This article is from an email from IWBNet by
By Steve Griffiths
https://www.iwb.net.au/teacher-wellbeing-an-essential-benefit-of-flipped-learning/
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One of
the main reasons teachers leave the profession is due to workload,
anxiety, stress and burnout. Whilst not a panacea, I have found
that implementing in-class flipped learning has greatly reduced my stress
and anxiety and has improved my job satisfaction.
I have
recently returned to work after the long summer holidays. Over the
holidays I worked hard to redo a number of my videos and create a
workbook for my students to use to interact with the videos and to
practice and deepen their knowledge. Two weeks in, I can say that every
class is doing great. They are working really well with the in-flipped
classroom and I am really loving it. My classes this year have a real mix
of abilities. Some of the students have significant learning difficulties
and many of the students got Ds and Cs for science last year. Over the
years these students have been “beaten down” by getting poor marks in
science. So they came into my class the first day with a defeatist
attitude and many of them were ready to be disruptive and adversarial. I
know that if I was trying to deliver a lecture, these students would
quickly gain my attention and my wrath. However, in an in-flipped
classroom, I am able to spend quality time with each of my students
one-on-one and have gentle, calm and caring conversations with these
students. I find that when I spend this quality time with each student,
individually, their demeanour changes immediately. You know the saying,
“students don’t care what you know until they know you care”. I firmly
believe this is true.
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I spend time with
every student, in every class, every day.
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I use
an in-class flip model in my junior science classes. Students interact
with the videos on their computer in class, at their own pace, then work
on the questions, exercises and experiments when they are ready. I walk
around the classroom teaching micro-lessons, interacting with the
students, checking for understanding and encouraging my students. Because
students are working at their own pace and are empowered to work
independently, my students never seem to act out with poor behaviour.
Amazingly, the students get in and do the work without fuss. I used to
dread teaching some classes because I knew there would be students that
would act out or disengage as I was lecturing. I no longer have this
fear, simply because I am not trying to teach the whole class at the same
time.
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Proponents
of flipped learning identify differentiation, relationships, active
learning and student centred learning as some of the benefits of flipped
learning. I would like to add to this list another benefit that may even
be more important and that is the wellbeing of teachers. It is not
healthy to go to class with a sense of dread about how the students are
going to behave in the lesson. I am glad to say that flipped learning has
enhanced my enjoyment and decreased my anxiety in the classroom. My
anxiety about trying to teach the class as a whole has been replaced with
the passion and joy I experience from interacting with my students as
individuals in a meaningful and authentic manner each and every lesson.
That is why I became a teacher, that is what gets me out of bed each day
and that is only possible through flipping my classroom.
There
is still a cost to my wellbeing. That is, I spent a portion of my
holidays creating the resources that would ensure that my classrooms were
successful. This is a sacrifice I was willing make. However, I don’t
think every teacher is, or should. So I share the resources I made with
the eight other teachers and across the thirteen other Year nine science
classes. It is my cunning plan that other teachers will see the immense
benefits in flipping and share the load with resource creation in the
future. At the very least, I can reuse and recycle the resources I create
for many years. In addition, another benefit is that I don’t spend hours
each night finding resources for the next day because I have already
found them.
Finally,
lecturing is performing and like most performers, I get performance
anxiety. I even get anxious about whether the computer will talk to the
data projector when I have 28 students waiting for me. This is no longer
a problem because I have already done the performance, in the video, and
now my performances are usually one on one or in small groups conducting
micro lessons with engaged students who need specific guidance.
A
potential anxiety of in-class flippers is whether the students have a
computer that is charged, and connected to the internet, and headphones
ready to access the videos. Whilst students are expected to bring these
every lesson, I do have some spare headphones and ipads for students to
use if they don’t have theirs. It could be seen that this rewards their
behaviour, but the message I am sending is that there are no excuses to
doing the work. It also says to the students “I have your back”.
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One of
the reasons teachers leave the profession is due to workload. Flipped
learning does not solve this. However, other important reasons that
teachers leave is due to student behaviour, stress, dread and anxiety. I
can say for me at least, that the answer to longevity and fulfilment as a
teacher is the in-class flip. I am passionate about helping my students
be the best version of themselves possible. I do this through gentle and
supportive guidance, one on one, and seeing each student as an individual,
precious sole. I could not possibly do that standing at the front of the
class lecturing.
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Remember
that time on the Simpsons when a student (I actually think it was Lisa)
stole the Teachers’ Edition and all of the teachers were in the teachers’
lounge stressing out about how they would teach their lessons?
For me, the in-class flip is the answer. I am not trying to sell
you a short cut here. It is hard work to set up and it takes
effort to continually improve it. However, it definitely stops me
from stressing about up coming lessons. It is my calm blue ocean.
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