(Never pass up the opportunity for gratuitous Star Trek references, I say)
Not all the way, mind you, I fully understand how Lord of the Flies a classroom can get without a little bit of dictatorship (I can be a Critias if I need to be, a Julius Caesar when things get really bad).
But I am interested in seeing how far my students can go towards learning outcomes without me giving it to them. And @dramaticscience's comment made me realise that I have really moved away from the teacher as sage on the stage model.
If I was looking at me saying this from the outside, I would probably level some criticism at me along the lines of I guess that means you just tell them what to do and then sit back and watch as they work, right, which I think is a fair criticism. There have been times in the past when I have given the kids something to do and I sat down to catch a breath and get some work done. But now that I have flipped I have found myself working harder than ever.
First there was the assessment debacle (another post on that later) but second there is the sheer level of interaction that is taking place. I am constantly interacting with students, checking up on their progress, answering their questions, (formatively) assessing their progress and even teaching them. And while I have a collaborative partner in my room a few periods a week, I am finding that I am busier than ever. To the point I wistfully wonder if I could just lecture once or twice a week to take a break!
Thus by making my students the focus, I increased my workload (not something #flipclass should advertise a lot, I think).
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