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What keeps me going

10/22/2017

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sustainable flipping ... what keeps you going?
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Wow, it's already time to write another #flipblogs post. This school year seems to be zooming by! We started just after Labor Day in Massachusetts, and just hit the midpoint of Trimester 1: one-sixth of the year has already passed.

This is a good moment (and an appropriate #flipblogs topic) for me to reflect on what's working well IN STARK CONTRAST with how I felt 12 months ago. I blogged earlier about my crazy 2016-17 school year; peruse that if you want more details. There are no posts from October 2016 because I felt too frazzled to blog about it, though I scribbled plenty in a notebook journal!

  • Last year I had terrible in-class support staff. Most of my classes have at least 5 (sometimes 10) students with diagnosed disabilities and special ed services. To do what we need to do during active-learning class time, I need teaching assistants with strong instincts and approachable personalities. That might not be a big deal for everybody, but it's essential for me at my school.
  • Choosing a viable format for video lessons is crucial. I have dinked around so many times with trying various models, and wasted too much time thinking about "what's the best way to teach X?" when I should have focused on the class activities instead. Now I have just 2 formats: a faceless animated slideshow with narration OR "talking-head" live show with historical 'characters'. Those years of video experimentation have finally paid off with confidence in effective presentation.
  • I can't stress enough to need for adequate technical support. We are blessed with 8 laptop carts in my middle school of 550 students. Yeah I suppose we are spoiled, but in 2017 computer access just seems essential. I host a laptop cart during our study-hall period, and quite often the room gets full of students doing digital work. I vaguely hear my own voice escaping many students' headphones/earbuds as they watch my video lessons. That's pretty cool. But most importantly I can feel confident that students have multiple opportunities to view the lesson, and if they're not ready on the due-date I can hook them up quite easily.

That's all I can think of right now. Trying for shorter #flipblog presentations!
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    Who is this flipping guy?!

       Andrew Swan has survived 20 full years of teaching middle school (currently grade 8 US Civics/Government in a Boston suburb). Previously he taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English, US History, geography, and ancient history in Massachusetts and Maine. 
      For the past 7 years, Andrew has flipped nearly all his direct instruction to give more class time for simulations, deep discussions, analyzing primary sources, etc. ... and also to promote mastery for students at all levels.
      His wonderful wife and his 2 high school-age children indulge Andrew's blogging, tweeting, & other behaviors. These include co-moderating the #sschat Twitter sessions and Facebook page. 
      ​Andrew does not always refer to himself in the third-person. 

    Twitter @flipping_A_tchr
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