My Flipped Classroom — One Teacher's Tips and Experiences

My Flipped Classroom

Technology is an important part of my work in the classroom. I am always looking for new ways to teach. So, after the workshop of a fellow teacher in Vietnam – Ms. Quyen To — I decided to try this new approach in teaching process in my classroom.

What is a Flipped Classroom?

Teachers make a video about the theory and basic exercises, share it over the Internet, and students look at it before the lecture itself. That means the time in class can be devoted to the questions of students, doing exercises, or discussion of knowledge. Here's what I learned through my flipped classroom.

What are the advantages of a Flipped Classroom?

The role of the teacher changes. They guide their students through exploring the lesson, encouraging them, supporting and helping them to develop their ideas. Students gain knowledge through active roles. They are not passive any more.

• Teacher also change their approach – they don’t just send information, they become intellectual leaders.
• Teachers feel motivated to experiment, to get new experiences in class, and to learn with their students.
• It allows teachers to use class time better, working directly with students.
• Flipped classrooms help students to think about the most important facts of the lecture and to understand causes and consequences of the lecture instead of trying to understand what the teacher just said.
• It allows teachers to spend more time with their students, to talk about the content of sessions or lectures they previewed at home, to discuss, comment, as well as to exercise applying knowledge through practical activities.

How do I flip my class?

Teacher: My flipped classroom model is very simple. I make my lessons using software such as Office Mix, Sway, and Adobe Presenter. I either use a camera or simply use screen capture with a voice-over. The first year, it took me quite a long time to prepare the lessons. Every school year it is easier because I can use the lesson that I previously prepared. I can also share prepared lessons with my colleagues. The next step is to share these resources with my students. I save these resources on OneNote which my students or their parents can access easily.

Student: They can watch these lessons on their smartphone, on the school computer, or at home. They can watch alone, with their friends, or alongside their parents. Students who don’t have technology or parents to help them at home will be supported in class by the teacher. They can pause, rewind, and re-watch the lessons. They also need to summarize lessons, take notes, and ask questions that they need help answering.

Class time: Students review their knowledge through the conversation with the whole class or in small groups. They talk about important parts of the lesson. They also ask each other their questions and discuss and compare answers. My students love to work on projects related to the lesson at hand. My role is to help them whenever they have difficulties. If I have more time, we will review the video again.

About the Author:
Nam Ngo Thanh is a 5th grade teacher at the Vietnam Australia International School at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He loves working with his students and is inspired by them every day. He is passionate about technology and enjoys helping teachers incorporate technology into their classrooms. Nam is both a Microsoft and ClassDojo Ambassador and can be found on twitter at @mrnamvas. He has authored multiple articles, and has been nationally and internationally recognized for the implementation of creativity and the integration of technology into my teaching. In 2015, he was presented with the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert Award. He also represented Vietnam at the Microsoft Global Forum and got the second place prize there.