The In Class Flip: How Flipped Classrooms Can Meet the Needs of All Learners


When I began thinking about becoming a teacher, one idea that always stood out in my mind was that I wanted to give students the access and opportunities that I was afforded during my school career. I did not attend a well to do school, nor did I live in a well to do district, but rather attended a lower income school in the district. This was during the 90s, but my classmates and I were afforded and given many opportunities to excel and succeed because my teachers believed that we deserved it. I look back on my elementary education with fondness and a sense of joy because I attended a school where I knew that I was loved and cared for. When I speak to my former grade school teachers, they say that that old elementary school was an “island”. One teacher went on to explain that the administration was very supportive of teachers wanting to begin extracurricular clubs or activities and that the families, students, faculty, and staff there felt like a family. 

Fast forward to 2022, and we see that this type of school no longer exists. The equality and equity divisions between economic classes are larger than ever. We see these differences just by looking at the schools in our areas. We know that there are more and less desirable schools within our systems, but what are we doing to help lessen the gap? One way to help close the divide is through quality technology access and instruction. I say quality because we must be intentional about selecting technology-based activities for our students and not choose technology for technology’s sake. In the book, The In-Class Flip: A Student Centered Approach to Differentiated Learning, Martha Ramirez and Carolina Buitrago explore the use of technology to “flip” student learning from teacher centered to student centered. Specifically in Chapter 6: Differentiating Instruction with the In-Class Flip, the authors suggest that there are six major components to selecting the appropriate differentiated materials to best fit the differentiated in-class flip. The three items that I feel are the most important are basics and principles, access and resources, and pacing. I believe that a flipped classroom teacher needs to consider these things first in order to build an effective, differentiated, flipped lesson.

Basics and Principles

The first idea to consider is the basics and principles of differentiation. This idea is not a new one and is one that many teachers have become more familiar with the longer they are in the classroom. According to Carol Tomlinson, “differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs.” (Ramirez and Buitrago, p. 62) I believe that many, if not all, teachers would agree with that sentiment. The Flipped Learning Network has a similar definition but goes on to state that, “the teacher differentiates to make content accessible and relevant to all students.” (Ramirez and Buitrago, p. 62) I believe that this definition helps us establish a better understanding of what we are trying to accomplish in the flipped classroom. We must ask ourselves, “how can I make this content ACCESSIBLE to all students? How can I make this content RELEVANT to all students?”

Access and Resources

When building our lessons for our flipped classroom, we must consider the vast amount of resources at our disposal. The teacher must determine what platform and method of delivery would work best for her students. Flipped learning is definitely not a one size fits all type of approach. The teacher must consider what content they are trying to relay and determine the best method of delivery for their students. For some, it may be accessing a short clip explaining the content. For others, it may be applying the content knowledge to some interactive practice. 


Pace

    When differentiating in the flipped classroom, we must also consider the pace at which we teach our students the content. All students do not learn or understand at the same rate and we must be mindful of this when planning. 


Resources:

Ramirez, M. (2019, January 16). What's an in-class flip? (revisited) [web log]. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://martharamirez.com.co/blog/whats-an-in-class-flip-revisited/.

Ramirez, M., & Buitrago, R. C. (2022). In-class flip: A student-centered approach to differentiated learning. International Society for Technology in Education.

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