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The following tools are listed from most basic to most sophisticated and can be used alone or in tandem to make flipped classrooms more engaging.

Teachem is a timely and valuable resource ideal for teachers interested in a more structured flipped classroom but unwilling to commit to paid or complex programming.

YouTube

Ideal for first-time flippers

Teachem

Google Docs have many advantages over traditional word processing programs, including real-time automatic updates visible to all users, a feature that enables robust discussion and sharing.

The Flipped Learning Network

A social media site open to first-time and experienced flippers, the Flipped Learning Network contains resources for all kinds of flipped classrooms while facilitating discussion, collective problem-solving and peer networking.

Camtasia Studio

Perhaps the most popular screencasting technology available, Camtasia Studio is now in its eighth incarnation and has remained up-to-date with educational trends

Edmodo or Schoology

eyond enabling activities fundamental to the flipped classroom, such as video lectures and e-readings, these comprehensive online learning platforms offer educator networks and resources,

iscussion and collaboration features, and grading and assessment options.

I believe that inquiry helps tremendously in reaching learners on different levels at the same time

work at their own pace

This is kind of funny because whole class discussions actually help make knowledge more equal which makes the classroom experience less differentiated. So while this is not really a tool to help students at their individual learning edges, it is a tool to bring out the differences and spread ideas and questions around the class.

Ok, by now I know that it is impossible to find one particular task that will be just at the right level for all my students.

Another way of bringing in differentiation into your class is by letting students work on two different topics simultaneously. The students choose when they are ready to switch tasks for a while and then come back later to pick up the first topic again.

students know pretty well how they compare to other students and that they don’t like having to fit in and be the same all the time

Assessment and differentiation is a tricky subject,

"They were strict,"

The assessment process itself helps students develop critical thinking and analysis skills.

The process also helps students internalize knowledge, turning what and how they learn into a well of resources they can use in the future.

It turns out that the best way to cause change is for people to actually change someone or something else. We learn what we do, not what we’re told.

If you want people to become passionate, engaged in a field, transformed by an experience — you don’t test them, you don’t lecture them and you don’t force them. Instead, you create an environment where willing, caring individuals can find an experience that changes them.

First, personalizing professional development pathways with modules and badges reflect an individual teacher’s learning needs.

fixed mindset

the growth mindset,

a malleable approach to the world

believe that at a certain point, what you have is all you’re ever going to have:

“You’re too old to learn a foreign language.”

fixed mindset, you believe that at a certain point, what you have is all you’re ever going to have

In conversation, “skill” and “talent” are often used interchangeably – but there’s an essential difference: Talents are innate. Skills are earned.

he growth mindset is the opposite of the fixed: It thrives on challenge and sees failure as an opportunity for growth. It creates a passion for learning instead of a hunger for approval.

The growth mindset is the opposite of the fixed: It thrives on challenge and sees failure as an opportunity for growth. It creates a passion for learning instead of a hunger for approval.

“The growth mindset does allow people to love what they’re doing – and continue to love it in the face of difficulties. … The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome.” Remember those students in Hong Kong. Be humble, act as if you’re remedial, and you’ll learn all the more!

In conversation, “skill” and “talent” are often used interchangeably – but there’s an essential difference: Talents are innate. Skills are earned.

As much as possible, take object orientation out of the equation. Focus on the task at hand. Don’t compare yourself to others or worry if you’re making the knowledge stick. Just learn- stolidly, patiently, and without tripping over your own expectations.

Focusing on innate qualities and praising purely for current ability inhibits learning, while praising the process of learning and growth instead of immediate talent promotes it.

We think like a designer, not like a teacher, when we say: the teacher is just one element in the design. The choice of task, pedagogy, groupings, flow of work, resources, furniture, light, noise level, role of people and text – all of these design elements are arguably as important as the teacher.

What are those conditions, in a nutshell? I would highlight the following: Thought-provoking intellectual challenges (inquiries, questions, problems) The challenge has been designed to optimize self-sustaining and productive work by learners, related to a clear and intellectually worthy goal The learners have become reasonably competent in classroom routines that foster productive goal-focused work The challenge cannot be accomplished by a worksheet, checklist or recipe. It requires strategic use of knowledge and skill, creative problem-solving, and critical thinking; and the eliciting of multiple perspectives on how to address the challenge and gauge progress. There is an unambiguous product or performance goal (even if there is ambiguity about how to achieve the goal), supported by clear criteria and standards, thus permitting ongoing student self-assessment and self-adjustment. There is enough feedback within the challenge (and resources) that the work can be maximally self-sustaining and productive. The teacher is therefore freed up to coach for a significant amount of time, permitting personalized feedback and guidance (as well as just-in-time mini-lessons). This coaching role also permits the teacher to determine what is and isn’t working in the challenge, and thus enables the teacher to quickly change gears if the desired learning is not occurring or the process is not working.

In other words, it is a poor design for learning that puts all the burden of teaching and processing on the teacher. Then, the teacher can neither coach nor understand what is going on in the minds of learners. Worse, endless teaching, no matter how expert, soon becomes passive and without much meaning to learners who must wait days, sometimes weeks, to get meaningful chances to interact with the content, to try out their ideas on others, and to get the feedback they need.

Group-worthy tasks – Focus on central concepts or big ideas that require active meaning-making The challenge itself has ambiguity or limited scaffold and prompting so that student meaning-making and different inferences about the task and how to address it will emerge. Are best accomplished by ensuring that multiple perspectives are found tried out in addressing the task. This not only rewards creative and non-formulaic thought but undercuts the likelihood that one strong student can do all the key work. Provide multiple ways of being competent in the task work and the task process Can only be done well by a group, but are designed to foster both individual and group autonomy. (The teacher’s role as teacher and direction-giver should be minimized to near zero). Demand both individual and group accountability Have clear evaluation criteria