Category: Teaching

Planning a Flipped Unit Part 2

The biggest portion of the circle, the Why, defines everything you do in the unit. Before planning a single activity (or lesson), it is important t... Read more

Planning a Flipped Unit

The idea for this series was sparked when I was helping some people research sample flipped lessons for a curriculum workshop I was facilitating. I... Read more

Ultra-Specific Classification

The edu-blogification of ideas gets overwhelming. Six years ago, I went to a workshop on using videos to help with my instruction. We called it the... Read more

2017 End of Year Notes

In what’s become a half-tradition, some unfiltered thoughts as I finish another school year. – Splitting time between teaching and instructional co... Read more

Using Someone Else’s Videos in Your Class

In November 2015, an independent model showed YouTube received around 500 hours of video content uploaded every minute. There are 1440 minutes in a... Read more

No, Today’s Students Don’t Learn Differently

If you’re working in instructional support (#edtech, instructional tech, learning support…whatever you want to call it) you’ve probably heard, “Tod... Read more

There is No Room for Pride on a Team

I’m proud of the work I do every day, both in my classroom and in the small instructional team I work with. There’s nothing wrong with being proud ... Read more

If You Haven’t Changed Practice, Don’t Call It Flipped

When I try new things, the fear really sets in as I’m giving instructions and trying to pick up on the nonverbal cues my students are sending me. M... Read more

Drawing Notes

I used to make fill-in-the-blank notes for my students to complete while watching a video. For a particular subset of students, that works well. He... Read more

Defining the Problem

Consider the train problem: A train is barreling down the tracks. At a fork, you have the option of flipping the train to the left branch or the ri... Read more

Flipped Learning as a Way to Build an Online Presence

[|](https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8751/17140910740_dc6fcd4ca2_z.jpg)| [Hybrid Pedagogy](http://www.hybridpedagogy.com) is a publication you shoul... Read more

Maybe it IS About the Video…

In 2011, I wrote a post in which I strongly declared that Flipped Learning [is not about the videos](http://blog.ohheybrian.com/2011/10/video-is-no... Read more

The Line Between High Expectations and Impossible Expectations

I absolutely hate teaching bonding. The abstract nature of atoms, the minutiae of nomenclature, and the details of writing formulas bog students do... Read more

I Need to Remember to Post Answer Keys

Everything I do in class is geared toward building understanding. I want students to be able to both complete the task and understand _why_ they’re... Read more

Minimum Viable Input

In software, there’s a lot of discussion about the “minimum viable product” when you’re designing something: what is the bare basic you can deliver... Read more

Assessing the Assessed

State testing. There are no words. Week two of six is halfway done. Meanwhile, I keep teaching and I keep assessing. Most of it is formative, infor... Read more

Question Mark Answers

We played Jeopardy today in class (with some major upsets coming during final Jeopardy…quite exciting) to review atoms and the periodic table organ... Read more

Why Are Questions So Scary?

I remind my students constantly that I can’t help if they don’t do one of two things: 1) Ask me a question when they’re confused, or 2) get somethi... Read more

When Class Itself is a Distraction

I’m going to stop doing labs in one of my classes this semester. Regardless of the supports or steps I put in place, there is a general refusal (sa... Read more

Don’t Call it a Sheep

Test prep is becoming more insidious. Rather than being outright drill-and-kill for the multiple choice marathon students are forced to take, now i... Read more

Above all, I must not play God.

The Hippocratic Oath really parallels education. More on that somewhere else. I cannot play at God in my classroom. I am not a dictator. My role is... Read more

Choices

Before I dive in, I think Justin Aion and I are parallels of one another in the multiverse. His day was similar to mine. — Six weeks into this seme... Read more

The Environment

My video was rambly this week. I think it’s because I have complete control over my environment, but there’s just not much I can do with it. I have... Read more

Back to the Flipping Basics

Ken Bauer has more energy than I know what to do with. I met him two or three years ago (something like that) and ever since, he’s taught courses, ... Read more

Play in Class

We’re playing with magnets this week in class. (We’re actually finishing playing with magnets now.) It’s been great and this is by far one of my fa... Read more

Actions Beget Standards…Kind Of.

I wanted to write this down while it’s fresh in my mind (and because it’s late). I’m finishing a graduate semester on curriculum theory and practic... Read more

Columns and Colors

I’ve taken a big dive into test analysis lately. Spreadsheets, formulas, correlations, and color-coding have become the norm after an exam to help ... Read more

Language

The language I use around grading is very specific, especially when I’m speaking with students. “Your grade is based on how much you learn. You mus... Read more

Close Reading – Day 1

We’re working on our close-reading skills. Indiana has changed the standardized test format (again) and students will be doing very Common Core-lik... Read more

Cultures

I gave a test a week or so ago. When I scored the test the first time, I didn’t think I made my key correctly. So, I double checked it and re-score... Read more

Building Rigor

I missed two days of school last week. One day gone is enough added work on it’s own, two is nearly unthinkable. I wanted to make sure my students ... Read more

Start of Year Notes

It seems appropriate to bookend my summer writing hiatus with some notes on the start of the year on August 6th. I’ve got a lot of things planned a... Read more

End of Year Notes

I just finished my fifth year teaching after an 18 month hiatus. I usually jot this stuff down in a notebook, but it’s full, and I haven’t replaced... Read more

In the Silence

In the silence, a shuffle is a landslide. Clicks and ticks shake the air. Furrowed brows rattle individual hairs. Teaching is a human invention, th... Read more

Withholding Opportunities or Planning Accordingly?

11 days left. There’s a lot of review happening right now – we’ve finished our final chapter tests and looking ahead at a double-whammy final exam.... Read more

Get in touch

Comments are always open. You can get in touch by sending me an email at brian@ohheybrian.com