Students finding success with 'flipped' learning
By SARAH HOFIUS HALL
CARBONDALE — Class time is flipped at Carbondale Area Junior/Senior High School.
In the Advanced Placement calculus class on Oct. 15, students questioned their teacher about what they learned the night before. Teacher Michelle Lewis provided one-on-one and small group instruction, and students helped their peers understand the concepts.
The “flipped classroom" in Carbondale, one of the first in the region, inverts the traditional classroom, empowers students and leads to more independent learning. Nationwide, flipped classrooms are becoming more popular as student success grows.
In Carbondale, Principal Joseph Farrell first had the idea when he went to an integrated learning conference. Administrators spent the spring thinking of how it could work, and over the summer, Lewis did more research and preparation.
If the model could work, Farrell thought the students in the calculus class some of the highest-achieving students in the school could find success.
After school each day, Lewis sends her 21 students two emails — one with video of a lesson and notes, and the other with assessment questions based on the lesson. While she currently finds taped lessons from various online sources, she plans to start recording her own lessons soon. Students watch the video and complete the online assessment the night before class. Students receive an email back on how they did on the questions, and the next day, Lewis groups her students by their level of mastery of the specific lesson.
In class, Lewis answers questions, reviews problems and spends more time with students who need her most. Students help each other out with additional calculus problems, and because the class is the last period of the day, those who have shown mastery of the lesson can leave school early on some days.
Each student has access to technology at home and an iPad in class. If someone did not have computer access, the school would have made that available.
In her 14 year as a teacher, Lewis said the new method seems to be working.
“I think I'd love to flip all my classes. I love teaching this way," she said. “They're taking control of what they do and how they learn."
If the program is successful this year, Carbondale plans to flip two more classes next year, Farrell said.
Students said they like the new model, but it definitely requires more dedication and self-motivation.
“You have to be willing to go home and do it," senior Sarah Totsky said.
Karsyn Wright, also a senior, said he has learned how to better work with his peers and become a more independent learner as well.
“It's definitely preparing us for the next level," Karsyn said.