Hashing out Realities

I have to start off by saying that I think I was up until about 5am. Every time I fell asleep I would think of another idea and need to get up to write it down. I haven't been excited about my classroom in this way in a long time...maybe flipping will renew my energy as well as the kids?

After posting yesterday I decided that if this project was going to succeed I would need to gain the support of my administration. Since I would be changing my entire class structure, I knew that parents would probably wonder about the entire structure of a class changing. I also knew that it may appear as though I'm not "teaching" to someone just walking by my class. I decided to fill my Vice Principal in on my "flip."

I was pleasantly surprised at the response. He was extremely supportive even with the understanding that this experiment could ultimately fail. He also helped me think through some of my concerns and alleviated some of them. I am tentatively setting a start date for my Unit on Ancient Greece (the first "flipped" unit) for February 1st giving me approximately two weeks to prep my materials. Too much stuff, not enough time? Probably...but if I'm going to be up until 5am because I'm too excited about this to sleep- I may as well give it the ol'college try.

Some crazy 5am ideas:

Instead of having the kids simply take "2 column notes" (our district standard) I would create an "Interactive Notebook" for students to use as they work their way through the lecture. I found this site to be very inspirational. I would like to find more "how to's" from the teacher end.

At the end of each section (my unit on Greece has 4 sections) there would be a day where students would have the option to come in and sit at a table of their choice
-Table 1: I want the notes re-clarified to me in person.
Table 2: I understand the notes but I'd like to read for content.
Table 3: I'd like to demonstrate mastery through writing.
Table 4: I'd like to demonstrate mastery through drawing.

I'm not sure how I would work the tables quite yet.

I also am toying with the idea of having independent and group projects for students to work through for each section and designating certain days group days and certain days independent work days. Will there be enough time for both? I'd like to assign actual novels to some students...is that too ambitious? Will they resent the extra work?

This week I am working on the creation of the Interactive Notebook as I think this will guide my lectures and answer some of those questions.

Has anyone ever combined interactive notebooks and flipping?