Kacey Carpenter

Position Paper
EDUC-310
February 7th, 2018

It is one thing to learn about all the ways you could integrate technology into your future

classroom, but it is a completely different thing to really reflect on what is realistic for you to do.

I am fully aware of my limitations that result from my lack of being technologically advanced.

However, I understand the importance of changing my mindset and giving some of these

strategies a serious try. The truth is that not every technology enhanced strategy is going to work

for every classroom, but one that really resonates with me is the idea of a flipped classroom. I

have a passion for changing the norm of math education in schools. In my opinion, the

unengaging and predictable state that it is right now is not good enough; it needs some drastic

changes, and I think one of those changes can be gained from utilizing the flipped classroom

approach.

This discussion is not foreign to those in the education field, which to me, is because this

approach seems to be working, so people are talking about it. With big changes comes big

discussions about the positives and negatives, and I have found there to be several positives if it

is implemented correctly. The main benefit is the increase in time for teachers to interact with the

students, and the more time students can interact with the material - the essence of real learning.

Aside from just more teacher-student interaction with content, this approach will also allow more

time for the teachers to get to know their students on a deeper level. As brought up in an article

from ASCD, “Studies have shown that having teachers who recognize and respond to students'

social and emotional needs is at least as important to academic development as specific

instructional practices are, and this is especially true for at-risk students” (Goodwin and Miller).
Effective teaching involves much more than just teaching content, and having more time in class

for discussions and interaction will allow teachers to make these necessary connections.

Another essential aspect of being a good teacher is to continually assess your own

effectiveness and make changes when necessary. I believe, and my beliefs are supported by those

in an article from Edutopia, that a flipped classroom approach requires teachers to reflect on how

well their students understand the content because they will witness the students interacting with

the content as opposed to the students watching the teacher interact with it (Hertz). As explained

in an article from the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), it is so easy to

think that your students understand when they are just copying down everything you write, but

real understanding is not achieved until the students can “wrestle with mathematical ideas”, and

this “wrestling match” should be witnessed by the teacher; it should not be happening at home

with the student alone (Gojak).

With this change in the classroom environment comes big responsibility at the hands of

the teacher. This needs to be implemented correctly, meaning the videos need to be engaging,

short, necessary and clear. Also, teachers need to ensure that every student will have access to

these resources whether they are videos, articles, or online notes. The truth is that math is a hard

subject for everyone, so those higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are essential if students are

going to full grasp these concepts. The math classroom needs to be interactive, and a flipped

approach may make improvements to the way we teach math in high schools. Either way, I am

willing to give this a serious try.

 Works Cited

Gojak, Linda M. “To Flip or Not to Flip: That Is NOT the Question.” National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics, 3 Oct. 2012.

URL: www.nctm.org/News-and-Calendar/Messages-from-the-President/Archive/Linda-
M_-Gojak/To-Flip-or-Not-to-Flip_-That-Is-NOT-the-Question!/.

Hertz, Mary Beth. “The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational
Foundation, 10 Jan. 2012

URL:
www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-pro-and-con-mary-beth-hertz.

“Technology-Rich Learning.” Technology-Rich Learning, by Bryan Goodwin and Kirsten

Miller, vol. 70, Educational Leadership, 2013, pp. 78–80.

URL: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Evidence-on-Flipped-Classrooms-Is-Still-Coming-
In.aspx