5 Ways to Flip Your Judaic Studies Class with Torah Live

Flipped learning, in which students first learn the material  at home and then class time focuses on understanding, has gained popularity in recent years. It allows students to have greater control of the learning process and promotes student-centered learning and collaboration.

Flipped learning isn’t just for secular studies. Here’s how you can utilize the Torah Live platform to create effective - and interesting - flipped Judaic Studies classes.

1. If you are teaching a new topic that is more complex, create student accounts and enroll them in the topic being taught. They can then access the topic from home and take the basic assessment. Results will be sent to you in real time, so you can see whether students understood the material. Students come to class with stronger  background knowledge and will be more engaged in learning.
2. After students view the topic at home, open the corresponding classroom presentation slideshow (available for many topics) in class, via a Smartboard or projector. Delve deeper using the Torah Live instructor guide, research notes and the sourcebook.
3. Differentiate the learning by enrolling students in different topics according to their level. Set up the classroom according to learning groups and rotate between the groups. While you teach one group, the other groups can take the online assessment or work on the student workbooks.
4. After students view the selected Torah Live topic at home, hand out the student workbook for students to work on individually in class. This will enable you to better understand the students’ levels and plan accordingly. Once the students complete the workbook, show the video again in class and review their answers.
5. Have students watch the topic at home and take the online assessment in class to review what they watched at home. Then assign each student a chevrusa (partner) to complete the student workbook. After reviewing the answers with the students, open the classroom presentation and delve deeper into the topic.

Flipped learning will transform your lessons and help students internalize the beauty of halacha. Try these ideas and let us know how your students reacted. Write to info@torahlive.com with your comments and feedback.