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Monday, March 26, 2012 By Teddy Baston
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Controversy over the efficiency of the classic math class setup has sparked a new trend in teaching. It’s called flipping the classroom, and the revolution may be coming to your class sooner than you think.
The math class that most people think of, and few people enjoy, involves a lecture in class and an assignment at night. Flipping the classroom may do just what you think, the assignment is done in class, alongside the teacher while the lecture is videotaped and presented to the student at night.
The benefit of flipping the classroom allows students to go through lectures in their own time, pausing the video when needed and taking notes at their learning pace and then coming into class to solve practice problems with the help of a teacher and fellow students.
The high school’s math department met in early March to discuss the possibility of transferring to the new system. The teachers ended up making practice videos on topics pertinent to what each of their classes were studying.
Math teacher Josh Finkel has made steps in order to get his classroom flipped. Still, he is quite there yet and had this to say, “ It’s a process to flip the classroom. It’s not something we can really do overnight but we hope to get things going as soon as possible.”
Math Department Chair Dianne Young introduced flipping the classroom to some of her students recently. The overall reaction was {}. Young said, “”
The system has gained popularity due to Salman Khan. The weekly CBS news show ‘60 Minutes’ recently ran a report on flipping the classroom that showcased Khan, who has his own website entitled KhanAcademy. Khan’s website is accessible completely free, and holds over 3,000 videos of lectures on all different mathematical topics.
Teachers can sign up for the website, but South Hadley has decided that teachers making their own videos will enable a better environment for learning. Teachers can emphasize points based on what they known are their student strengths and weaknesses.
A student who has tried out the system, {} said, {}
Administration have also praised the system, Assistant Principal Ted McCarthy said, “”
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