Featured Teacher: Michael Flood
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Michael Flood Science Teacher Charles O. Dickerson High School Trumansburg Central School District Michael Flood is a science teacher working at Charles O. Dickerson High School in the Trumansburg Central School District. This is his seventh year in the district, with twenty-three years of teaching experience overall. He currently teaches AP Physics which also serves as a concurrent enrollment course with College Physics at Tompkins Cortland Community College. He also teaches Regents Physics, Forensic Science, and Astronomy for grades ten through twelve. What are some of the innovative ways you are integrating technology into your curriculum?
Michael has been implementing the Flipped Classroom model to teach AP Physics, integrating Edmodo to establish an online web presence as well as setting up his own YouTube channel to post custom videos he has created using Screencast-o-Matic to make his class content available 24x7. The videos are used for delivering lecture-based content as well as providing students an avenue by which they can check solutions to homework problems assigned at night. Michael first heard about the Flipped Classroom from the CNYRIC's Jason Clark, who works as an embedded instructional technologist at Trumansburg. With Jason's guidance, Michael has been able to quickly establish all of the tools he needs to successfully flip his instruction and is in the process of expanding the Flipped Classroom model to his other classes.
Michael is also leveraging a 1:1 iPad implementation in all of his classes. Trumansburg Central Schools are unique in our region as they are among the first to establish a 1:1 learning environment using iPad Minis. According to Mike Pliss, Trumansburg's Director of Technology, "iPads have exploded throughout schools and classrooms. Their flexibility, versatility, and mobility make them a phenomenal learning tool. As teachers seek ways to integrate these devices, we recommend focusing on specific learning goals that promote critical-thinking, creativity, collaboration, and the creation of student-centric learning environments. In Mr. Flood's Forensic Science and Astronomy classrooms, the iPads allow for paperless assignments using the free Adobe PDF Reader app.
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How have students benefitted from your technology integration initiatives?
After implementing the Flipped Classroom model in his AP Physics class, Michael has observed that he and his students have gained a tremendous amount of class time that allows for an increase in student collaboration in small groups to facilitate problem-solving and critical thinking, as well as more time for inquiry during labratory experiments. For his students using the paperless assignment option in Forensic Science and Astronomy, student engagment is at an all-time high. In additon, there are some cost savings for the district as paper consumption has declined.
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