I’m slowly settling into the swing of summer…and it is time to pull the trigger on a decision I have been struggling with for a couple of months now.
In the fall, I will be teaching a new class that I have never flipped: Human Biology. This is a non-majors course that is general bio, anatomy and physio, IN ONE SEMESTER. Obviously, we must do a very light survey of these three courses, all of which I’ve taught multiple times before. I do not anticipate the prep being too difficult, from a content perspective. But I am having an ongoing internal battle about whether or not to FLIP the class.
There are a million points on the “FLIP IT!” side of the equation. Students love it. I have more time to work with them during class. We can do more FUN STUFF! Plus, I’m the flipping QUEEN, right? I’ve been flipping all over the place for 2 years now. I’m a flipping phenom!
But maybe I’m growing up a little bit (!) because I am not sure I can handle the stress of DEADLINES that inevitably accompanies the decision to flip a new class. I’ve spent two years under the “gotta get a lecture recorded before I go to bed TONIGHT” mandate. Even my YouTube students who don’t’ even know me comment on the scattered and unfocused rambling in my video lectures that is directly proportional to the lateness of the hour (and hits a peak around 1am).
Besides that, fall already promises to be a very busy semester. It will be my first semester as a full-time tenure-track professor (after 5 years as an adjunct in this institution). Plus, I will be teaching Human Anatomy again, which I find to be pretty intense. Add to that the fact that we have two brand new cadavers (who will be with us for the next 3-5 years)…and I am utterly confident my fall plate will be overfull.
Every cell in my body says, “Make the smart flippin’ decision, Riggs.” And my cells have been saying this for, oh, a couple of months now. So what part of me is still refusing to pull the trigger and admit that I will NOT be flipping Human Biology in the fall? I know it is time…and I know what I need to do…it just makes me sad, because I really love flipping.
So I’ll probably just end up agonizing over the summer until it really is too late to pull off a quality flip, and then the decision will be made for me. Ask me again in August.
Wendy, Check out my Youtube Channel. I am preparing to flip my non majors bio. You are welcome to any of the videos I have made (curated).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1JAl9Vu2OAoV53DAaIcfw
You have done great things with your previous flipping! however, you also have to pace yourself and make sure that you don’t become so overwhelmed that your progression in your tenure track is hampered. You always can flip this class at a later point. PLUS – if you don’t flip the course this time around, but do it later, you could do an educational research study comparing the two semesters! 🙂