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Every day 7.2 million students
walk into classrooms
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throughout the United States.
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These classrooms generally
look the same;
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30 students sit in rows of desks
taking notes
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in their notebooks while the
teacher stands
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at a whiteboard teaching
the lesson.
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Regardless of ability level,
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each student receives the exact
same information at the exact
same pace.
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As Ms. Jackson presents
the same material,
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students respond differently;
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Tommy gets it,
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while Allison is bored
and Maria is lost.
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At the end of the day these
same students head home.
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While at home they sit at
the kitchen table doing
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their homework and try to
remember what Ms. Jackson said.
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Students like Tommy make it
most of the way through the homework,
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while others like Allison find
it easy and fly through it.
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At the same time,
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students like Maria get frustrated
and need some extra help.
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Ms. Jackson recognizes that
students have different needs
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and would love to work
individually with each student,
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but this requires time
and resources
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that her school does not have.
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One solution to this problem is
the flipped classroom;
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here's what it looks like.
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While at home students sit in
their rooms watching videos
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of the lesson that Ms. Jackson
assigned.
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Tommy is still able to
work at his normal pace.
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Allison is no longer bored
because now she can use
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this new technology to fast-forward
through the easy material.
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And Maria is no longer
frustrated
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because she can review the
material
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that she didn't understand by
pausing and rewinding.
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When she really gets stuck,
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she can get help from
her classmates.
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New technology platforms
like Moodle and Edmodo
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make it easy for her to chat
online with her classmates.
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Just as the homework
is different,
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the classroom is
different at well.
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Instead of standing in front
of the room speaking,
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Ms. Jackson walks
around the room.
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She checks in with Tommy as he works
collaboratively with some students.
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She pushes Allison further with
some more challenging work.
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And she helps Maria
with the pieces
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that she still
doesn't quite get.
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In the traditional model the
teacher stands between
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the students and the knowledge,
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but with the flipped classroom
model the students have
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direct access to the knowledge
and the teacher serves
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as a coach, mentor and guide,
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helping the students access this
knowledge.
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The flipped classroom
leverages technology in a
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way that lets both Ms.
Jackson and
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the students make the most of
their time and efforts.