Reflection in Focus: Providing resources and guidance

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for joining me for Reflection in Focus-- Providing Resources and Guidance. By the end of today's tutorial, we will be able to answer the essential question of why is it important to provide appropriate resources and guidance in flipped learning environments? To help us answer this question, we're going to look at Marzano and how his 60 elements that inform teaching practices play out in the flipped learning classroom.

So you'll remember that Marzano comes up with a bunch of different teaching strategies and ways for teachers to reflect on their own practices. He divides these 60 elements up into a number of domains, and a lot of them are very valuable to use when reflecting on what's going on in your classroom. For example, planning and preparing for the use of available technologies is one of the 60 elements that really does apply to the flipped learning classroom because as you know, the flipped learning classroom is technology heavy.

Another element that might apply to our classroom is planning and preparing for the needs of students who come from home environments that offer little support for learning. This is an important one to the flipped classroom because we've talked a little bit about equity. And maybe not all of our students are actually able to fully participate in a flipped learning environment because they don't have the technology they need at home. This can be something we reflect on and brainstorm how can we still help those students learn and participate in this classroom.

But the one we're going to focus on the most is Domain 1, Element 23, providing resources and guidance. Remember in a flipped learning classroom, a teacher has to provide the content, and it needs to be meaningful because the students are going to need to stay engaged with that content and view it at home as homework. So the content needs to be intentional. The teacher can create the content, him or herself, or they can curate the content. They're also providing extra resources and supports for the learners when they come into the classroom and actively engage in the learning.

The teacher is also providing guidance during class time. And this really emphasizes the changing role of teacher from the person who's standing in the front of the classroom at the Blackboard lecturing to a facilitator who's walking around the classroom, checking in with his or her students and having a whole arsenal of resources that they can offer students who are maybe struggling, or resources that offer enrichment to students who are extremely interested in a topic and who are maybe going above and beyond their classmates.

To assess whether or not we are in fact meeting this element of providing resources and guidance, we want to ask ourselves a couple of guiding questions. One is was the stage set for learning with the homework resources I provided? Remember this is extremely important because the homework resources you're providing is the actual content.

So it needs to be strong. You need to make sure you recorded it m you give enrichment activities along with the homework that are going to make sense in the classroom the next day when the students come in. So you're not just having the students blog in class. You're actually checking those blogs. You're having students respond to the other blog posts.

Another guiding question is were students able to complete the homework independently and participate actively? You can tell this quickly through a brief formative assessment, almost like an exit ticket, but you can do it at the beginning of the class. In a sense, it is an exit ticket for the content portion. You can do something like using today's meet, or having them post something on the class blog, or simply writing it out on a slip of paper one important question that you come up with that you think is a good gauge for whether or not the students got the content.

You can also tell whether or not they were able to complete the homework independently and participate actively by checking that they did the enrichment activity that you assigned. And if you remember, in our secondary case study, there was an example where a student did not do the enrichment activity that was assigned where they were supposed to write on the blog. So the teacher specifically checked in with that student.

By answering these guiding questions, you can look at your role as teacher, as facilitator and see do I need to be checking in with my students more? Remember we've probably all done it where we press play on the video and we navigate away and do something else because it's this required thing that we have to watch. How can you assess that they actually got the homework?

Another guiding question that's important for the classroom is was I prepared with alternate resources to which I could direct students during class? This is important if you really want to assert yourself as the expert in the area. Maybe you're assigning TED Talks, or maybe you're assigning the online textbook as the content aspect for homework.

You still want to be able to prove that you are the expert in that area, and you need to be the expert in the area. One way we can be the expert in the area is having a variety, like I already said, an arsenal of resources from which we can draw if a student doesn't get the information. So we need to be prepared for that.

Then you want to ask yourself, did I provide appropriate guidance for students in the video that I made? Make sure you're watching your videos before you submit them. Make sure that you're talking at a slow pace, you're articulating your words, and that what you're saying makes sense. Is it providing the guidance you want?

Another really simple way is question your students. Create a Google Form where they can do a quick review on the video and use that feedback. I've always found that students really appreciate being able to give feedback and constructive criticism. They don't get to do it that often. But if you open yourself up to that I think from the get-go, it's always going to stay constructive, and you can actually learn a lot from that.

And, lastly, did I guide students adequately during class time so that individual students needs were met? Remember this doesn't just mean the needs of the low-achieving students or the needs of the students who you realize aren't getting the content. You definitely do need to meet those student's needs, but you also need to be able to guide the students so that you can meet the needs of your high-achieving students by providing enrichment activities.

Let's reflect. What do you think are some essential resources needed for the flipped learning classroom? OK, today, we answered why is it important to provide appropriate resources and guidance in a flipped learning environment.

As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you may want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deepen your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skill set. Thank you for joining me, and happy teaching.