Flipping can be weird, scary, confusing, unnerving, and overwhelming.... that's why I'm glad I started small.
This week I got a reminder of my own beginnings when I dredged up this video from my Youtube channel. It's the time of year for us 8th grade teachers to make high-school course recommendations. At my middle school we have heterogeneous grouping, but in 9th grade there are two levels for World History. It's the first time these students have been officially ability-grouped or tracked for social studies. In February 2013, I got the idea to film a single presentation so I could show it to all 4 of my classes. Then they would all get exactly the same message, I wouldn't be repeating myself all day long, and if a student were absent that day then I could just say "Watch this"!
I filmed the video with a simple Kodak FlipCam and edited it with iMovie. I sort-of scripted the video ahead of time, which helped greatly. The post-production process took about 3 times longer than I spend now, because I have gained so much practice since then. I'm still pretty pleased with the results, so even though the course names have been changed, I can recycle this video every year to serve the same purpose.
So if you have considered making the flip, I suggest that you start like I did. Record a video on a topic you don't want to repeat 3 or 4 times in one day. Choose a subject you feel confident speaking about, so when the camera is on then you're less likely to panic and freeze. You can even show the clip during class, to observe the students' reaction. (I did that for this video in 2013, but now I just post it online for them to find and view anytime.)
Comments, questions, advice, wisecrack remarks, etc. are always welcome below!
This week I got a reminder of my own beginnings when I dredged up this video from my Youtube channel. It's the time of year for us 8th grade teachers to make high-school course recommendations. At my middle school we have heterogeneous grouping, but in 9th grade there are two levels for World History. It's the first time these students have been officially ability-grouped or tracked for social studies. In February 2013, I got the idea to film a single presentation so I could show it to all 4 of my classes. Then they would all get exactly the same message, I wouldn't be repeating myself all day long, and if a student were absent that day then I could just say "Watch this"!
I filmed the video with a simple Kodak FlipCam and edited it with iMovie. I sort-of scripted the video ahead of time, which helped greatly. The post-production process took about 3 times longer than I spend now, because I have gained so much practice since then. I'm still pretty pleased with the results, so even though the course names have been changed, I can recycle this video every year to serve the same purpose.
So if you have considered making the flip, I suggest that you start like I did. Record a video on a topic you don't want to repeat 3 or 4 times in one day. Choose a subject you feel confident speaking about, so when the camera is on then you're less likely to panic and freeze. You can even show the clip during class, to observe the students' reaction. (I did that for this video in 2013, but now I just post it online for them to find and view anytime.)
Comments, questions, advice, wisecrack remarks, etc. are always welcome below!
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