The Oldest Sister

Mrs. Riehle | 10:37 PM | | 0 comments

Libby, Ramsey and myself and FlipCon!

I'm Tanya- the oldest sister, the art teacher- I want to start out by saying I'm not a writer!  Mom and middle sis are great writers- I love reading their blogs- they read my blogs for the pictures- because I blog about my art, photography, kids and students.

I am a teacher that doesn't like teaching the same thing over and over again- I'm glad I have variety throughout the day- I'm glad I have completely different classes 2nd semester- I like change- I like reinventing myself and my classes.  So flipping in a new invention for me!

I started flipping after going to South Hamilton (boss man's old school) and seeing it happen.  I just thought I made sense!  It worked!  I dove right in, because that's what the artist in me would do.  At that time we weren't one on one, but I had my own lab and taught digital camera and photoshop classes in, however I couldn't completely flip because students didn't have the programs on their home computer that we used in class- so my flipping was blended.  I made videos using screencast-o-matic- which was ok- when they worked (they had a weird glich when recording Photoshop). (I now use Camtasia- which I LOVE) I recorded videos and recorded videos- most I don't use anymore, they weren't the greatest.  After a quarter of flipping I polled my students- they didn't want to get rid of the videos- they loved them- but they still like me to give some whole class instruction in class, so I kept doing it.  I could help the ones that really need one on one and the ones who wanted to go out could.

Last spring we went to a 2 day workshop and met Ramsey Musallam (watch his Ted video here) who is a BIG deal in the "flipping" world. Than we got to see him again in June at FlipCon in Stillwater- FYI we really didn't know what a big deal that conference was until we got there!!!  We got to meet alot of the people we follow on twitter!

So now I am dipping into my traditional classes- not just me computer art classes.  I'm going to add more and more videos to schoology and my website-videos that envolve using my Elmo to record and my cameras-I want to make videos they want to watch- not just have to watch- I want them to want to use them- to help them GET it!!!  I don't want to stand up in front of my class and "preach".  I am going to do smaller break out sessions for kids who need the hands on demos- or who get ahead of the videos- or for those who want to go above and beyond the videos.

I'm excited for 2014- and not just because the Hawkeyes made it to a bowl game- because I get to do something I love and continue to learn myself, continue to grow as a teacher!



Meet the Family: Mom

Anonymous | 7:28 PM | , , , | 0 comments

Welcome to the Flipping Family.
We’re high school teachers (well, one of us mostly teaches junior high). We’re all different ages and in different stages of our teaching careers. We teach reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmatic, with Spanish and Art classes thrown in for good measure. Each of us are flipping one or more of our classes. And in the midst of all this learning and flipping, we’ve become a family. Because I’m the oldest and the “Mom” of the group, I get to introduce this blog and myself.



As with all things education in my life the last couple of years, this endeavor started on Twitter.
A tweet about something called a “flipped classroom.”


An article describing it.
I tweeted Libby (#responsiblemiddlechild), “This sounds like us. I want to try it.”
#Bossman tweeted us back and said “If you want to know more about this, I’ve got a place to send you.” (You’ve got to love a bossman who pays attention to your tweets AND responds to them in this way.)
Tanya, the #oldestchild joined in. She was interested too. (She was more blended and flipped than she thought)
So we began reading and learning. We visited a school. We talked, we tweeted, we talked some more.
Little by little we tried things.
Then, #theoops joined our staff. He went along with us to a conference. As with many youngest children, he wasn’t going to be left behind. He jumped right in and tried it (maybe a little need for attention). Then #youngestsister joined our staff. She liked the idea and joined our merry little family.


We are lucky that our district is giving us personal learning time during inservices. We all work together in a Personal Learning Community (PLC). We talk. We disagree. We share. We reflect.


Hence, this blog.


This is my 24th year in our district. I began as a paraprofessional in the Special Ed department (You have to start somewhere! It was a great boost to my teaching skills). I taught junior high for fourteen or fifteen years---English, Reading, and Advanced English. Then, I moved to the high school. Now I teach Speech, Drama, Creative Writing and English 9 and coach contest Speech (Forensics).
So why did I want to flip?
I know that in many ways, my teaching has incorporated the tenets of flipped learning. I have always wanted my students to take charge of their learning. I want them to think (My favorite part of my day? When a student says, “Mrs. Day, this is hard.”).  I want them to solve their own problems. I want them to share what they know with others. I want them to reflect on their learning.
I don’t want to lecture.
Has flipping Creative Writing been easy?


Nope. Sometimes I’m not really sure how to do this. Sometimes, what works in other areas doesn’t seem to fit with my Creative Writing class. If you look at my website, there are gaps in the lessons (I’ll get them filled this semester, though. Don’t you worry about that!).
I’m still not fully flipping as I write this. I might not ever fully flip writing. (Mostly because I like to write with my kids). But there are lots of parts of writing I can flip. And that’s where I’m headed.


Is it a blended flip? Hybrid flip? Crappy flip? Not a flip?
Call it what you want. I want my kids to find answers for themselves. I want them to use me as a resource and a mentor. I want them to come to my class each day and say, “You shared with me how you do this. Now, I want to try it on my own.”
I want them to own their learning.
Simple as that.




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