Flipping Out Over the Flipped Classroom?

So I have been really weary of this entire "flipped classroom" ideology overtaking education right now.  There are multiple issues to get around before it can take shape.  BUT...all of the resources out there have really got me thinking that there may be something to this.  It is raising test scores, it allows teachers to individualize instruction, and students seem to enjoy it if it is done "correctly" (as in, not just replacing lecturing at school with lecturing at home).  Our principal is pushing it, our teacher of the year just received an award for implementing it...

...could there be something to this??

So in these next few months, I am going to be researching how to implement this strategy in a social studies setting (which is what I am doing currently).  I will share interesting resources that I find and document my journey as I find my way into a flipped classroom.  I already model the flipped method in some chapters in US History, but to do a full-fledged implementation may be a little tougher.  Any suggestions in the comments would be helpful.

Out With the Old...

I've decided to change the way I am running my classroom next semester.  At our school, we receive 90% new students when we change semesters, so it shouldn't make a difference to them.

I don't completely agree with the concept of flipping a classroom.  If every teacher did it, students would not have enough time at night to watch every video.  Plus, most teachers just post a video of themselves lecturing, either in front of a board or on a screencast.  All this does is shift the responsibility of teaching onto the students.  This can be helpful for some things as a supplement to the lecture, but not every lecture needs to be done this way.  Students will lose interest very quickly.

I give my students three objectives each day of things they should learn.  At my school, they're referred to as "Learning Targets."  These targets start with higher-order thinking terms such as "Analyze", "Evaluate", "Critique", and "Construct".  The students take these home and either use their book or resources I provide online (thus, differentiating their instruction as well).  When they come back, I lecture on the targets just to make sure they were able to comprehend everything themselves.  That way, it frees up a lot of time in class to practice "Historian Skills" like Sourcing, Close Reading, Contextualization, and Corroborating sources to make a story whole and complete.  I use the Stanford History Education Group's resources for this.  They're excellent and highly recommended!  We will also practice map skills with the content (WWII in Europe, Pacific).  I am sure I will come up with more variety as the semester moves along.

Possible Pros:

• Frees up class time from lecture for more activity-based learning
• More interesting for students (and the teacher!)
• Plenty of resources to choose from and introduce/experiment with.

Possible Cons:

• Lower-end students will not do targets at home and risk falling further behind
• Some students enjoy structure (i.e. special education and those with cognitive disabilities).

Any thoughts?  Please post in the comments below.  Thanks!