Conditions to Succeed in Applying the Flipped Classroom Model

In the second section of our series of articles, we discussed the reasons why the Flipped Classroom Model is the ideal solution, and in this last part of this series we will continue talking about the conditions for its success and the mechanisms involved in that.

Conditions to succeed in applying the “flipped classroom” model:

First: the teacher's characteristics

"Jonathan” and “Aaron” describe the teacher who can apply the flipped classroom model with a set of personal qualities and characteristics that make them successful in adopting this model and applying it within their school, including:

1. The ability to make change:

Which is the willingness to try whatever they think might help their students learn better.

2. The ability to plan, carry out actions, and make decisions:

Which means investing all available time in finding and implementing the best approaches for the success of the relevant model.

3. Flexibility:

This quality helps the teacher understand the mistakes made by them during the change journey, and make the necessary adjustments to master the education process.

4. The ability to focus on the goal:

This model aims to redirect students’ attention away from the teacher and focus this attention on the learner and learning.

5. Full mastery of the content they teach:

This way, the teacher can mentally relax and move from one topic to another in the classroom, and objectively understand the interrelated relationships among the components of the content.

6. The ability and courage to admit they do not know the required answer in front of their students:

The teacher must be willing to admit that they do not have the answer, and to seek it out with their students. It has been proven that arrogant teachers who claim to know all the answers hinder the learning process. Always remember that you are the leader of the learners, that you have to show them what adults should do when they don’t know the answer, while also teaching them how to cooperate with others to find it.

7. The ability to move smoothly within the classroom:

This gives each student the sufficient amount of follow-up, explanation, and clarification.

8. The ability to give up some of their control over the learning process of their students:

This quality creates an active learner who participates in the learning process; thus, control becomes a means, not an end. This has been proven in many educational and behavioral studies.

Second: How to manage the flipped classroom:

What takes place in the flipped classroom today has transformed the way the classroom is run into something like a beehive. You repetitively see noticeably asynchronous activity, where all the students are working on different activities and at different times, engaged in their learning. For example, you’re going to find:

• Students working on some research activities.
• Students doing experiments.
• Students watching a collection of videos on their own devices.
• Students working on mastering goals.
• Students working to communicate with an electronic display board to engage in simulation and reproduction of the relevant topics online.
• Students studying in a small group.
• Students taking assessment tests on the school’s computer or personal device.
• Students applying peer learning strategy or a small group strategy with their teacher.

Important steps for classroom management:

Classroom management in this model, which has proven resoundingly successful, begins with the following steps:

1. The first step:

At the beginning of the class, the teacher organizes the students into groups, by conducting an examination that distinguishes those who need practical explanation from those who need to take a test or to have remedial interventions on a subject in the curriculum. This can be done through the teacher’s movement across the classroom to create that direct communication with the students.

2. The next steps:

The creators of this model, Jonathan and Aaron, tell us: “We talk to every child in every class we go into, and on every day we teach them. If a student or group of students shows readiness to take a test, we spend minutes with them discussing key points and what they should be looking for, and once they are ready, we combine them with another group so they would present these basic principles to their colleagues through a discussion that enriches the learning process.

If it appears that there are students who need additional explanation or clarification, you will see us work with them on the smart board or hold a roundtable discussion for them.”

You may think this model is stressful and will give you a heavier workload in the field of teaching, but this belief can be debunked by focusing on the five components of the flipped classroom model, which are:

1. Clear educational objectives.
2. Determining the most appropriate learning style for each educational objective. Is it the research method, the traditional presentation and explanation method, videos, or practical performance?
3. Checking if there are videos available on the Internet before the teacher makes one, and ensuring that students can easily access them via the Internet or school devices and servers.
4. Communicating and working with everyone inside and outside the school to facilitate the teacher’s task, and providing activities that encourage your students to participate and to perform them in class.
5. Making sure to build a bank of questions, find multiple formulas for each assessment, small or large, and to turn oral questions into puzzles

Always remember that the real-life results are the real fuel that drives these teachers to continue developing this model to bring each student to a deep understanding of the learning materials.

Feedback from teachers who implemented this model:

1. Shari Kendrick, a school teacher in San Antonio, wrote a letter to Jonathan and Aaron, the creators of the Flipped Classroom model, saying, “I didn’t have to go to school to explain my lesson five times a day. Instead, I would spend my days interacting with my students and helping them.”

Kendrick is one of the teachers who adopted the Flipped Classroom model. He found that these classes are most beneficial for students who have academic difficulties. They receive the most help, as their teacher spends their time walking around the classroom to help them understand concepts. He is also one of thousands of teachers around the world who wrote to Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams to express how happy they are with the impressive transformation they saw in the level of their students, especially those with poor academic achievement.

Many of the teachers who implemented the flipped classroom model have confirmed through emails and face-to-face meetings with Jonathan and Aaron that the results they got were surprising.

This model has transformed the way teaching is practiced. Instead of standing up and talking to students for 30 to 60 minutes per class, there was a wonderful change that changed the teachers’ role in the classroom, affecting students and parents in many ways. 

2. Jennifer Douglas, a teacher from Westside High School in Macon County, Georgia, US, wrote: “When my class transformed into a flipped classroom, I began to feel a breeze of freedom blowing around me. I was able to stay away and watch my students perform. This does not mean that I gave up my role and sat down to drink my coffee, but rather sat busy with something more important than before, which is interacting with my students.

I was working twice as hard with those who had trouble with academic achievement, as we faced difficult questions together which students had not encountered before. It was all a real opportunity to get to know my students very well, and to take the burden of learning everyone’s responsibility.

Now I can’t force anyone to learn, as this method allows my students to accept their responsibility, and gives them an institutional environment that guarantees their success.”

Conclusion:

If you are interested in learning more about how to implement the Flipped Classroom Model proficiently, read Jonathan and Aaron’s book “Flip Your Classroom”, and you’ll find more about this concept and the benefits of mastering it and how to implement it in the classroom. You’ll also find an entire chapter talking about the different techniques that can be applied to activities and tests.

You can also visit the International Society for Technology in Education website to find out more information about this model and other educational models through this link.