Flip Classroom Professional Learning Communities

Once a month our flip classroom teachers participate in a professional learning community (PLC). At the PLC we discuss and share successes and challenges, share the different ways each teacher is creating their flip learning videos, and usually share some new apps, ideas, or practice using apps in different ways. We are working on ways to make the PLC's more interactive just like we would for students.

Our September PLC was especially fun as we worked with QR codes. Most of the teachers were familiar with QR codes but many had never created their own or thought about the wide variety of uses for QR codes in the classroom.Before the PLC they were sent a QR code that took them to an online article about using QR codes in the classroom. Before they got to the room for the PLC they encountered a series of codes to scan. There were a variety different types of code - audio, text, links - to show them the variety. During the PLC they had a chance to scan a variety of codes for learning. Some were text based and showed the answers to math questions, some went to pdf files to be downloaded, while others took them to different websites.

The teachers were really engaged and had lots of fun. Even better, many of them went right back to their classrooms the next day and began using QR codes to support student learning!

In other PLC's this year we have shared ways we are using specific apps, practiced using Socrative and Infuse Learning for in-class checks for understanding, introduced various apps for digital storytelling, and practiced using the Camera and Photos apps in different ways.