In a spin-off of last week's blog "Flipped Learning", I will be discussing how it can be used in a technology shop class when you are in a pinch. My class was just about finished up for the year and the final was coming up. This test was high stakes for me as the results of this test directly impact my teacher evaluation. For those in NYS it is my SLO or Student Learning Objective. I am also counting this test as a grade for the students. With so much riding on the Technology Education Exam I knew that reviewing not only a couple of days before the exam was necessary but a must for the day prior to the exam. As luck would have it our district had a 2 hr. delay on the day of our test and it was pushed back two days due to scheduling issues. On one side I was okay with this as it gave me two extra days to review for the test. On the other side I lost two days that was needed to complete my last Technology Unit (Home Repair). Here is a breakdown of how this unit normally runs.
 Flipped Learning in Tech Class |  Flipped Learning in Tech Class |  Flipped Learning in Tech Class |
Old plan
Day Activity
1 Teach Plumbing & Sheetrock repair
2 Teach Residential Electricity
3 Group 1 (Plumbing unit), Group 2 (Sheetrock unit), Group 3 (Electricity unit)
4 Group 1 (Sheetrock unit), Group 2 (Electricity unit), Group 3 (Plumbing unit)
5 Group 1 (Electricity unit), Group 2 (Plumbing unit), Group 3 (Sheetrock unit)
With the delay my time was cut from five days to three days left of Tech class. I didn't want to ditch the unit as the students love it, and I think it is one of the most important lessons that I teach. So in a last minute effort I decided to change my normal delivery to flipped learning. I grabbed a video camera and a portable stand and started recording my plumbing, sheetrock, and electricity lessons. (It is amazing how much faster your lessons go when you don't have constant interruptions from the students) After recording the lessons I put them up on my class web page. A common folder / intranet could work too.
Day Activity
1 Teach Plumbing & Sheetrock repair
2 Teach Residential Electricity
3 Group 1 (Plumbing unit), Group 2 (Sheetrock unit), Group 3 (Electricity unit)
4 Group 1 (Sheetrock unit), Group 2 (Electricity unit), Group 3 (Plumbing unit)
5 Group 1 (Electricity unit), Group 2 (Plumbing unit), Group 3 (Sheetrock unit)
With the delay my time was cut from five days to three days left of Tech class. I didn't want to ditch the unit as the students love it, and I think it is one of the most important lessons that I teach. So in a last minute effort I decided to change my normal delivery to flipped learning. I grabbed a video camera and a portable stand and started recording my plumbing, sheetrock, and electricity lessons. (It is amazing how much faster your lessons go when you don't have constant interruptions from the students) After recording the lessons I put them up on my class web page. A common folder / intranet could work too.
New Plan
Day Activity
1 Group 1 (Plumbing unit), Group 2 (Sheetrock unit), Group 3 (Electricity unit)
2 Group 1 (Sheetrock unit), Group 2 (Electricity unit), Group 3 (Plumbing unit)
3 Group 1 (Electricity unit), Group 2 (Plumbing unit), Group 3 (Sheetrock unit)
As you can see I was able to get the unit done in three classes rather than the five that it normally took. When class started I quickly introduced the unit, divided the class into three groups and had them watch the activity that they would be working on. After the video the students went to the shop and completed the activity. This was repeated over the next to classes.
I have taught this unit for ten years, ten times a year. Yes that's 100 times not to mention all the repeated times for those not listening, at band lessons, or out sick. The students did awesome, they knew what they were doing which made my day so much easier. Overall the entire unit went much smother than ever before. I was finally able to enjoy working with the kids instead of answering hundreds of questions a class because they had forgotten how to do the activity.
I highly recommend teaching a couple of lessons via video. As you can see it can save you time, energy, and your sanity. It is also beneficial for the students as you are freed up to help them with questions they have while you are teaching them at the same time in the videos.
Please comment on your experiences or with questions you may have.
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