Khan Academy and The Flipped Classroom

I have heard and seen a lot about Khan Academy and the flipped classroom.  I think it is an interesting idea and I do have a desire to experiment with it.  That being said, it does seem very daunting.  It would be great to have an opportunity to work with a teacher who has done a flipped classroom.  I do think it would be necessary to work with a teacher in my own content area.  I really don't think that working with a math teacher in this area is going to yield the same results as working with a fellow social studies teacher.

10 Picture Tour

My son was crowned Mr. Bellevue West this year.

This is our social studies office.  It is usually pretty empty in the morning before school.

This is the commons study hall during 3rd hour.

Students working hard in the computer lab in our IMC.

The cafeteria right before it gets crazy during lunch.

Students returning from NESA testing.

Our wonderful secretaries hard at work in the office.

Students goofing around in journalism class.

A good luck for the winter guard for their upcoming competition.

Mr. Harrison teaching Justice & Law.

Learning To Learn: 7 Dimensions Of Effective Learning by Guy Claxton

http://www.teachthought.com/learning/learning-to-learn-7-dimensions-of-effective-learning/

I read an article called "Learning To Learn: 7 Dimensions Of Effective Learning"  by an education professor at Bristol University.  All seven dimensions focus on engaged learned rather than passive learning.  I teach seniors and I feel that many of them are passive learners.  They just want me to give them the information so they can spit it back out to me on the test, and then they brain dump.  The seven dimensions are as listed below:

FROM –> TO

Stick & Static –> Changing & Learning

Data Accumulation –> Meaning Making

Passivity –> Critical Curiosity

Being Rule-Bound –> Creativity

Isolation & Dependence –> Learning Relationships

Being Robotic –> Strategic Awareness

Fragility & Dependence –> Resilience

One reason I am looking forward to starting the curriculum cycle next year is that we can develop summative assessments they do more than just ask students fact based questions.  We can create assessments that require higher level thinking so that students can hopefully become more engaged in their learning.  

I am Tara Patomson and I teach US government at Bellevue West High School.  This is my ninth year teaching and my fourth year teaching US government.  For the most part I grew up in the Omaha metropolitan area and attended college at UNO.  I wanted to be a teacher since I was 16 years old so I majored in education with a endorsement in social sciences.  I am married with four children.  Two are graduated from high school and out on their own.  One will graduate from Bellevue West this year and the youngest is a freshman this year at Bellevue West.

Historically, I am a PC user.  Obviously that has changed over the course of this school year.  My frustration level with the Mac is gradually decreasing as I become more familiar with it.  Due to the fact that I have SmartBoard in my classroom I still use my PC on a daily basis because the Mac and the SmartBoard cannot talk to each other.  I use my SmartBoard on a daily basis in my classroom and integrate videos into classroom discussions.