How we worked in our...
FLIPPED CLASSROOM
Before Easter our English teacher told us what a “flipped classroom” was and asked us if we would like to have a try… We said “yes” and so we started the project on the respiratory system.
The project had several aims:
- learn in English about the form of the respiratory system and how it works;
- develop our digital competences through the creation of Open Office, Power Point or Prezi presentations;
- develop our social skills by means of cooperative learning;
-develop autonomous learning and the ability to carry out projects
These are the different phases/steps of our project:
Working in groups: rules and roles
Since the project had to be carried out in groups, the first thing we did was to discuss in class (first in small groups and then in a class discussion) what it means to work in groups, what is necessary, what must be avoided and so on. Our teacher had provided some texts which helped us reflect on the basic elements of cooperative learning (positive interdependence, individual and group accountability, positive interaction and social skills), we discussed and chose the aspects which we found more important and wrote them on posters in the form of “group rules” (what you have to do when working in a team in order to achieve shared goals).
Then we discussed the different roles which are needed in a group so that it can work effectively and smoothly (taskmaster, time keeper, “quiet captain” etc.). We then formed our groups and decided the role of each member.
Joining Edmodo
In order to share material, ideas, comments etc. our teacher had created an “Edmodo class” which we had to join. So the second step was to register on Edmodo and join our virtual classroom.
Studying and exploring the material posted
On Edmodo our teacher posted lots of material to study at home individually: websites, videos, online exercises and quizzes, pictures etc. She also posted some tutorials on how we had to select and use the material and how to make presentations using PowerPoint, OpenOffice and Prezi. We gradually learned the English names of the parts of the respiratory system and we discovered how to describe in English the way it works when we breathe in and out.
Working in groups in class
In class we worked in groups to create our presentations. We could look at the material on Edmodo thanks to the tablets provided by the school and three groups could also use laptops (our class laptop and two other school laptops) to write our presentations. Three groups decided to create presentations using Prezi; one group decided to draw posters of the respiratory system to present to the class, and one group decided to create a model of the lungs to show how the diaphragm and the lungs function during respiration.
Presenting our work to the class
When we were all ready, we showed our presentations to the class using the Interactive Whiteboard when necessary. We also made videos of the presentations. Pronunciation was very difficult for most of the groups!
Circle time
Finally, we had a circle time to reflect upon the whole project and discuss how each group had worked, how effective group relationships had been, which problems we had encountered etc.
