224 UNIT 19
1
Read the first paragraph of the article. Do you think the
flipped classroom sounds like a good idea? Why / why not?
READING
2
Read the article and answer the questions. Write
P
(Penny),
C
(Caitlin) or
D
(Dylan).
Who said this about the flipped classroom?
1
I If I need to, I can repeat parts of the lesson.
2
I like being able to explain things during the lesson.
3
Lots of us spent too much time talking to each other.
4
There were people who did not prepare for the classes.
5
I don’t have to be scared about what’s going to happen in the lesson.
6
Getting everything ready wasn’t easy.
3
In pairs, discuss the questions.
1
What do you think are the best/worst things about flipped classrooms?
2
Would you like to try it? For which subjects?
In a normal classroom, the teacher stands at the front of the room and gives a lesson and the students listen
and take notes. Then they go home and do their homework. In a flipped classroom, everything is the other
way around. Students study at home from a textbook or online videos, and then discuss the topic and do
‘homework’ exercises or projects in class. Lots of schools are trying it, but is it a good idea? We spoke to a
teacher and two students to find out more.
Caitlin –
student
I love coming into the classroom
ready to talk about the topic
and feeling I understand it.
In a normal class, I often feel
nervous, because if I don’t
understand, I have to ask the
teacher to stop the lesson and
explain. But with a video, I can
watch it as many times as I like
until I understand it. It’s great!
Penny –
teacher
The flipped classroom is hard
work for the teacher, especially
at the beginning. You have to
make videos of every topic in the
textbook for the students to watch
on their computers at home. That
takes a really long time! But it
means I can spend time in class
helping students one-to-one. I love
that – I wasn’t able to do it before.
Dylan –
student
We tried the flipped classroom for one
term in maths, but there were a few
problems. Some students didn’t watch
the videos before the lesson, so they
couldn’t do the exercises in class. Also,
when the teacher was going round
helping people, we found it really easy
to stop working and just chat. We did a
test at the end of the term and we all got
terrible marks. I usually pass every test,
but I failed that one.
What’s it all about?