High School English

Ms. Harrell
10th grade English Literature
Dear parents and guardians,
This year, we will be flipping our English/Language Arts class. Id like to tell you a
little bit about what that is going to look like for you and your student.
To begin, let me tell you a little bit about what a flipped classroom is. A flipped
classroom literally flips the traditional order of teaching with the purpose of giving students the
support to dive deeper into their education by having the teacher present and able to answer
questions during what would traditionally be homework time. Students will watch lecture videos,
read the textbook, and view teacher-led PowerPoints at home the night before, and then will
come into class to do all types of practice with the support of their peers and me.
This process will allow students to gain autonomy in their learning process as well as
teach them responsibility and time management in regards to their education. With this set-up,
we will be able to use class time to practice many higher-order thinking skills that would be
impossible for your student to approach on their own. What I mean by higher-order thinking
skills is creative, collaborative, and innovative thinking skills required to execute an educational
task. Students will come into class and work with either partners, small groups, or the entire class
to discuss with their peers the material from the night before, they will work on their writing
skills, grammar knowledge, and content knowledge with their peers in a way that puts them in
the drivers seat as far as working out their education; of course I will be there to guide them in
the correct direction, but this way students will act in pursuit of a daily discovery of themes,
characters, tones, etc. and will in turn hopefully grow to be excited about the capabilities they
have seen themselves achieve.
So, now that you have a clear understanding of what the flipped classroom will look like
as well as the purposes behind it, let me tell you about what that means in regards to technology
usage in our classroom.
First and foremost, the standards drive instruction. The flipped classroom is not about the
technology. The flipped classroom is more about effective teachers making the best use of classtime with students. However, we are fortunate enough to teach at a school with an abundance of
technology resources, therefore we will be using it often in one or more of the following ways:
The following materials will be available on the class blog, and updated daily
1. I will create PowerPoint screencasts, with the use of Quick Cast, as lecture material for
students to view at home as homework
2. I will embed instructional videos for students to view at home as homework
3. I will assign online reading material in the form on articles and peer-reviewed journals
for students to read at home as homework

4. Students will participate online by blogging nightly about the materials they have read or
viewed for the upcoming day at home for homework with the purpose of having
students become reflective learners
If your child does not have routine access to the internet after school there are many ways
to ensure that they are still able to complete all necessary assignments.
1. Students can come to class before or after school to view content.
2. Students with a working computer but no Internet can bring in a thumb drive to
upload the content.
3. Students that have an iPad/iPod/iPhone but no internet can bring in their devices and
have the content uploaded using the iTunesU app. This will allow them to access the
content even without having internet at home.
4. Students can request to view the videos through DVDs which can be played on a
DVD player, Xbox game system, or play station game system.
As far as assessment goes, nothing will really change. Students may be required to take
short quizzes at home on occasion, but all formal assessment such as tests and major quizzes will be done in class, and proctored traditionally.
Additionally, we will be using a variety of other technologies that include Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter, Prezi, and PowerPoint for projects throughout the school year that pertain to
the various units of literature These technologies, along with the blogging and flipped lessons
will be used throughout the entirety of my time with your students.
I hope that I have adequately explained my intent in using the flipped classroom with
your students in this upcoming school year. If you have any questions at all please feel free to
call or email me, and I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss any questions or
concerns you may have.
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Thank you for your continual support of your students. If you could please sign below and return
the bottom portion of this paper if you wish to give your child permission to use the digital
platforms listed above.
Print parent/guardian name: _____________________________
Parent/guardian signature: _______________________________

Ms. Harrell