What's Your Excuse?

Let me start by telling you a little about myself: I am fifty-something years old.  I always have to ask my husband how old he is, then I know I'm one year younger.  I think I began forgetting how old I was in my mid- forties.  Nothing earth shattering happened; I just always seemed to be off 1 year whenever anyone asked me how old I was.  Anyway, I tend to go off on tangents. Some of my friends tell me I need medication.  I prefer to think of it as being able to multitask, which I found out recently is impossible to do. (That was another tangent). I don't consider myself to be technologically gifted; even though I guess I have learned a lot about technology within the last 2 years. I just learned how to take a screenshot on an iPad this year!

What I do possess, however, is a deep driven desire to learn. The last course I took someone actually asked me why was taking the class. I was the oldest person there.  Even older than the instructor.  It was obvious that I could retire from teaching in 2 years and here I was taking what was a grueling 2 year course to get my math endorsement.  I must admit I even asked myself that question more than a few times as the course went on.  "Why am I doing this?"

I'll tell you why I took that course and it's the same reason I started flipping my class two years ago.  I absolutely LOVE teaching and making a difference in the lives of  the children I teach!  I always want to be able to offer my students the best that I have.  And sometimes that means I have to do better.  Sometimes that means I have to stretch myself.  Sometimes that means I have to ask someone else how to do something.  Even if no one in my school building is doing something that I know is good for children, I need to find a way to find out how to do it. 

I was talking with another educator friend of mine and she shared that some teachers were not flipping because no one in their school was doing it and they did not have anyone to show them how.  People, your Professional Learning Community has got to be larger than the building you work in. So if no one in your building is flipping their class, and you really believe it would be best for your students, then you have got to go to the places where it's happening. So, what can you do to get started?

• Join the Flipped Learning Network Ning. This site has different communities you can join to learn more.

• Read other teacher's blogs who flip their class.  Even though I teach 5th grade, I learned a heck of a lot about flipping from reading  Crystal Kirch's blog.  I also learned a lot from Delia Bush. I have never met either of these wonderful teachers but I feel like I know them well. There are lots of other teachers who blog about their experiences flipping. 

• Follow other educators on twitter who are flipping their classes.  Another friend of mine said he would join twitter when Jim Trelease is on twitter.  "Jim Trelease, why aren't you on twitter?" 

• Go to Sophia and take their course to get Flipped Certified. They also have free webinars to help you get started flipping. Right now you can go to Sophia and register to attend a webinar with Crystal Kirch on March 11. 

  So I ask again:  What's your excuse?