Seven Things to do this Summer to Prepare for Your Flipped Class

Summer is just around the corner, and teachers are both grieving and celebrating the end of the school year. For me, the end of a school year was always bittersweet. I had poured my life into a group of teenagers, and though I would see some of them the next year, I knew it would not be the same. Yet, on the other hand, summer gave me time to rejuvenate, play, and learn.

One of the beauties of summer is that there is more time to learn and prepare for the coming year. So, if you are already flipping your class or are considering flipping your class, here are seven things you can do this summer to make your flipped class awesome.

• Learn from the experts: Summer has some great conferences on flipped learning. It is possible that your school may offer a workshop. If they don’t, feel free to reach out to me and maybe I can provide some professional development for your school or district. There are two FlipCon conferences this summer, and I am leading an all-day workshop in Illinois.
  • ASCD One-Day Workshop: July 15 in Naperville, Illinois. I will be leading this event.
  • FlipCon 2016: July 19-21 in Allen Texas
    
  • FlipCon New York: August 1-2 in New Paltz New York

• Read a Book: The number of flipped learning books is multiplying and can offer up some great advice on how to best implement it in your classroom. Below is a list of some of the books. My books you can get from my store, but for others, I have provided links.
  • Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning for Science Instruction (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning for Math Instruction (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning for English Instruction (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning for Social Science Instruction (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipped Learning for Elementary Instruction (Bergmann, Sams)
  • Flipping with Kirch: The Ups and Downs from Inside My Flipped Classroom (Crystal Kirch)
  • Flipping 2.0: Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Class (Bretzman)
  • Flipping Your English Class to Reach All Learners (Cockrum)
  • Flipping the Nursing Classroom: Where Active Learning Meets Technology (Hessler)

• Get a Software Upgrade: One aspect of flipped learning that many teachers struggle with is the creation of videos. Get some software and start making flipped videos. If you already are comfortable with this process, take your videos to the next level and add annotations, in-video quizzing or build your own forward board. If you don’t know what a forward board is, then watch THIS video and then go to http://lightboard.info and learn how to make it.

• Plan better in-class activities: If you have your library of videos produced, then revisit what you do in class. The key to the flipped classroom is not the flipped videos, but rather the engaging things you can do in class because of the videos. Scour the internet, look in your textbook materials and find great activities for your students to do in class each day.

• Flip a Whole Unit: One of the significant struggles in flipping a class is time. During the school year, teachers have so many demands that they can’t envision flipping a whole unit. I encourage you to create all the learning objects you need to have one ready-made flipped unit. A unit should include:
  • Unit outline
  • Flipped videos
  • In-class activities
  • Assessments

• Connect with others: It is hard to flip alone. Find others in your community with whom you can create your flipped class. Also, reach out to the broader flipped learning community via social media. Join some of the following groups.
  • My Newsletter (over 6000 subscribers)
  • Flipped Learning Network Social Media (With over 28,000 members)
  • My Facebook Page
  • Latin American Facebook Group
  • Italian Facebook Group
  • Swedish Facebook Group
  • Norwegian Facebook Group
  • Korean Facebook Group
  • Japanese Facebook Group
  • Twitter Chat: Follow the hashtag #FlipClass and join the chat every Monday night at 8pm Eastern

• Rest: Don’t forget to rest. Take time to enjoy your family, go for hikes, ride a bike, play some games, get some exercise, connect with your inner self, or read a book for pure pleasure.  

Please share with others your summer flipped class plans.