What Are Your Thoughts on The Flipped Classroom?

If you follow my facebook page, you may have seen the discussion a week or so ago about the Flipped Classroom idea.  If not, I'll summarize here:

These comments really got me thinking...on three tangents....(1)what is necessary for a flipped classroom to be successful.  (2) How different is it? (3) Why is it better? (Or why all the buzz?)


(1) I see the following necessary ingredients: available technology to students, motivated students who do homework and come prepared to class, available technology for teachers to be able to provide the instructional videos.  I think the last one is not such a problem.  I do see the first two as a barrier, particularly where I teach.  HOWEVER, maybe this is a place to use time periods like extra help, afterschool, study halls, AIS, or however your class is structured and make it more individualized by providing video instruction?  Particularly if a teacher can't help 20 kids individually.

(2) I don't think its fundamentally different for science.  It seems to be catching on more in math, and I think it is fundamentally different there.  In math, we are all familiar with the model where the teacher does examples, you go home and practice (and get stuck).  It makes sense to 'flip' this.  In science, however, I think there are already a lot of cases where students are supposed to read outside of class, or practice vocabulary, etc, and come to class prepared to do the hands-on part. This could be extended and altered so that it happens even more often, and so that more of the analysis and writing/processing happens in class.

(3) The idea of 'flipping' is very in line with current technology, student interests, and even common core.  Common core asks students to read, but also to analyze information from different sources, and to do more with the information . It allows more individualization, to a point.

Here is a really interesting analysis and discussion, in addition to the two websites offered above. http://plpnetwork.com/2012/10/08/flip-love-affair/

However, I don't see my classes, in my current setting, getting to the point she talks about.  I think the 'flip' might have to be an intermediate step.....

Have you tried it? Have thoughts or feedback to share?  I'd love to hear it as I begin to reflect and think theoretically about next year.  (Cause we have the summers off, right?)

Thanks for reading!