Michelle St John

I have been teaching since 2011. My first teaching position was in a rural school district in Idaho where I taught middle school ELL and intervention classes. It was here that I was introduced to “blended learning”. I had not heard the term “flipped classroom at this time. In 2012 I moved to a more populous area in Idaho where I entered the special education math arena. I taught 6-8th grade as well as intervention classes. I again used “blended learning” but did not use my own content at this point. I began researching “blended learning” and stumbled upon the flipped classroom. I started my masters program in 2013 and, while doing my research (Capstone) project, I chose the flipped classroom vs traditional classroom. What I found in my research was that my general education students who were involved in the flipped classroom did 36% better on the post assessment than did their traditional classroom peers, ELL (English Language Learner) students in my flipped classroom did 319% better on the post assessment, and the SpEd (special education) students did over 500% better on the post assessment. At this point in my career I was sold and never turned back! In 2014 I moved to the state of Washington where I teach special education math classes at the middle school level. My students are expected to be taught the common core standards at their grade level, so I continued the flipped classroom model. In 2015 I read in one of Jon Bergman’s books about the mastery model and decided to try it. It has been the best thing that I have ever done in my classroom. My student’s ability levels are so varied that with the mastery model I am able to allow my higher ability students move at a much quicker pace through the content than other students. I am happily running a controlled chaotic classroom using the mastery model!

Education:

BA in Middle School Math Education

MA in English as a Second Language

MS in Special Education

Certifications:

Middle Level Mathematics Teacher

Special Education

Honors/Awards

Top 100 Flipped Teachers

Distinguished Teacher for Kent School District