Make Your Own Textbook!

When I was teaching high school English, I rarely used the class textbook because I found it to be big and cumbersome, and it lacked relevant, quality texts that engaged my students. So I mostly created and sought out my own resources to use. Unfortunately, that led to the predicament of arranging and organizing materials into a clear and coherent sequence for myself and my pupils. I wish I would have compiled my stuff into some kind of digital format (beyond throwing stuff on my website) to make resources more accessible and engaging for students, and to make the management side easier for me. 

Below are some resources that will help guide your thinking and provide options for creating and/or customizing your own textbook. This is just a short list, but it is a good starting point: 

Best Pre-made Educational Content Resources

When I was a classroom teacher, I recall many anxious afternoons and evenings spent scrambling to come up with quality content for a lesson I had to do the next day. Even when I was planning further ahead, it was a stressful, excruciating process to line up resources that I could use for various topics and standards. Now, more than ever before, an abundance of free resources exist that we can conveniently use the next day. In fact, so much exists that it is difficult to sift through it all. Here is a list of sites that I have found to offer quality materials. I wish I knew of them when I was teaching.

Flipped Classroom: Examples and Testimonial

You have likely heard about a flipped classroom, the teaching approach in which instructors record all or part of a lesson for students to view before class. But have you seen some examples or heard from someone wh Watch these videos to see examples and hear from teachers who have started flipping:

Recording screencasts using Screencast-O-Matic

Getting Started

Several options exist for recording your screen while you narrate over it (aka- making a screencast). Some of you may have heard of and use Jing, and that is a decent choice; however, I have found that Screencast-O-matic is more user friendly, and you can do more with it. One big advantage is that you can record 15 minute videos as opposed to 5 minutes in Jing. Here are some steps to help you get started recording:

Document Cameras

You have likely seen, used, or at least heard of document cameras. Typically, they are large, non-mobile devices that are attached to a "home" computer and used to project things to a screen for demonstration. Many teachers use them for lessons on reading, writing, experiments, and more. Most of the older models are costly, $500 and up! Recently, smaller, more portable, more useful, more affordable models have come out, like this one:

This is an Ipevo P2V (point to view). It is about the size of a water bottle and can perform all the functions that bigger, clunkier versions do while being easily transportable. This chapter will cover ways in which these handy tools can be used in teaching situations.

Here are some videos and quotes on how others use document cameras. Though these focus on the elementary level, you can do many of the same things with more advanced content in the upper levels.

Anti-flipped classroom rebuttal

Lisa Nielsen recently wrote a piece that basically thrashed flipped classrooms. The article is here: http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3379
I felt compelled to address her arguments because I think they are flawed. Her points are in black and my points are in orange:

We have yet to bridge the digital divide...
Many of our students don't have access to technology at home. The flipped classroom method does not have strong provisions in place for these children.

*This is a reasonable point, but it does not work as an argument against flipped classrooms. Clintondale High in Michigan has many students without home internet access, and they put systems in place to allow students to have access at school (See article: http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Clintondale-High-Flipped-Classes.html.). As Lisa mentioned in a point below, this is something that any school could do. If there are places in which no public access to technology is available then there are options for rectifying that as well. Moving towards a flipped model might help improve access because demand would increase.

Flipped homework is still homework...
There is a growing number of parents and educators who don't believe we should rob children of the time after school with mandatory homework. We believe time at home should be for pursuing passions, connecting with friends and family, playing and engaging in physical activity. In some families it might be the time needed to take care of a sibling, work a job, or take care of their own child. Let us leave children to the activities they and their family choose or find necessary and instead as John Taylor Gatto suggests (in lesson 7), that we should "give children more independent time during the school day" at which time they may also choose to watch flipped classroom lessons.

*I think it is extreme to label homework as "robbing children of their free time". Is it unreasonable to ask students to devote 30-45 minutes a day to viewing videos? Research shows that some type of carry-over from classroom to homework bolsters learning and deepens understanding. They can still pursue their passions and personal connections.
More time for bad pedagogy...
Flipping instruction might end up just meaning we can provide time to do more of the same type of memorization and regurgitation teaching that just doesn't work. When I shared the idea of the Flipped Classroom with an administrator, she said to me with excitement, "This is great! We'll have more class time to prepare kids for the tests!"

*The quote from that administrator is unfortunate and misleading and so is the author's point. The flipped model actually allows more time for effective pedagogy because less class time is spent on basic skill instruction, which is still necessary in most classroom environments. If students get a basic foundation before a class period, then the teacher can carry them through to more complex tasks. You can't design a new building without knowing how to do the math to get there.
Grouping by date of manufacture...
If we really want transformation in education, one thing we must do is stop grouping students by date of manufacture, which the flipped classroom is ideally suited for, but have schools put the structures in place? Are they ready to let students move at a pace that meets their developmental readiness and come to the realization that not everyone at the same age needs to be at the same place at the same time? True flipping should include a careful redesign of learning environment, but this is often overlooked.

*This point is moot as well. With pre-recorded lessons, students can proceed at their own pace. As Lisa mentions, it will require careful design, but so does any differentiated classroom. If specific lessons are not yet recorded, a teacher could direct advanced or struggling students to other available resources.

Lecturing doesn't = Learning...The flipped classroom is built on a traditional model of teaching and learning. I lecture - you intake. While this method of teaching works for some learners, many others thrive with a model that takes a more constructivist approach.
*This could be true, but it doesn't have to be. A teacher can do a screencast that includes multiple modes of representation (notes, video, and audio explanation). Even if it is straight lecture, it is meant to be a building block that will be further addressed in the next class session. So any confusion or lack of understanding can be clarified in class rather than fester in frustration after class.

I am not trying to suggest that moving to a flipped model will be easy or a panacea for education, I just wanted to point out the flaws in the arguments presented by Ms. Nielsen. I welcome any responses.