Amazed by Learning Process

Okay so our team has completed almost 3 units of math instructional videos and have them uploaded, along with matching templates (daily directional to do lists for the kids like vocabulary words, journal pages to do, games to play when done) to our Franklin Math Google Site and I am amazed at how much we have grown as teachers in this short time. Every time one of us prepares to record a lesson, we first have to discuss what the learning goal is and how to phrase it, then we discuss what the essential parts of the lesson are so we can teach it in 5 minutes or less (we use Jing then upload to Camtasia), and finally we watch the lesson to see if how we taught it is 'good enough.' Our discussions as teachers are so much deeper than they were last year because we are talking about the true meat of our teaching. We are sharing how we each solve the problems and what strategies have helped us learn better (and ones that have not).
One AHA I had while watching Sheryl's videos was how helpful it was when she discussed non-examples when teaching rectangular arrays. As easy as arrays are, it solidified the concept when she showed non-examples. That helped me when I taught the lesson subtracting with decimals. I remembered to show how to not line up the decimals when subtracting. I am a better teacher today than I was yesterday from watching and talking with my teammates.
Tomorrow, we all meet up again and some of our teammates will be recording for the first time. I know they are nervous as it feels like a big change from what they are used to but I am excited for them to see, as Neil, Sheryl, Alberta, Tracy and Jill and I have learned, that this flipping process is not only helping the students learn, but we are learning just as much.

Video of Steve Kelly talking to MI Board of Ed about Flipped Classrooms

Here is a video that I love taken from a guy who is National Board Certified and thought he was a good teacher "for 1997" as he says so he decides to drive out and meet Jonathan Bergmann to see Flipped Learning in action. He goes back to his school and takes on Flipped Learning. I like how he talks about the fact that is not about the videos but more about "quality teaching." Take a look..

Unit 1 Complete

Last week we finished video taping all of the concepts for Unit 1 of EDM. As we filmed, we found that our instruction was improved through our teammates' feedback. Also, as we filmed each lesson, we made sure to reinforce the concepts from the previous lessons. We believe that hearing the concepts from three different teachers will improve our students' learning. Tomorrow starts video taping of Unit 2.

Recording Lessons

Today we met and began the process of filming our lessons. We decided to use Jing to capture the lessons and then import the short videos into Camtasia in order to add titles and transitions. We were able to complete a little more than half of EDM Unit 1 in about four hours. The amount of time was a little frustrating, but I feel certain that as we continue to record we will become more efficient. We are meeting again tomorrow to finish Unit 1.