I’ve been teaching AP Biology for 5 years now and every year I never seem to make it through the curriculum before the AP Biology Exam. I have 37 weeks to cover 44 chapters, conduct 10 multi-day labs, and give 7 two-day test;, but that seems reasonable, right? Forget it! It’s nearly impossible, there simply isn’t enough time. My first year teaching the class I tried to incorporate several projects and class activities and I didn’t even come close to finishing the curriculum before the AP Exam. Over the next few years, I cut out the activities and got closer to finishing. But now, I find when I lecture on certain chapters, I am bored. I’m bored! So I can’t imagine how my students feel sitting there listening to something they already read in the textbook.
A few years ago at a conference I heard about “flipped classrooms.” A flipped classroom is when the students watch video lectures at home so that during class they can engage in hands-on activities. It sounded perfect! Why couldn’t I do this with the lectures that bore me or the ones that are simple enough for the students to understand without my help? Then during class I could help my students with what they didn’t understand and help them apply what they learned while working on case studies or labs. Watch a short video about flipped classrooms below.
But now the big question is, HOW do I flip my classroom?
Since I first encountered flipped classrooms I’ve attended 3 other workshops to fully understand how to implement it into my classroom. What you must understand is that I am the type of person that must wrap my head around something and think through all of the details before acting. So, now, I’m ready to act. This summer I plan to use Camtasia to create videos for my AP Biology students and maybe even some of my Honors Biology students. I’ve even learned about a way to know if my students watched the videos and are prepared for class. At a recent conference I learned about a website called Blendspace. I can upload the videos there and the students can log in and watch them. Then Blendspace allows me to see who logged in and who watched the videos in their entirety. I can even create short quizzes through Blendspace for the students to answer when they complete a video, or I can make a Google form for them to fill in.
I know I’m in the beginning stages, but I plan to make it work next year; and it if doesn’t, well at least I tried. Others have been very successful with flipping their classroom and test scores have even improved; therefore, I have to try. I will write a follow-up blog post after I’ve implemented my first flip, so stay tuned!
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