I thought we might try branch for a conversation about this.

a) Caitlin - really congrats. You're doing work way beyond novice level here.

b) The intro reviewing the flipped HW seemed to work great. What did you notice about what stus got out of it?

c) It was interesting leaving the Joulies and going to the worksheet. Jon H explained the decision and it makes sense, but that's still the part I'm wondering about the most. Do we have to capitalize on that kind of energy and student engagement?

Technology review as I watch the video: video quality is more than adequate, although with video we'll probably never be able to read the board or see clearly what's being projected. Audio quality was surprisingly good given that apparently Google+ was not listening to the wireless mic inputs! The audio is coming from the webcam's mic array -- not bad for a $60 HD webcam. No problem hearing Caitlin when she's using her teacher voice, and you can often hear the students' responses too.

One of my take-aways was the amount of time/energy the Ss seemed to put into their notes, summary and question. Their summaries were detailed and questions were narrowed to a specific item. No questions like "I don't get it." The group discussions were very focused too, not a lot of off task behavior. I think this is a result of Caitlin modeling exactly what she expected in all aspects of this form of instruction the day before. Taking time to model is key.

John,
a) Thanks! I've definitely lost a bit of sleep, but it has definitely been worth doing as evidenced by the student engagement . This is the perfect time to try it, with the huge amount of support I have right now. Tara has been encouraging the fact that its OK to take risks :)

b) I second what Tara said. Students who normally do not engage in much discussion when I pose "How do I solve this problem?" are all of the sudden talking about the things they know, and excited to tell me what they learned about the overall concepts.

c) The more I think about it, I think I could have gone that lesson without actually having them do the worksheet. I just feel a huge disconnect between teaching them skills in problem solving vs. the types of

problems they are actually being assessed on. I don't know how to bring them together! As a result, I feel like I still have to give them some rote type problems so they don't freak out when they see it on an assessment.