Where Do I Start?

After presenting and discussing the flipped classroom and the benefits to student learning and engagement, I'm often approached with questions about, "where do I even begin?" While the idea of flipping a classroom is enticing to many educators, many are daunted with the tasks that might be required to begin. How do I create a video? Where do I host my video? What if my students don't have access to technology? While all are very excellent questions to ponder, sometimes we need to remember to focus on the learning objectives we want students to accomplish given a flipped lesson. The benefits in the long run help to generate class discussions and activities that time may not present in a traditional classroom setting. Yet, the looming question still exists - WHERE DO I START?

Allow me to offer the following guide to flipping a class.....or perhaps flipping a lesson!
1) Start Small - Don't think you need to flip an entire class for an entire school year. Start with one chapter, or even one lesson - maybe a lesson that you know students in the past historically struggled with.

2) Build Your Lesson Backward - This is the trick to building an effective flipped lesson. What do you want students to accomplish after the lesson is finished? What outcomes must the students be able to demonstrate to prove they have learned and how can they show you? What activities do you have planned for class time?

3) Check For Information Accuracy - Provide students with a notes check, entrance ticket, quick assessment, class discussion, text protocol, etc to ensure students are prepared for you in-class activity. This is a critical component to flipping to hold students accountable for obtaining information outside of class.

4) Design Your Flipped Instruction - What is the bare minimum information your students will need to complete the in-class activity successfully? How can you provide them with that information - reading a text, case-study, or article; watching a demonstration on video, or even a video lecture?


Through designing your lesson backward, you will be able to keep focused on the most important aspect of flipping a class or lesson - student learning. By identifying what you want students to accomplish, you can build the rest of the flipped lesson to meet those demands.

Best of luck flipping!