmas, as the school year came to an end - and I depended on worksheets (self-checking) too much. Many of the activities I did with my Algebra 1 kids this year were new to me, as I'd never had time to do anything like them before. Since I built my repertoire this year, I'll have time next year to better develop the units that were left wanting.
•  Implement flipped lessons for my Pre-Algebra classes. They are different kids with different motivations and a flipped classroom will look a bit different for them. But I believe it can be done successfully. Yes, that will mean more time and more video-making next year, but a teacher's gotta do what a teacher's gotta do.

I also look forward to continuing to share the flipped classroom with fellow teachers. I've participated in an EdCamp, and I led a short PD session for my colleagues. This summer I'm leading a session at the North Alabama Technology Conference. A few teachers in my system have told me they're interested in flipping their own classrooms and have asked questions about how to make it work for them. I've offered to help in any way I can.

I honestly don't remember what triggered the decision last June to "go for it" and begin the process of flipping my classroom. Thomas Jefferson said, "With great risk comes great reward." For whatever reason, I decided to take a risk, I brought my students and their parents along with me, and I feel we were all greatly rewarded.

I can't wait until next year!

Sharing My Passion With Others. Eek!

It seems like the only way I get any blogging done anymore is to be assigned a Flash Blog by #flipclass.

But that's not a bad thing, right?

We're talking about conferences tonight. Attending them, presenting at them.

I've blogged about my most recent conference experiences: my last year of Laying the Foundation training and my very first EdCamp experience.

I'm now lined up to present at 2 events: next week's professional development day at school and the North Alabama Technology Conference in June. Both about flipping my classroom.

EEEK! What have I done????

I LOVE my flipped classroom. I've shared about it with whomever has asked.

But that's always been with someone who's interested or curious enough to ask me about it.

I'm not too worried about the technology conference; those attendees will WANT to be there and will have CHOSEN to come to my session.

But a required professional development day?

I love my coworkers. I really do. But I know how they feel about things like this. I know how a few of them feel about technology and new ways to use it. And I know how they feel about math.

Am I going to be burned at the stake? Seen as a traitor? And worst of all, talked about in the faculty lounge and at the lunch table? ;)

I want to share my passion. I want to share why I made the choice to flip. I want to share all the amazing benefits I've seen from it. I want to share the resources that have been such a big help to me.

But I want to do it in a way that's at least a little bit intriguing and engaging for a captive audience.

And I have 10 days to figure out how to do it.

I'm ready. I'm willing. It's just time to have that "a-ha" moment that comes when I'm figuring out how to do things with my students.

We all know adults are much harder than students. :)

Any and all advice is appreciated!

My First Edcamp

This past Saturday I attended my first edcamp. Our system's technology coordinator was one of the organizers. He tried to explain to us what this "unconference" would look like, but I think it might be impossible to really understand an edcamp until you've experienced one for yourself.

In the main meeting room a whiteboard was partitioned into rooms/time slots. Post-it notes were on a table in front of the whiteboard. If you had something you wanted to share or a problem you wanted to discuss, you wrote it on a post-it note and picked a room/time.

The Session Board

Topics included project-based learning, using Twitter in the classroom, Google Classroom, Kahoot!, and many others. Two teachers from my school introduced some of us to Adobe Voice. As sessions would meet and it became clear attendees wanted or needed more discussion about something else, another session would form. It was a neat process to watch.

Friends and colleagues sharing Adobe Voice

Michael had suggested I pick a slot for discussing the flipped classroom, so I did.  He assured me I needed no prepared presentation. He advised me to just share how I had flipped my classroom and how it was working for me.  I had no idea what to expect, but a room-full of people were interested in talking about the flipped classroom. After I shared "my story," teachers asked questions or shared their own experiences. We were having a great time and had to be told that the next session was waiting to enter the room. :)

Drawing for door prizes (I sure did want that Apple TV!)

Edcamp was a great PD experience.  It was FAST. It was FUN (even if I didn't win a door prize). There was a lot of information given and lots of things I want to explore deeper, but I really didn't find it overwhelming. My brain was not hurting like it sometimes has after a day of teacher-learning.

Most of all, the day was ENERGIZING. It was great to be with teachers who wanted to be there, talking about issues they wanted to talk about. I got to see former students now changing the lives of their own students. I got to meet pre-service teachers wanting to learn everything they can from current teachers. I made new connections (yea, Twitter!). Being able to share how and why I flipped my classroom reignited my passion for it.

I was reminded of how much we teachers need each other to be the best teachers we can be.

My (Growing) PLN

After taking the weekend off, I am back for Day 22 of TeachThought's Reflective Teacher 30-Day Blog Challenge.

Today's prompt:  What does your PLN look like, and what does it do for your teaching?

I'm not sure I knew what a PLN (Personal Learning Network) was before I joined Twitter last year. But I have one, and it's growing!

My PLN starts with my school. I've already blogged how the other ladies in my department are always teaching me.  The rest of my colleagues are also rich sources of ideas and inspiration.

My PLN then extends to the rest of my system.  I have learned things from teachers in every school in my system, as well as administrators in the central office.

In the last couple of years I have found many math teachers' blogs.  Blogs such as Math Equals Love, Equation Freak, i is a number, and several others have shown me new and innovative ways to explain and present material, and many activities I do with my students come from something I read on a blog. I have been able to communicate with some of these bloggers, sharing even more ideas.

Pinterest is also a part of my PLN.  I have found many of the aforementioned blogs and activities from Pinterest boards.

And Twitter.  Where would my teaching be without Twitter?  Ideas, quotes, articles, blog posts...Twitter is a never-ending source of learning for me.  And it is a community.  My favorite hour of the week is Monday night's #flipclass chat.  I have made friends all over the country, many who are veteran "flippers" and many who are learning as I am.  Twitter allows us to communicate in real-time.

Several phrases come to mind when I think of what my PLN does for my teaching.  I stand on the shoulders of giants...it takes a village...all for one and one for all (OK, maybe that last one is stretching it a bit).  But my students - thankfully - aren't dependent on just me to learn math in the eighth grade.  They get the benefit of knowledge and ideas from ALL of these people with which I have made connections.

And now, I've gotta go.  It's almost time for #flipclass chat!