How do I need to change as a teacher?
One of the hardest aspects of flipping your classroom is changing how you view your own role as a teacher. For many of us, this is due in a large part to how we ourselves were taught.
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This is not a easy mindset for everyone to change. It will take practice - and planning. A helpful, short blog by Jeffrey Shoemaker defines the change as a move from teacher (in the traditional sense) to facilitator. The following is a brief summary:
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A teacher is one who is the controller of all information going forth to the students. They may see themselves as the “sage on the stage.” There are guidelines for how work is done, and all work is done closely the same way for all students.
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A facilitator is one who presents the information, but allows students to take that information and use to fit their vision of their final product. Instead of lecturing, the art of asking the right pointed questions at the right time is king. (Socrates had something right in way of facilitating learning.) The art of asking questions to draw out assessments as students are doing projects or in the design phase of projects can be tough to learn. You can’t point out obvious flaws, but you have to allow students to find the flaws themselves. You also have to allow students to struggle and fail, but give them time to redeem themselves.