Feeling Good!
I am happy to report that another teacher in the school has taken a step towards making her learning environment more flexible.  She has seen the changes that Sandi and I have been making in our classroom and she felt inspired.  She decided to change up the desk/seating plan and move desks around the room in different arrangements and let the students decide where they wanted to sit.  She has told me the students are soooooo excited and love the freedom to choose where they want to sit.

As for my room I have noticed an improvement in the students engagement and ability to self regulate during the day.  I see students move when they are distracted from others without my involvement.  I also see students interacting more comfortably with me and their peers.  Yes, there are still students who require me to "help" them make a better choice but I still feel I am allowing them to develop these skills in hopes they will be able to self regulate on their own in the future.

All in all I have to say its been a very positive and enlightening experience!

Better late than never

Well I had great intentions of posting my learning along the way however life seems to have gotten in the way.

This is my first year flipping and I love it!  I love being able to support my students while they are at home, better prepare them for learning in class, review material they need practice with and engage parents with what their children are learning.  By flipping my classroom I am able to achieve all of these things.

I have experienced some inconsistency with regard to students watching the videos at home.  I decided to remind parents of the immense value of the videos to their child by sending a letter home explaining my views.  I also posted the information at the top of my web page where students go to watch the videos.  Since then I have seen an improvement. 

Ms. Chilton's Web Page

That's all for now :)