Peer Instruction

I listened to the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast over the past few days and am learning more about flipping the classroom and peer instruction.  I first heard about flipping the classroom in the spring of 2018.  I had been teaching only 1411 face to face to that point, but that semester I also added 1412 face to face.  I heard a colleague speak about how to flip the classroom and my mind was blown.  How could I do this?  After thinking of it a little more I asked myself:  how could I not do this?  This clearly would serve my students much better than me lecturing all the time.

Now that I'm teaching hybrid classes, this is real.  Flipping the classroom is the way this model works best.  However, on these podcasts I crystalized a few important concepts.

First:  "first exposure" is a great way to describe what I expect students to do before class.  Last semester, I used the graphic of a mountain and I showed students that I expected them to climb 85% up the mountain before class.  The other 15% would be achieved in class as we practiced the concept together.  This made perfect sense to me but now I see that the term "first exposure" is much clearer.

Second:  "practice" is what we do in class.  This is the hard part of learning.  It makes sense to present to students that this is where we spend the meat of our time together.

Third:  "peer instruction" is a time when students do the hard work of learning by telling others why they believe what they do.  They need to wrestle with new ideas instead of me just giving it to them.  This is hard for me.  I'm the expert--my job is to teach.  Also, I'm funny (at least I think I am) and I enjoy the "zing" of teaching concepts to students.  I like the moment when their eyes light up and they get it.  In peer instruction I am the "guide on the side" and facilitate as students explain their ideas.

Much of what I teach is grammar.  Grammar is set.  Students can get first exposure of it by reading the ebook before coming to class and then discussing the concepts with a partner.  That's peer instruction.  I can present questions on the board and I can call on students who can explain why A B C D are right/wrong.  That's a great use of class time to practice and review concepts. 

However, that's not the meat of what I would like my classes to be.  There's not a lot of room for discussion about grammar.  However, I've been looking for ways to beef up the culture parts of my classes.  Peer instruction could be a great way to do that.

What excites me about teaching is challenging the students to see past what they might know and see that the world is bigger.  Culture is a great way to do this.  The podcast pointed out that in the humanities we can ask a conceptual question that may have 4 correct answers but the students are to persuade others which is the best.  I like that.

I have to teach students how to read, write, speak and understand Spanish, but in each level I also teach culture.  In 1411 they have to be able to analyze and discuss the values, customs and traditions of the Hispanic world.  Instead of me drawing a Venn diagram and calling on students to fill in the parts of the graph, I could ask them to do their own and then share what they see.  Silence is hard for me but I need to get more comfortable with it.  Silence can be the time when students are thinking and learning.