The Impact of Technology:

Every 60 seconds:
700,000 Google searches
170 million emails sent
98,000 Tweets

We must prepare our students for today's digital society!DIY Learning: How Teens are Teaching Themselves
How Students Are Using the Internet for Studying
A Snapshot of How Technology is Used in Education

Flipped Classrooms:

What would you describe as your most meaningful learning experience? Was the teacher in the front of the room while you sat and listened to all of his/her infinite wisdom? Were you working alone on a project or with a group of friends? Did you get a choice in the learning experience? What made it so meaningful?

How do you choose to access information today? Are you a self-directed learner who seeks out infomation on the internet? Today our students are using technology to teach themselves. They go to You Tube to watch a video about how to drive a car. They post to Twitter to connect with others. When trying to answer a question for homework, they "Google" it. We are not moving fast enough for our students.

Differentiated instruction has been a buzz word in education over the last decade. What a better way to differentiate than a flipped classroom? Students are given opportunties to discover information on their own and are given time to process that information and reflect on it at their own rate and show what they know through their preferred method of presentation.

Check out these sites and videos for more information on flipped classrooms:
My Flipped Classroom Scoop It
Flipped High School: Clintondale High School
A Realist's Guide to Flipped Classrooms

Flipped Professional Development:

Educators stress the importance of providing differentiated instruction to students based on their individual needs in order to improve student learning. However, we do not provide differentiated instruction to our teachers. We must begin allowing our teachers to engage in self-selected professional development at their own rate and through their own preferred methods of learning. There are a variety of resources that we can share with our teachers to get them on the right track: i Tunes University and PD 360 allow teachers to view videos, watch model lessons, and read research articles about topics that are meaningful to them and at a time that is best for them. However, it is important we provide some structure and support as well as some monitoring and feedback. I will continue to discuss this topic in future blogs. In the meantime, check out the website below for some more ideas about Flipped Professional Development.

Flipped PD
Why Students Should Run Professional Development for Teachers