3rd week of tech class

One of the many ideas that struck out to me during our 3rd class is the idea of a "flipped classroom."  It reminds me of the concept of "backward learning."  "Flipped classroom" is when the lecture or content of the curriculum is presented outside of the classroom while the group discussion, sharing, and gathering of information takes place during scheduled class time.  My first thought is how the role of the teacher will play in the learning development of this teaching technique.  If the teacher will also be in the classroom to facilitate discussion and/or answer questions students may have, then I wonder how the pace of the class will run.  I've noticed and seen how packed the curriculum can be for elementary schools and to have the students take charge of the discussion in class may affect how much content can be covered.  In addition, how will the teacher assess what the students learn?  These are just a few critiques I had of the idea of the "flipped classroom."

In chapter 3, a very important idea that I reflected upon was the idea of "What do I teach Monday?"  When I begin teaching, in the near future I hope, I always think about how the content that needs to be covered and how I may present the material in class.  It is very helpful and even comforting that there are two reliable sites that offer online articles and resources that we can utilize in our teaching instruction (page 61).

I am happy to read that this chapter covers the UBD- Understanding By Design, also known us "backwards design."  I've also covered this topic in another education course.  I agree with the concept that the objectives or goals of the students should be established first.  For everyone to understand the foundation of the lesson.  In addition, with so much going on in a classroom of 20-30 students, one can get carried away and drift into another topic.  Having the student learning objectives established first will prevent that digression from taking place.  Furthermore, I agree with the altered for of assessments that can be used to determine whether or not the students reached the objectives that were initially introduced.  

This can help gear teachers towards a more content base learning than just focusing on the activities (hands-on) that students may do.  The same goes for the use of technology.  With the student goals established in the beginning of the course, technology will not be used as a distraction or a form of entertainment.