Preparing Students and Families for the Flip

There is a good chance that you could be the first teacher in your school and possibly your district to flip. Regardless if your the first or not, you need to set your students and families up for success. As educators, it is critical to spend time in the beginning of the school year or semester to set expectations for your students of routines, homework policies, attendance, participation, etc. Depending on your age-level and subject area that list of “expectations” changes. Facilitating a flipped classroom, we still need to follow the same procedures. I am a true believer in being honest, upfront, and open with students and families. Here is my laundry list of expectations and topics to review with students and parents about participating in a flipped classroom:

• Why you made the professional decision to drastically change your teaching style and what you hope to accomplish.

• How will you be delivering the information home?

• What are the expectations of families and students when completing flipped homework at home?

• What will class look like now? What can students look forward to being new versus the old structure of your classroom?

The best decision I made was spending the first class having the students each on a device going through the first homework in class. They navigated to my learning management system, logged-in, selected the assignment, went through the slide show, and watched the videos. Then, the homework was to do the same assignment at home with a family member to show them the process. The students navigated through a few slides defining the flipped class, and defining my expectations. However, here is my first video lesson that was included in the presentation.

Your lessons do not need to be perfect, they need to convey and teach the objective!