Flipped classroom/social media

There are 2 parts to this week's assignment. First of all, what are your thoughts on the flipped classroom concept? Would students benefit from this model of teaching? Why or why not?
I do not understand the fascination with flipped classroom. This is basically the model I was taught under in the '60s...without the technology. Students do the research and reading at home; they prepare for school (aka homework) so the class time can be used for discussion, debate and collaboration. I was college-prep and all of my classes used this model. Students come to school having background knowledge and prepared to expand on this knowledge. The only difference, is using a PP or video as part of the preparation.
When students are motivated the model succeeds (AP classes use something similar). For non-engaged students, this is just one other thing to deepen the divide between the high and low students. That is why we spend so much of our class time is used building a foundation and often do not advance much past that due to time limitations.



Second, tell us your opinion on the use of social media in school. Are there ways we can harness the use of social media to foster relationships and encourage learning beyond the school day?

I am not a fan of tweeting/texting/etc. as part of a class assignment. We had a teacher at school take students to a lab to blog about the work of students in the same class. This could be done with a variety of other feedback models...some could even be anonymous if they felt that was important.
I like the idea of using google docs and other shared information for students to work together at separate locations and times. I think cloud technology is a usefull tool and will be expanded in the future to encompass more activities at the school level.

DOK evaluation

During the last three weeks, we explored numerous ways to promote higher order thinking skills. Look at the Depth of Knowledge chart again and evaluate an assessment you have utilized recently. Which level does most of the questions fall? How can you modify this assessment for future use? Explain why it is important to ask higher level questions when contemplating 21st Century Skills.
The last evaluation I did involved a SASin School lesson about Income Tax. Students had to watch a video about the development of Income Tax in the United States. They completed notes as they watched, following a pre-set group of questions. After the review, students had to answer the question: Is the progressive Income Tax fair? Students were to write a paragraph answering the question, using information they acquired to support thier opinion.

To increase the difficulty; students had an additional short reading on their handout which added to the information they had already read. From this information, their prior knowledge and the video; they had to chose one of three statements to apply the knowledge. This final step takes the  activity to a higher difficulty level since they have to evaluate the statements, and explain how the theory of progressive taxes, regressive taxes, inheritance taxes, and "sin" taxes could be used to support the real life situation/ideas expressed in the statements.