Flipped classroom ? Definitely yes!

A few months ago , my dear colleague Andriani Rigoutsou sent me, among others, a message ,asking us to apply The Flipped classroom model in 6^th grade so as to help her write her dissertation.

She sent us this video,The Flipped Classroom Model, to watch in order to get an idea about the principles and the benefits of the Flipped Classroom. She also sent us the material for 3 Lessons. Each material consisted of 3 parts.

• A flipped classroom lesson plan (containing all the details on how we should use the material of each lesson as well as the learning objectives)

• A video worksheet with the material that our students had to work on at home (This worksheet included video lessons with grammatical theory or videos like this ,The Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with on line quizzes or photocopies of reading comprehension tasks)

• An In – class- tasksheet with exercises that students would do in groups or in pairs in class, so as to practise what they had already studied at home.

The whole idea sounded interesting but I needed some time to think about it. However, when I took a closer look at the exceptional material that Andriani had given us I decided to go for it.

Before

First I had to notify the parents about it, since I wanted them to allow their children to work on their computer and explain to them briefly the whole process.

Then I had to find a way for my students to have easy access to the digital material without having to copy long links. In order to make their lives easier I decided to give them just one link! That of my  my padlet ,where I uploaded the material.

Now we were ready for action…

During

I never thought that this teaching technique would be so appealing to my students.They actually started studying at home!

They adored padlet , not only because they had easy access to the material but also because it was a way to communicate with me on a daily basis through messages and comments.

Suddenly homework didn’t feel like homework any more.

They additionally enjoyed the in class activities cause they were able to cooperate with the members of their groups  or even compete againstother groups. The variety of tasks  as well as their playful character really transformed my classroom.

Their speaking improved greatly and it was really nice to sit back and listen to them speaking English.

As far as I’m concerned I had the chance to work  more with weaker students while they had additional help from more advanced students of their groups.

Conclusion.

The Flipped Classroom model really worked in my class.It brought a breath of fresh air in my classroom and made my teaching much more appealing.I strongly recommend it to my colleagues .

Special thanks.

I can’t thank Andriani Rigoutsou enough, for the opportunity to work on her method and material,experiment and improve my teaching.I’m sure that Andriani would be glad to share her material or any other help if you are willing to try. Additionally , my dear colleague Vivi Hamilou,who also participated in this project, wrote an extensive report about her experience from Flipped Classroom lessons.If you want to have a look at her  blogpost click here: Primary School of Sourpi-Flipped Classroom by Vivi Hamilou.