What if You Flipped Your Faculty Meetings?

Dear Principals,

I've got a professional challenge for you: I want you to flip every faculty meeting during the 2012-2013 school year.

Doing so would be a breeze, I bet.  You could:

(1). Use YouTube's video recorder and your laptop's webcam to record 10-15 minute videos sharing all of the important content that you normally share during faculty meetings.

(2). Ask faculty members to use simple question charts like this one to track their own personal thinking while watching your videos the day before your meeting is scheduled.

(3). Break your staff up into cross-discipline and grade level table groups during your actual faculty meetings to wrestle with the questions that THEY came up with while watching your videos. 

(4). Spend the final 10 minutes making any key points that you HAVE to deliver in person and/or allowing table groups to share their final reactions to the content shared in your videos.

What's beautiful about flipping your faculty meetings is you are modeling an instructional practice that you'd like to see spreading in your classrooms. Flipping empowers students, giving them ownership over the direction of their learning -- and that feels good whether you're 12 or 27. 

My bet is that teachers will enjoy your faculty meetings WAY more when the keys to the conversation are turned over to them.  More importantly, my bet is that teachers will be WAY less intimidated by the notion of flipping the classroom when they see that even their curmudgeonly old bossman can pull it off.

I also like that flipped faculty meetings become places where cross-departmental and grade level conversations can actually happen. 

The truth is that most schools are incredibly isolated places simply because there's no time for meeting with people beyond your core learning teams. If dude isn't in the room next to mine, the chances I'm going to hunt him down for a deep and meaningful conversation when I've got three thousand papers to grade is about zero. 

And faculty meetings as their currently structured -- 30-45 minutes once a month where information is delivered instead of created -- do little to make those kinds of cross-conversations possible even when everyone is sitting in the same room with each other. 

But if they're flipped -- if the information that needs to be delivered is consumed before the meeting even begins -- there's PLENTY of time for teachers to learn from -- and to build relationships with -- peers who work in different departments or on different hallways. 

#suhweet

The moral of this story is that we CAN'T be surprised by teachers who run quiet classrooms where lecture is the norm and empowering learners is the exception when those same teachers sit silently listening in faculty meetings for decades on end.

The first step in changing learning environments for kids is changing learning environments for teachers -- and the most common learning environment for teachers is still the faculty meeting. They are powerful opportunities for principals to serve as instructional leaders, proving that new practices like flipping ARE possible.

So whaddya' think? 

Is this doable?

____________________________

Related Radical Reads:

Innovation and Intellectual Collisions

Environments that Build Walls

Hitting Home Runs 50 Feet at a Time

 

Comments

[Ryan Bretag]

What was interesting for me was the pushback I received when trying this idea: http://www.ryanbretag.com/blog/?p=2545

Just like students, some or even many are comfortable with the game and things like this change it.

That said, it worked really well for the committees I lead and our principal did this for faculty meetings with success.

The challenge remains the consumption of one-way info prior to the face to face gathering that allows us to better utilize that time.

[Dan Callahan]

Interesting problem that I'm sure happens elsewhere: When I asked my principal about doing something kind of like this, I was told that he can't because of our contract. There can't be anything required of staff for a staff meeting before the meeting or during the meeting other than asking us to sit and listen during the meeting. He can't ask teachers to do short presentations during the meeting, so that only happens if I ask him if I can. There can be no consuming of any content before the meeting, or the teachers can file a grievance. It's honestly kind of insane, and one of those things where I think the contract actually hurts us. I get WHY it was probably put in place, but on the face of things, it just leaves out common sense entirely.

[Joe_Mazza]

Bill,
Great idea. I think for a principal to say this is impossible is just being lazy and closed minded. I see a lot of potential with this, as well as "flipping" Back to School Night. Working on some ideas for that, as well as including a TodaysMeet backchannel during the evening. Thanks for helping us think deeper and not accepting the status quo.

Respectfully,
Joe

[ginnyp]

"there's PLENTY of time for teachers to learn from -- and to build relationships with". Unfortunately, this is assuming staff members are interested in doing this instead of getting back to their room to grade the 125 tests waiting for them.

[Cashjim]

Hi Bill,
I think that step (2) in your list is crucial and probably one that is most likely to get unintentionally skipped. Students and teachers alike need a framework with which to access the content and start to build their own knowledge. I might also add another step - maybe step (5) - with the new knowledge gaining through the video and the table group interaction at the meeting TAKE ACTION in the classroom and document how that knowledge was used professionally. These actions could be shared by the staff at the next meeting.

[Anneke Radin-Snaith]

I'm not sold on the concept of " The Flipped Classroom"? @pernilleripp puts it well here: http://mrspripp.blogspot.com/2012/07/flipping-for-flipped-classroom-seems-to.html
"Flipping" a classroom makes the assumption that students (or in this case teachers) will watch the videos ahead of time. I am experimenting with less homework, not more. At the 7th grade level, I find that homework completion is greatly affected by amount of parental involvement. Adding more HW, especially HW needing technology, seems to make for an uneven playing field. Your thoughts?

[Stephanie Powell]

Mr. F.,
You make a very interesting point. I believe that flipping a faculty meeting would indeed allow for those vertical conversations that are desperately needed in our learning communities. It would definitely push our thinking in promoting the concept of flipping our classrooms. Thank you,

Stephanie P.

[Janet Abercrombie]

Great idea! Our admin modeled a paperless meeting - and it went over well: http://wp.me/p1Dq2f-cl

[Kevin Hodgson]

As a staff member, I would love to give it a try. A principal could even use the TED site that allows you to set up a 'flipped' discussion.
http://blog.ted.com/2012/04/25/flip-it-a-new-way-to-teach-with-video-from-ted-ed/
Kevin

[Bill Ferriter]

Dan wrote:

Interesting problem that Im sure happens elsewhere: When I asked my
principal about doing something kind of like this, I was told that he
cant because of our contract

- - - - - - - - - - -

Thats one of the FEW reasons, Dan, that Im happy to work in a non-union state! That kind of craziness would drive me nuts. To formally allow wasted time is stupid on a good day.

In conversations with other union educators, though, Ive often heard that EVERYTHING can be collectively bargained. I wonder if it would be possible for the rules that would forbid something like this to be collectively erased -- or revised back to sanity -- in the next rounds of negotiations.

Would it be a hassle?

Probably.

Would it be worth it?

Definitely.

Hope youre well,
Bill

[Bill Ferriter]

Joe wrote:

I see a lot of potential with this, as well as flipping Back to School
Night. Working on some ideas for that, as well as including a
TodaysMeet backchannel during the evening.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Really dig the idea of a backchannel at Back to School night, Joe! While theres definitely risk involved -- disgruntled parents could uncork publicly -- theres also opportunities for tons of reward -- sane parents could see the kinds of unjustified attacks that schools face and come to your defense!

Looking forward to hearing about your experiments with this!

Rock on,
Bill

[Bill Ferriter]

Ginny wrote:

Unfortunately, this is assuming staff members are interested in doing
this instead of getting back to their room to grade the 125 tests
waiting for them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I get it, Ginny -- I really do. Ive even BEEN the faculty member sitting silently just counting until the minutes in the faculty meeting ended.

But thats because I never did anything engaging and/or productive in the faculty meetings.

I wonder if staff members attitudes towards faculty meetings would change if those meetings were flipped simply because they would have more positive experiences with meetings themselves.

Ill give you an example: We did a Paideia seminar in our PD the other day instead of a presentation. People REALLY dug it. The vibe coming out of the meeting was more positive than any meeting wed done in the past three years.

I attribute that to the fact that we were actually learning -- instead of just listening.

Your thoughts?
Bill

[Bill Ferriter]

Jim wrote:

Hi Bill,
I think that step (2) in your list is crucial and probably one that is most likely to get unintentionally skipped.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Im with you, Jim -- and Ive heard that the same challenge applies to teachers who are flipping the classroom. How do you hold your students -- in this case faculty members -- accountable for actually watching the videos and then reacting to them in a way that they will be prepared for a meaningful conversation at the meeting.

In the short term, it might take a similar practice to those we use in our classrooms: Principals would want to collect and review the question sheets. To make it less gotcha-esque, they could say they were really interested in seeing the feedback that everyone generated while watching the videos -- which should be true, by the way. Then, after reviewing the responses of individuals, the principal could talk individually to the people who were not following through.

In the long term, what I REALLY think would happen is that youd need less accountability simply because teachers would be looking forward to the conversations. I know that on my best lessons, I dont have to do much to enforce participation because kids are motivated by the task. My hope is that the same would happen for teachers at faculty meetings.

The simple truth is that the reason we dont participate now is because were bored to tears. Create a more meaningful activity for us and I bet wed surprise you.

Make sense?
Bill

[Bill Ferriter]

Anneke wrote:

At the 7th grade level, I find that homework completion is greatly
affected by amount of parental involvement. Adding more HW, especially
HW needing technology, seems to make for an uneven playing field. Your
thoughts?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Im not completely sold either, Anneke -- and I share your worries about whether kids will complete the tasks too. (I teach sixth grade).

But I disagree with you about the factors behind homework completion. I dont think parent involvement changes the amount of homework that is completed. I think creating tasks that the kids are actually motivated by and engaged in changes the amount of homework that is completed.

Long story short: Create tasks that kids actually care about and theyll do anything for you.

In the case of the flipped classroom, the task kids will care about is the social learning opportunities that happen in class the next day. If students are required to prove -- through the completion of some kind of viewing guide -- that theyve watched the videos before participating in the social learning that happens in class, I bet theyll start watching the videos in advance. It would only take one or two times where they had to sit out to complete the video watching before joining their peers before theyd really make a point to get the boring work over with in advance.

And as far as unequal access to technology goes, Ive found that we often overestimate the number of kids who cant find their way online. I worked in a school with about 40% of my kids living in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Raleigh a few years back and was shocked to discover that all but 3 of my students had a plan for getting online when they needed/wanted to. Sometimes it was through their parents phones. Sometimes it was through a neighbor or relative with Internet access. Sometimes it was getting to school early or staying in my room during lunch.

Getting online, though, wasnt a problem when the task was something they cared about.

Any of this make sense?
Bill

[Bill Ferriter]

Hey Kevin,

Thanks a TON for sharing that TED resource! I had no idea that was out there -- and considering that Im going to experiment a bit with flipping this year, Im really jazzed to have found it.

You made my intellectual day.

Rock right on,
Bill