Fliperentiation: Learn About Differentiation In A Flipped Classroom Approach
Not everyone learns in the same way or at the same time, we are individuals and that makes us unique. Answer Perfect is unique in the way it has been designed by teachers for students, but also in the way that students can utilise this to help make exams easy.
Students can log in on any device at any time, they can use it at their own pace, and if a student knows when they learn best, which may be morning or afternoon, that is when they can choose to use it. If there are any parts a student misses or struggles to get their head around, they can pause, rewind and replay as many times as they need to. Sometimes lessons are time precious, so teachers may not have time to go over a concept, leaving students feeling anxious.
This is where the flipped classroom approach works well in delivering both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 lessons. There are 7 methods of differentiation, these are:
- Flexible-pace learning
- Collaborative learning
- Progressive tasks
- Digital resources
- Verbal support
- Variable outcomes
- Ongoing assessment
We are here to help you achieve, which is why we aim to support the teacher outside of the classroom and enable students to access more skills, knowledge and unlock their learning potential.
Flexible-Paced Learning…
By allowing students to prepare for their lessons outside of the classroom, you can automatically accommodate the slower paced learners. Therefore, faster learners are not held up. Students working at a slower pace are also not left behind, it also enables the teacher to work on a continuum and scaffold activities from simple to complex to challenge their learners’ knowledge and understanding.
In the classroom, the faster students can move on to the second part of the lesson, when they are ready, allowing the slower learners to finish off the tasks set. With pupils being on tasks at different times allows the teacher to become a facilitator of learning and move away from a dictator, they can check a pupil’s progress, and challenge understanding with questions before they move on to the next activity.
Collaborative Learning…
Group activities are an excellent way to empower quieter students to participate more in class. Using mixed-ability groups of pupils gives high achievers a platform to vocalise their ideas, and lower ability students have a way of collaborating with and learning from their peers. By students becoming the teachers, this reinforces their learning, just make sure what they are teaching is right!
Progressive Tasks…
Solo taxonomy is useful when setting tasks and deepening students’ knowledge and understanding. Start simple, get the foundations, challenge these basic concepts and apply them to different scenarios then really challenge them by asking them to analyse, evaluate, and justify their reasons. This is what they will have to focus on in exam conditions, but from repeating this process throughout their GCSE or A Level learning journey, they will get to their destination more confidently, independently and better still they will be able to show more progress and gain skills that they will utilise in their next stage of life.
Digital Resources…
When completing the activities set there will be opportunities to use interactive tools and digital applications, this allows mixed-ability classes to get the opportunity to approach a topic or subject from different angles. This differentiation method allows different materials, platforms, and tools to be used to bring about the same learning outcome.
Verbal Support…
Dialogue is core to this differentiation method. Whilst students work on their classroom activities, the teacher can move around and question them on the topic, to see what they have learned. This is a great opportunity to identify and challenge any misconceptions that they have, and provide the opportunity to ask higher order questions, such as “Why?” rather than “What?”. However, please keep in mind that there is only a defined set of knowledge required for the exam, and going outside of this is of no benefit to the student achieving a better grade.
Based on different learning abilities you can adapt your vocal explanations and support for different academic levels. Using targeted questioning you can produce different levels of response. For example, you may ask someone to name, identify, and define, these are all one mark questions in exams or change the command word to describe, link, apply then finally justify, evaluate, analyse to really challenge your students.
Variable Outcomes…
This is not “what the students produce”, this is about setting specific goals that they can achieve. Examples of this could be “Could you provide a second reason why”, “can you explain…” or “what additional benefits are there?”. This is easiest to achieve whilst differentiating with verbal support.
Ongoing Assessment…
By using our resources, you can easily carry out and demonstrate both formative and summative assessments. Our auto intelligent tracking system enables a personalised picture of pupils’ progress, clearly identifying any gaps in knowledge and allows the teacher to put in place a plan to bridge those gaps.
Formative Assessment…
By using our provided flipped learning mats(FLM) in the manner suggested, you can review the student’s level of knowledge as they proceed through the topic. You can also assess progress by allowing the student to make any improvement to the contents of their FLM based on their improved understanding in a different colour pen to the one previously used.
This will provide you with the opportunity to formatively assess each student’s ability.
Summative Assessment…
You can see each student’s tracking report at any time as well as tracking their progress using our custom tracking spreadsheet, this will allow you to compare each student’s level of progress in relation to their target grade. From this, you can see which topic areas require additional coverage to best prepare each student for their exams.
This provides you with an easy-to-use summative assessment that includes an expected grade.
For more advice or information on how to make exams easy for students, increase their independence, support a blended learning approach, help teachers facilitate learning then speak to our team today and together we can make a difference, simply fill in our contact form here.