Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement - Softcover

Jonathan Bergmann was a classroom teacher for 24 years. He now works with teachers, schools and corporations to help them rethink educational practice. He co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002.

Aaron Sams is an educational entrepreneur who co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He is adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and was a chemistry teacher in Colorado and California. He was awarded the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

Introduction
a challenge and the one question

John Tague is a 20-year veteran mathematics teacher from Fairfax, Vermont. Three years ago, a student came to John at the end of class to get some help. She didn’t have time to get a complete explanation, so she said, in exasperation, “I will just find a YouTube video to explain it.” At that moment, John realized he had to do something different to meet the needs of his students.
John understood that the traditional model, where he stood up and talked at 30 students every day, needed to change. He then scoured Twitter and started looking for answers. Through Twitter, John was able to connect with some flipped classroom advocates.

From there, he implemented flipped learning in both his AP Calculus and his ninth-grade math course. Today his students are more actively engaged in their learning. By working with students individually, John was able to make a difference in their learning. Whenever he has a chance to share his experience as a flipped classroom teacher, he says: “No one is left behind, no one is held back.”
Amber Mueller is a second-year fifth grade teacher at Lily Lake Elementary School in Stillwater, Minnesota. As a first-year teacher, she arrived with energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, she quickly got discouraged, especially with teaching math. She had so many topics to cover and felt like the program she was developing overemphasized the filling in of worksheets. After  six months of frustration, she was introduced to flipped learning. Her district started a professional development program centered on flipped learning principles, and she jumped in with both feet. Before Amber implemented flipped learning, her students dreaded math; now they beg to do more. Her students not only watch instructional videos, they are also given a choice in how they demonstrate their understanding of a topic. Amber has even incorporated elements of her flipped math classroom into her literacy course.

Even though these two teachers have pronounced differences in age and experience, they both concluded that something needed to change in education and, more specifically, something needed to change in their classrooms. They aren’t alone. More and more teachers are asking themselves: Do I need to rethink the way I’m teaching my classes? Is there a better learning model than lecture-discussion? Is there a better way to engage students? And they are finding the answers are yes, yes, and yes. John and Amber each concluded that they needed a personal transformation, and they needed to transform their classrooms into centers of learning and inquiry. Flipped learning gave them a framework with which to accomplish this.

a Challenge to Teachers
This book is about transformation: teachers transforming  classrooms and schools from the bottom up to meet the needs of each individual student. This is not an overly academic tome, but rather a book of stories that describe the personal transformations that various teachers have experienced as they follow the path of flipped learning. We invite our readers to join them in this transformation.
Flipped learning is a grassroots movement, not a top-down approach to change. It is changing one teacher at a time, one class at a time, and one school at a time. Teachers need to be the change agents in education. We challenge our readers to be these change agents, to not wait for administrators or reformers to tell you how to change, but to act based on what is best for your students. We challenge teachers to not only consider flipping their classrooms, but to consider moving deeper and further, to flipped learning.

The one Question
How, then, do teachers bring about this change? How do teachers become the transformational change agents in their own school settings? We think there is a fundamental question all teachers need to ask, and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, we will refer to this question as the One Question. This One Question will be a common thread throughout this book:
What is the best use of face-to-face time with students?

The most valuable assets teachers have are those minutes spent each day with students. Teachers need to leverage those precious minutes to maximize learning. Talking at students each day is not the best use of class time! Students need teachers most when they are stuck on a difficult concept or problem that, in a traditional classroom, often happens at home, when the teacher is unavailable. The best use of class time incorporates enriching learning activities and relevant experiences.

What is the answer? What is the best use of your face-to-face class time? Is it problem-based learning? Is it inquiry? Is it discussion? Is it direct instruction? Is it guided practice? If you are looking for one answer for all your students, you will be frustrated with this book. We will propose many possible answers, and each of the educators featured in these pages will share with you how they answered the One Question for themselves. We do not believe there is only one answer to this question: there are many. In fact, we believe that maybe the greatest power in flipped learning is the ability to individualize the learning for each child. There are many different answers, because each student is different and comes to you with a different set of gifts, abilities, passions, and interests.

We want all educators to ask themselves the One Question, and we believe that answering this question honestly will forever change the way educators teach and interact with students.