We first started off by easing into it with 1 assignment a week-our flip class assignment. It may be a ppt, video or an article with questions for comprehension. The troubles with that was with submitting the online work. That will take practice, but we will get it figured out.
We now go to Google Classroom daily for what we are doing. It is a work in progress and getting the kids trained to not just sit there is the hardest part. They still like to be told what they are doing. I am trying to stop telling them what they are doing. They are not allowed to ask what they are doing but are allowed to ask clarifying questions if something is not understood. They also are to ask 5 other people before they have to ask me. By doing this I have learned alot about details and how many I give to the students. I try and think what questions will they ask about this assignment? I also like to leave some things vague and give them ownership in decisions.
Many times a student will ask a clarifying question that I am able to answer with .... a question. They are usually able to answer it on their own and many times it causes a class discussion.
As a teacher I am loving this method of teaching.
Today, after the bellringer, the students were to start on todays reading assignment. It was our Entry Event for the new unit. During that time I was able to pull students that didn't quite get last weeks assignment and work with them. There were students that blew through todays Entry Event quickly and were able to go on to this weeks flip class. It was amazing! We had 3 different assignments going on and with each one there was learning occurring.
A great feature of Google Classroom is that I can post the entire weeks assignments on it and the students can move ahead as far as doing whatever I have posted. I love that! It is more work for me, but it is so beneficial for the students that do not want to be held back and want to keep going with their learning.
School is very different in my class. While sometimes I find myself announcing "return to your seats and get quiet" I have to stop and realize that this isn't a traditional classroom any longer. It is loud. Kids are in and out. Kids are up and down. There are headphones. There is music. They may be on the floor working or they may be in the hallway. The key is they ARE WORKING and PRODUCING!
If you haven't started using Google Classroom you are missing out!