Flip Class and the ISN

So as you all know, I'm in love with the ISN.  IN LOVE!  Sadly, as in love with ISN as I am,  I need a change.  Change is good when done right.  When done wrong, it's really just a pain.  I, as well as the most amazing co-teacher anyone could ever ask for, have decided it's time for change.  I know, you're probably thinking, she's nuts.  Why change when she has everything for the past two years at her fingertips?  Call me crazy, but I'm bored.  I'm absolutely bored of the way I teach.  Funny as I'm still considered a newbie to the field and I'm already bored.  I find that gross and annoying all wrapped into one, and you're probably right, there is something must be wrong with me.  I mean, seriously, check us out below (haha):

Seriously.  Love this.

We are so cheesy but yet this was so much fun :D 

This year, I have decided change how a teach and present the information totally different.  I want to flip my classroom.  Seriously, it's time.  For those of you who don't know what the flip classroom is, it is a classroom where the instruction is delivered 'outside' the classroom and the activities that are usual considered homework are done in class.  @Gayle_Gawlik explained it as a class that is inside out - its still the same clothes, but just put on differently.  Less time doing laundry.  I found this to be brilliant because this was the exact explanation that I was looking for.  It seriously is the best way to describe what it is.  There is less time focused on the direct instruction and more time focused on the students understanding the material and being able to complete the tasks.  It's going to be a very difficult process for me because many of my students do not have access to computers at home.  I'm working this out and following some really awesome people on twitter that have some answers to my questions/problems (Side note - twitter is the best pd in the world - I WISH I could use all I learn on twitter towards my pd).  Also, not everything has to be done outside - it all depends on the student, I'm reading a book on the Flipped Classroom right now and will probably post about it at a later date (I'm too excited to wait on this post!)

As a first step, I'm creating a library of videos and works that will help my students as they take this adventure with me.  So, being my goofy self (to my students, outside in the professional setting/'teacher talking to other teachers', I'm like that wallflower that is just there.  Or so I was, I really have to shut up lately...I blame the power of the blog!), I have created a small little video to explain the way I set up my ISN.  It just gets into the basics of things, but it's 2 minutes plus of Valdes/Baldino goodness.  To us it's funny, to our students, well to our students, we are probably the oddest pair of teachers they have come across, but we keep it real and fun for them.  After we show this little intro, we'll do a small little activity from it that will allow them to get up and move around.  Obviously, we are only the facilitators.  They will then complete their Author's pages in their notebooks.

Things I'm working on this weekend as I begin this amazing endeavor:  A YouTube channel and a place to keep everything organized - it's a toss up - Edmodo or Edu2.0.  I'll get back to you on what I pick :)  There is one thing that I know about doing the flip class this year:  It's going to make something that I love even more meaningful and more amazing.  Now that's just "awesome".

So without further ado, I present to you a little ISN introduction (yay!):

Interactive Student Notebook Introduction

Hope you enjoy :D

ISN Part 1 - The Beginning and Organization

In my last post I said the ISN changed my life.  It can change yours too.  Don't be fooled that this is something that you can ONLY do in science.  It's something that works across the board and I have seen successful notebooks in all content areas.  

As the teacher, you can't control the content you teach, but you can control how you teach the content.  

I feel like the second part gets lost with many people.  The ISN allows for the teacher to 'control the way you teach' in ways that can be considered beneficial to your students.

So, how does this little thing work?  It's up to you on how you make it work, but the idea behind is it that the students get a place in their books to explore the content.  It's also VERY, VERY, VERY organized.   I am not the most organized person, but when I learned about this, it was like the clouds parted in the sky and that bright light came through.  I seriously thought, "Krystina, this is what you need."  It totally was and still is. 

The kids, you know the ones that are like, "Oh, that paper, yeah, I don't where it is. Do you have another one?" or the ever popular, "It's in my locker, I think," won't misplace their work.  That right there should get ANY teacher giddy with excitement!  If you really think about it, sometimes as teachers (and let me state not all teachers) write kids off as not being able to pass because they are lazy or they just aren't trying enough.  Anyone ever take into consideration they just might be a kids and some can be more disorganized compared to others.  I see it too often and it bothers me because maybe it's not that they aren't trying, but even in 8th grade, they haven't mastered the organization yet.  It happens - especially when no one teaches them how to organize.  We should NOT assume they know how.  We can't write them off and tell them that 'they'll have to do this next year in high school' (I HATE IT WHEN I HEAR THAT FROM TEACHERS).  The ISN helps tremendously content wise but more important with their organization.


I'm going to go through and show you my set up for the first part of the ISN.  You can change things  according to what will work for your class :)


1)  Yesterday I showed you an author's page.  That's just one way you can learn about the author of that particular ISN.  I love to see what the kids bring in because there are times where they draw, write, or even bring in pictures of themselves and their families.  It's fun to learn a little bit about themselves.

Here's just an example of one:

She wrote poems and words to describe herself

2)  Title page for the unit.  Some teachers out there may want to have sections in their books that pertain to the unit of study.  The title page is a great way to section this off within the book.  I use this page to see what the kids know about a particular topic that we are going to be studying.  Here are two examples of Astronomy title pages.

3) The Table of Contents or the TOC.  When you're a kid (or at least when I was), you're taught what the purpose of the TOC is and it's location.  I have it located right after the title page of each unit.  The kids fight me on it at first saying they'll never use it, but when we start playing games (like a scavenger hunt) or reviewing they begin to use it and realize it's purpose.  Even in the 8th grade, I have to teach my students different ways in how to study and the ISN provides me with many ways to do this.  

Each day the kids look at the Do Now and for the most part, it's to set up their ISN or do something within the ISN.  I'll post what the Do Now looks like in my classroom at a later date.

How does the TOC look?

• Title - The exact title of the specific page
• Page # - Important that the kids put it there this way they know where to look
• Optional - Date - some kids like to put the date in the margin this way they know when they put that page in their ISN

Below you'll find an example of a TOC from a student's ISN from this past year:

These are two pages of the TOC for the Astronomy Unit

 As for the amount of pages, again, this is up to you.  I have used books where I only had two pages of TOC and books that I decided to have 4-6 pages.  If you run out of space, it's very easy to attach a piece of notebook paper in to the notebook so the students can continue with their TOC.  It's not a bad idea to actually have paper cut down to size (especially if your using a composition book) for the kids when this happens.  They love details and NEED their books to be perfect - they'll spend time cutting the paper down and forgetting about the actual TOC to copy in if there isn't paper ready.


4) Words Worth Knowing or the WWK - This might be one of my favorite part of the ISN.  You don't think about it, but science (as well as ALL other subjects) is filled with vocabulary that the students may or may not know.  From my experience, science has some pretty nasty words that are super difficult to say and have super long definitions.  They need a place to write this down.  Seriously, however many times you may say the definition in class, there are going to be kids that still won't get it.  The WWK gives them the opportunity to look up the words when asked.  This little reference area is critical.  Also does wonders for ELL students as well (more on that another time).


Over the years, I have changed the amount of pages that I've set aside for the WWK.  For me, I've begun to set aside about 6 pages for most units.  This allows all students with small print and large print to have enough space.  Again, having paper ready to be attached when they do run out of space is always a good thing - saves you both time.  Below is an example:

First page of the student's WWK for the Astronomy Unit

Just as a strategy, I highlight my words and number them in my own personal book.  I do this so the kids know how many words we have covered and how many words I'll be looking for when I check the notebooks.  It's more or less your own preference and you doing what you're most comfortable with the WWK.  I'm thinking this year that I may add the numbers on the board this way there is no confusion at the end.

This is only the beginning.  Yes, it's a lot to take in, and a lot of class time at FIRST, but if you are doing this for the very first time, over time it will become second nature for everyone in class.

It's really ok to fail - I promise!

Three weeks until the big day exactly.  I'm getting married to a pretty amazing guy.  So awesome!  Yet, the only thing that I can think of is getting this blog up and somewhat running.  Teacher brain. I want to shut it off, but even in the summer, I can't.  Good thing I have an amazing fiance that keeps me level.

So what's the big need to start this blog.  I'm not too sure, but I feel like it's been years in the making.  I think I've been afraid of actually taking this step.  My first issue is that I'm not the best writer.  Spelling and the grammar rules that are out there just never stuck with me.  I'm going to try my best, but please, please, please forgive me in advance for mistakes.  This is huge for me to actually do this.  It's a huge fear of mine to actually have my writing out there in the public because I'm always afraid of making a mistake or even worse *gasp* failing! (more on that later).

It has also taken me forever to start this because I am a perfectionist in my work (I do try with grammar rules, but I always seem to make mistakes no matter what).  I needed to figured out a name for this blog and then try to come up with a decent layout.  The name of the blog killed me.  I pondered this particular issue for what seemed like an eternity.  Then it hit me while trying to get rid of this awful tan line (it's all about looking good in the dress).  I'm writing this blog about my experiences in middle school as a teacher.  

I. Love. Middle School.  

You should like it too. I'm serious.  Love it.  Forget about what you experienced when you were there.  Live through me now.  Love it and appreciate it.  Middle school can be the best time of your life as you begin to explore who you are, begin to really learn how to function in relationships, and look to find ways to succeed as a human being.  It's a lot to take on as a teenage.  It's even crazier where the chemicals in their brains' are going absolutely nuts.  It's a good time for the teacher, ha.

Middle school is the place where kids NEED to realize that's it's ok to fail.  I'm taking the chance with this blog.  It may fail - so what.  At least I'll have a place for me to write about my awesome experiences as a middle school science teacher.  I took a chance this past school year in changing up the way a teach and how my students received and processed the information being taught in class.  I did it the last two months of the year, and I also teach 8th grade.  The odds were stacked against me because who wants change they have one foot out the door of the middle school and one foot in the high school.  Was I worried of failing?  Absolutely.  Were their days when I thought that this mix of flipping my classroom, project based learning, and bringing their on devices (the evil cell phone) was going to backfire?  I thought that everyday, but we moved on and tried this crazy idea of making paper roller coasters.

Here are the results:

Just a few of the 22 that decorated my classroom - my classroom is not the biggest.  It was a bit of a tight squeeze.

The one roller coaster that is in the bigger picture was over 5'6".  The kids thought that it would be funny to make one taller than their teacher.  Yea, I have short parents.

The kids asked me day in and day out if we were going to finish this project and if it was going to be a success.  I kept saying that we're going to try to do our best and that if they don't work, it was ok that we failed.  Some of the kids looked at me somewhat perplexed.  It's ok to fail?!  Yea, I said it to them and I don't care.  It's a lesson that everyone needs to learn because when you fail, you learn.  You learn what needs to be changed in order to become successful the next time around.  There were lots of failures during the project, but they kept on working and trying to fix those failures and make them successes.  

This project could have blown up in my face, but with the determination of my kids and I, we did it.  It was the greatest feeling in the world.  We were ready to fail, but man, it felt good to just be awesome.  It was also great to see the fun they had when they were finally able to try out the coasters. 


As I close, in hopes that this blog doesn't fail, this is going to be a place for me to explore my profession and reflect on my work.  It's going to be a place where I can place my thoughts as I begin to evolve as a teacher once again - mind you, I'm starting year 6.  I get bored easily so I'm going to try to go full force into PBL, flipping my classroom, and adding even more integration of technology.  I have this idea for a skype project that I'm beyond excited about, but I'll save that for another day.  Gotta get up and work on wedding things then head to a soccer game at Yankees stadium.  (You will soon learn I am one of those psychotic NY fans - sorry to anyone who might be a Philly or Boston fan - my allegiances to my teams doesn't effect my teaching -for the most part!).  I leave you with this thought.  Our space program is full of failures, but just the other day, we celebrated the anniversary of one of, if not the greatest successes of that program - the first man on the moon.


It's ok to fail.