As students progress through high school, they often get bored of the typical classroom environment that they have been in since kindergarten. No matter how good of a student you are or how much you care about learning, continuous lectures can get boring.
Once you add in the heat of the afternoon, the staleness of sixth period, and the stress of a long night of studying ahead of you, the eyes start to droop, and next thing you know, everyone is laughing at you.
The world of education has changed drastically since the days of one-room schoolhouses and Webster’s readers. Today, there is a whole field dedicated to improving education in order to better prepare students to excel in their futures. In order to accomplish this goal, educators are striving to combine innovative techniques with fun and engaging activities.
In 2007, two teachers from a Colorado high school discovered a quick and easy way to record their PowerPoints for a student who was on an extended leave.
When their peers began to use these lectures as study guides and previews for difficult topics, they decided to spread their idea to colleagues. This method evolved into these teachers putting all of their lectures on the internet, and reserving classroom time for discussion. This way of teaching became known as the flipped classroom model.
Students are much more likely to stay focused in class during an interesting discussion. Using aspects of the flipped classroom model at Schreiber would revitalize the learning process, and help students get the most out of their education.
“Sometimes you have those moments in class where you kind of doze off or are too engrossed in creating beautiful art in the margins of your notebook, and everything that’s being taught in the front of the class goes in through one ear and out the other,” said senior Annie Kim. “At this point, you’re pretty much just mindlessly copying what is on the front board, and the learning process is at a temporary hold. So when you get home and are trying to study for a test that night, you look at your notes and it’s like you’re trying to decipher some ancient runes.”
In order to ensure that students are able to maximize their educational experience, it is important for them to have access to reliable resources outside of the classroom. A partial adaption of these teaching methods to Schrieber classes, could provide the excitement needed to engage students of all ages.
“Given the availability of technology and the tremendous accessibility of academic information on the web I believe there are opportunities for classes to experiment with a flipped format,” said Principal Mr. Ira Pernick.
These opportunities become increasingly more available with new websites such as the Khan academy: a hit website for online lectures, or teacher recorded apps and lectures.
“I go to Khan Academy and get a brief overview of what I missed during class, and it makes a lot more sense than it did before,” said Kim.
Because the materials have already been covered at home, teachers do not feel pressure to rush through material during class time. Thus, they can focus on making sure that student’s fully understand the subject.
Schreiber students, for the most part, enjoy learning as much as they enjoy freedom.
As students take charge of their educational paths in preparation for college and future employment, the ability to go at their own pace could be the boost of motivation that they need. They can prep well in-advance and come to class knowing that their teachers will be able to thoroughly go over the material, until they truly understand it.