Rotation Stations

Rotation stations, station rotations, whichever way you think the syntax is correct, rotation stations are a great way to have the students doing a variety of activities in the classroom while getting them  moving in one period. Most teachers are completing 3 - 5 different activities per period, so rotating them around in stations should not be a big deal. I have used rotation stations successfully with all my Chinese language classes for years, but the system would work for any subject area.

Rotation station basics are that they are;

• different and differentiated activities or tasks each station
• timed station activities
• manageable activities
• classroom setup

What rotation stations promote are;

• blended learning activities
• collaborative learning
• group and individual work
• student centered learning
• more teacher assistance

What activities really work;

• inflipped learning (my blog post on flipping)
• blended learning
• any well-planned activity
• differentiated activities
• entry and exit tickets

What you will need to do;

• Like any lesson, plan your lesson around your aims and objectives. 
• Take into consideration the students in the class.
• Train the students to be quick at moving the tables and chairs about and then getting them back into place before the end of the lesson.
• Have some type of timing device, for example the white board screen with a count down clock.
• Decide how long each rotation will be.
• To manage what will be a hectic lesson, perhaps think about the traffic light system so you do not have students lining up to see you or have them waiting with their hands up for ages, because you will be busy.
• Make sure you have activities that students can do with little scaffolding, or can help each other with. Have extension work ready and differentiate each activity. This is probably one of the key components, so make sure you spend decent time preparing this one.
• Each time you have a rotation station lesson, trial different settings and groups, see what and who works the best in various combinations.
• Have each station clearly labelled or up listed on the board.

During the rotation station activity you will need to;

BEFORE

• Prepare the lesson activities
• Prepare the timer.

START 

• Explain the activities on each station and remind them of the traffic light system and rules of not moving around the class during activities. After a few times, you will not need to explain each activity unless it is new.
• Ask the students to move the tables and chairs into position.

DURING

• Give a one minute warning before the end of each rotation so they can wind up the activity. If the activity is not finished, this can be caught up with if you have a activity completion/teacher help station, next lesson or at home.
• Walk around the class attending to the traffic lights. Answer questions, clarify activities, manage the class.

Being a language teacher, I tried to prepare at least 4 activities. These covered the 4 language skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking, sometimes we had 5 activities as it depends where the students are up to in the course and level. 

For specific rotation station activities and references/resources, please check out the Google slide presentation.

Thanks! Be great to connect or discuss rotation stations with you!

Flipping the Language Classroom, a presentation

Below is a presentation I created for Chinese language teachers. It goes over my experiences with flipped learning, tools and tips to get started.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss anything to do with flipped learning or anything else to do with content in this blog. Thanks for checking out the site.

Chinese Language Resources for Students and Teachers

Over the years, I have created a library of Google slides on Chinese language. These slides have a variety of short Chinese language videos that cover language items for most topics that 2nd language learners of Chinese would possibly learn. The main framework of this resource was based on the Ni Hao series of textbooks, Chinasoft. 

Most of the videos are my own and were created with the flipped learning method in mind.  You can read my post on flipped learning here if you are interested.  The other videos in this resource have been attributed on the site. 

Please feel free to use this resource and I hope it can support your teaching of Chinese.

Click on the image below to go to the site.

https://sites.google.com/view/narralakes/home

Let's talk flipped learning basics

There has been lots of posts, books, and talk about flipped learning. This post is about some of my ideas on FL that might help get teachers started if they want to flip their classes. I have been flipping for about ten years now, but the first five to six years, I was flipping inconsistently. This post is my reflection, ideas and experience on that flipped learning journey. 

In it's most basic form, flipped learning is something teachers have been doing in various forms for years. During my university years of the 1980s and 90s, we could watch videos or listen to audio tapes of the lectures we missed and take notes. Not exactly flipping as we know it today, but, there are similarities. I believe the main surge for flipped learning came with the advancement and affordability of various technologies, maybe around the 1990s-2000. Just around that time or just a few years after, Aaron Sams and Jon Bergman can be attributed for promoting and modelling flipped learning as many of us know it today. The rapid development of flipped learning correlated with this tech surge and this has seen a huge, massive, rocket boost to realms that seem to have no boundaries. Read Jon Bergman's account of how flipping developed for him. I have met Jon several times at conferences and attended his workshops. He is an generous,enthusiastic, expert educator and I highly recommend anyone interested in flipping their class check out the sites below and enrol in some of the courses and read his books.

What is flipped learning? 

IMAGE: http://xfiles.aospine.org/users/publications/facultyfocus/2014_01/phone/flipped-classroom.html

Flipped learning, as I understand it, is giving students time to watch a short video for example, and learn the content themselves as best they can. This can be completed at home or in class. During or after this process of self-learning, through various activities, students will try to understand and master the new content. If needed, students can watch then re-watch the video as many times as needed and pause when necessary. Any video content that needs to be clarified or discussed with the teacher happens next lesson. If students are confident with the new content, they can proceed with activities that will reinforce the new content and give pathways that will extend the student and take them to mastering the content. 

The critical thing is to know how much content to give at any one time. Think of each flipped video lesson as a mini-lesson recorded by you, perhaps only about 1 -5 minutes long. The huge benefit of flipped learning is that with the students doing the learning on their own then progressing to the activities, instead of lecturing/teaching at the front of the class for half the lesson, time is given back to teachers.  Students can progress at their own pace and the teacher can help those who need it, as in the diagram above, the lecture/learning of information and reinforcing/practicing of content related activities are reversed, or flipped.

Some ways to flip

Most teachers like to use a variety of teaching activities, or blending the teaching and learning. There are times when you may still need to stand up in the front of the class and deliver a more traditional lecture type presentation, I suggest just like all teaching strategies, don't do if for the whole lesson. Here are some ideas to get you thinking.

Non-tech flipping

Let's see how we already use flipped learning in the non-tech activity. This could take the form of giving the students a text to read and prepare, or diagrams, new grammar pattern or solutions and methods to solve a new math equation. Students, from the samples and explanations in the content, then reword and interpret the main gist of the content into words and/or diagrams that helps them understand the content. I like using Cornell Notes  as students can note take, sketch note, summarize, draw, shorthand their interpretation of the content in a way they understand it. Finally, once the note taking is complete, students summarize in their own words what they believe is the main idea of the content. Practice activities can be prepared to see if the students have mastered the new content. Any questions are to be recorded and asked about next lesson. I like to initially teach students the formatting and elements of Cornell Notes and then how to take notes. It takes a little training and practice for them to be good note takers. I also encourage them to use other methods of note taking, but include the elements of Cornell Notes in their note taking.

The In-flip  

IMAGE: https://giphy.com/gifs/the-kid-Y3SVQI7UX7dn2

In-flipping is flipping in the class room. So that is why this is known as "in-flipping". I like to in-flip with my middle school  and senior classes. You can see, in the gif rotation station diagram, how you can blend teacher-talk, digital learning, and traditional learning activities to create a series of learning hubs. This strategy is a good way to introduce students to flipping the classroom but does take a considerable amount of time to setup and plan. 

Rotation stations 
Rotation stations work really well when in-flipping your lesson and are perfect for classes that only have a few devices in the room as well as 1:1. Catlin Tucker has an awesome post on rotation stations that I recommend you check out. Rotations take time to plan and set up but I have found my senior and middle school classes find it very beneficial and enjoyable. When in-flipping, I set up about 3 - 5 stations that vary from card games, device activities (listening, reading comprehension), speaking, writing, reading from the text, video and Cornell Notes/exercises. I introduce a Time with Teacher activity after a few lessons when I think the students can work in groups without me hovering around. Each station can be from 10 - 15 minutes long, depending on the activity. A class timer or buzzer with perhaps a 1 minute warning before the end of the rotation gives students time to wind up that activity and move to the next station.

Flipped Learning Activities

Getting the students to flip confidently and productively takes quite a bit of training, that's why it is good to in-flip first so they can get use to the flipped learning method. The basic framework of flipped learning is outlined above, but it is worth repeating for those of us new to flipping. The great benefit of flipped learning, is that there is more time for the teacher to help students who need help and those who can progress on their own, do so at their own pace. Flipped learning activities of course must be thoughtfully created as well so content that is suitable for the different levels of students.

IMAGE: http://edutechieteacher.blogspot.com/2015/07/tech-tools-symbaloo.html

For example, when I am introducing a new sentence pattern, for the first step I prepare a Google slide presentation that explains how the structures components and how it is used. This presentation usually has the relevant language, examples and a short video explaining the sentence pattern. I then have the students write a set of Cornell Notes and complete an activity sheet to see if they have understood the video or not. Questions are noted down to ask me next lesson. You can see the type of videos I have presented in my Youtube channel link below. The videos are nothing flash, but get the message across.

Technology has really powered the flipped learning method. Flipping can help teachers reach out and help every student, giving precious time back to teachers so we can maximize student learning. Being a Chinese language teacher who loves blending teaching and learning with tech, I have over the years tried different ways to flip and am always trying to improve. Below is the how to flip learning video I made for my students. It is on the front page each my class sites and outlines the basics and benefits of flipped learning and how we can use it to improve our learning. This video is also a good way for parents to get an introduction to flipped learning.

I have other language and tech videos you can check out if you are interested and they are housed in my Youtube channel here.

     

Thanks for taking time to read my post on flipped learning and I hope it has helped you get an idea on this great teaching and learning method. 

If you would like to discuss the content of this post, my contact details are on the homepage, happy flipping!

Flip Learning Resources

Flipped Learning Community

FLglobal 

Flipped Classroom 101 Edutopia

Ken's training and experience with flipped learning

Flipping his classroom since 2008

Flipped Learning Conference workshop presenter 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Flipped Learning 3.0 Certificate 1 (FLglobal.org)

Flipped Learning 3.0 Certiciate II (FLglobal.org)

Flipped Learning 3.0 Trainer Certificate 1 (FLglobal.org)

Sample Flipped lesson - hyperdoc Outline and Activities Specification

This sample activity was created for Year 10 and they had about 3 years of Chinese language study already, they could be considered around the intermediate high school level. Some of the travel videos in my channel would have supported their learning in this activity.

Ken's presentations on flipping

1. The Inside Outside Flip
2. Flipping the Language Classroom

Flipgrid for Language Learning and Teaching

Flipgrid is a cool piece of software that allows you to record videos for many great teaching and learning activities. You basically set up grids, which are sort of like groups or for teachers can be separate classes. Within each grid, you set up topics which are the questions or stimulus you would like the students to respond to.  It works on any device and is really worth having downloading and trialing with your class. 

Flipgrid launched the new look platform just recently and it looks amazing!  The functionality has improved an already impressive digital tool.  The new add-ons make it even more engaging with response tools, which include badges and stickers help increase the engagement factor. Well done Flipgrid team!

Like most of the great apps and links for teaching and learning resources, I came across Flipgrid via a teacher twitter chat, so must thank my PLN for this suggestion. 

After using Flipgrid for a few months with my Chinese language students, I have found it a very useful tool.  Flipgrid is easy to use and you can use it on any device. It's so tech friendly, engaging and easy to use that students and teachers just love using it. 

Lots of teachers use Flipgrid for a variety of exercises, I've used in a variety of activities which include;

1. Recording content and messages when working in groups and collaborating.
2. Respond to questions.
3. Recording monologues.
4. Giving peer reviews.
5. Flipped lessons
6. Use a video feed recording as an audio timeline eg keep other team members up to date on what they are up to in the project by recording a note.

Well, the list is really endless. 

See how other teachers use it in their subject and teaching areas by checking out the Global Grid Connections and the Integration Centre.

I have used Flipgrid with four of my classes. I am teaching Chinese language, so most of what I ask the students to do is to record their responses in Chinese. I try and get the students to talk as much Chinese language as possible in class, but sometimes it is hard to give them as many opportunities as you would like each lesson. The reason being, there is not enough time.  It is difficult to get time to adequately include speaking, reading, writing and listening activities in a 50 minute lesson. Flipgrid gives my students another tool they use to practice their spoken Chinese and also get some feedback, great for formative assessments! 

Lesson Activity - a sample of how I use Flipgrid

All activities need to be integrated into a lesson plan and unit thoughtfully and with an objective and outcome in mind. Flipgrid is a great formative tool as it gives the teacher and student quick and valuable feedback.  Recently in class, we have been learning about "things I own" and "my home" which includes asking about and responding in Chinese regarding location. Usually, after we have learnt the vocabulary and sentence patterns and reinforce these, we practice our oral responses.  An example of how I use Flipgrid is to ask students questions is in the video example below.  In this activity I refer to an image which includes items we are learning in the topic. Students are asked in Chinese "Where is my [item]?" and then I point to the image. They respond saying where the item is in relation to it's relative position, for example, "your mobile phone is on the sofa".

Due to privacy issues I am unable to include any of the students responses here. 

Depending on the objective of the activity, I set anything from one to three questions. This way, returning feedback to students is quick. With classes of 20 students though, it can still take some time to check and return all responses, so you will need to work out when and where to use Flipgrid for this type of activity. 

Feeback

Feedback needs to be effective and make sense to the students. As mentioned above, there are many ways you and the students can leave feedback. I found that customizing the feedback grid in Flipgrid easy and very effective. 

To customize your feedback grid;

1. Go to your topic list (you can also do this in a topic) and click the Action button on the right. 
2. Click on Edit Topic
3. Then in Section 5 down the bottom, click on Custom Feedback
4. Click on Create New Rubric
5. Add your Criteria Heading (the specific criteria you are marking)
6. Add in your Criteria Description, useful for letting the students how you are marking or grading them
7. Set your Minimum or Maximum score

You can also watch the video below which explains this process.

Response Features

Flipgrid is engaging and I think that is part of what motivates students in using the software. Depending on what feedback settings you allow, students and teachers can give feedback in various ways. This can be found in the Topic Actions as well. Some of these are;

• likes/dislikes
• add a video/audio/text reply/feedback
• take a selfie and decorations
• response reactions
• moderation and reply settings

Distractions 

I found the students really liked playing around with the respond actions and some of them can initially spend more time decorating themselves more than tending to their responses.  To curb this distraction, I found that before using Flipgrid, reminding and then discussion with the students what is good digital citizenship and responsible action.  Reinforcing what  the activity's objective saw most of them using it properly as well.  For the class and particularly those prone to being more easily distracted than others, I implemented a rule of allowing students to use a maximum of 2 decorations for each response.  Breaking of this rule would result in banning the respond actions altogether, this also proved effective and quickly got them back on task. 

Functionality

The functionality, appearance and ease of use of Flipgrid has been very thoughtful and well designed. I have used other video/audio apps and software that have some of the Flipgrid functions, but Flipgrid is so far the best one I have used. 

Flipgrid is very well supported by their team and also have a useful Support Centre you may want to visit to help get set up. You can find lots of good instructional videos and handy tips there.

Verdict

Try it out. Flipgrid is a great product and why not trial the free version for one of your classes.  I'd imagine most of those who try it will want the full version so they can get all their classes on board, I did. 

Teaching and Blending tech @ High School

I have been teaching for 32 years now and love blending my teaching and learning ideas with technology. I've been teaching in state and independent schools and have learnt much during my times in both systems. 


Teaching is such an exciting, innovative and community centered career and we can learn so much from each other. 

This blog is mainly my interest in how tech can be integrated with teaching and learning. Although I am a Chinese language teacher, I have learnt so much from teachers from all subject areas and here I am very happy to share my ideas with other teachers. 

Would you like to connect? You can find me on twitter @Teacher_KenW  or WeChat ID: Narralakes

Just added this global hit map!

                                                                                                                       Tweets by @Narralakes

Narralakes Chinese language resources and  HSC Year 11 - 12 blog spot https://sites.google.com/site/hanyutgs/year-12/home

There are also audio and activities on iTunesU, to obtain the access code contact me at narralakes@gmail.com