Flipping the Classroom

I talked about the Flipped Classroom a few months ago and if you go back to that post there is a great info graphic that talks about what it is. I've been thinking, pondering and trying to brainstorm about how I can flip my general music class for my middle school students. I just introduced, Edmodo,( which I talked about in this post --> Edmodo ) to my 7th and 8th grade students. If you have not explored Edmodo and are looking for a very user friendly micro blogging environment that is safe and secure, go check it out. Moving on- I really would like to do this and I'm going to figure out how soon but in the mean time, in my research for ideas, I came across an excellent set of videos that would be great for a flipped history class. Crash Course in History videos can be found on YouTube Edu. They are 42 high quality videos that present history; each average 12 minutes long. I watched the first one and felt that they were definitely appropriate for high school students, perhaps middle school depending on your students. Crash Course also has 35 videos for Biology. I recommend taking a closer look at these if this is your course, either as a student or teacher, and perhaps use them to flip your own classroom.

Well this still brings me to no big solution for myself in flipping my classroom, but hey, I'll figure it out. And when I do, you will definitely hear about it.

History teachers- you may also enjoy History for Music Lovers also on YouTube.

Virtual Museums

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/12/5-interesting-virtual-museums-and.html?m=1

This link is an a post from December on Free Technology for Teachers. I have recommended this site before and again I must reiterate what a fabulous resource it is for teachers.

Richard Byrne provides links to just about anything under the sun to use in the classroom. This link to virtual museums is definitely a keeper. He posted this on Twitter the other day and it caught my eye. I think virtual museums give your students that first hand look at authentic items. With budget cuts everywhere, field trips are not high on the priority list. Please checks these out.

2012 and History

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!
Though it may be a bit cliche to write a post on the first day of the new year, I thought it might encourage me to keep at it throughout the year. The coming months look to be very busy. I will attend a Project Based Learning 3 day workshop in Tyler next week. I expect to return with great ideas to write about. February brings two conferences back to back. The Texas Computer Educator Association in Austin followed (during the same week) by the Texas Music Educators Association. They both are chock full of ways to refresh your teaching. And finally March will take me to the Music EdVentures conference in Vancouver. Should be a very interesting start to the year.

I thought about what sort of education link/post I would provide today and I decided to use a bit of history. I have shared this website with my teachers but I don't think anyone has used it yet. If I taught in a regular classroom I would have jumped on this one. The History Chef  is a fabulous website that brings you our American presidents and the foods of their time, particularly focusing on their favorite foods. The author of this site, Suzy Evans, J.D., Ph. D., began this site to encourage parents and their children to cook together and learn about history at the same time. Her stories and recipes are a fun and engaging way to explore our American history. So I encourage you to explore her site and perhaps share some cooking with your students.