Some teachers at John Champe High School use a different style of teaching known as a ‘flipped classroom’. A flipped classroom is a style of teaching that encourages the students to learn the material on their own time by themselves, instead of using time in class.
The purpose of this is for students to already have background knowledge on a lecture, so teachers don’t have to go into as much depth in class and can use that time to answer questions on the reading. The issue with a flipped classroom is that it doesn’t accommodate a lot of students’ learning styles and it negatively impacts their education.
“I personally dislike a flipped classroom because I feel I don’t connect with the content as much.” Keira VanSanford, senior, said, “and it feels like a lot of work outside the classroom.”
VanSanford had a hard time keeping up with her rigorous schedule because she was having to do double the work outside of the classroom. She believed that it was unnecessary and negatively impacting her senior year, so she decided to drop the class that was practicing this model. She also thinks that a flipped classroom environment helps with preparing students for college, but it shouldn’t be as intense because not all students benefit from learning that way.
“I think it’s smart to begin early, but I think it should be eased into,” VanSanford said. “Then as a student, you can figure out what works best for you.”
A lot of students did drop a flipped classroom style class this year because of the course’s difficulty. However, a lot of students still in the class say that the reason the class is so difficult is due to the fact that the material is not being directly taught in the classroom.
“I do believe that I would be more successful in [some classes] if it wasn’t a flipped classroom.” Charlotte Colley, senior, said. “Because this flipped style of learning is one that isn’t suited for me.”
Colley has high expectations for herself and has opted for more challenging courses her entire high school career. However, she finds that one of her classes has posed a new challenge to her because it isn’t accommodating her learning style and is just adding unnecessary stress.
“I dislike the flipped classroom learning style because having to do all of the learning at home only adds to the amount of workload I have per night.” Colley said. “Doing all the notes at home and having to learn all of the material by myself adds extra stress.”
With all of the flipped classroom controversy surrounding the science department and others, teachers have had to re-evaluate their teaching methods to help prevent students from dropping and switching classes. Even though this method isn’t preferred for many students, a lot like it because they learn better at their own pace and enjoy having the opportunity to ask questions in class. The reason a lot of teachers incorporate this teaching style in high school is because it is what a lot of college professors use and they want to set students up for future success.
“I feel as though this should be a style potentially introduced in high school if it is the style that is used in college.” Colley said. “I believe that instead of making it a year round style, introduce it to seniors only and make that introduction towards the end of the year when you are studying for exams.”
Colley believes that even though she dislikes the flipped classroom, she agrees with the teacher’s decisions to infiltrate the style into high school classes. A point that is often brought up when discussing the issues with flipped classes is that high school students are a lot more busy than college students. For example, most take a lot of extracurriculars to help boost their college applications. So they are engaged in sports, clubs, and volunteering all on top of their regular school work.
“I strongly dislike the flipped classroom because I feel less interested in class, due to the lack of content being taught.” Shane Siwik, senior, said. “and I don’t have the motivation to learn it on my own at home because I have work and practice after school.”
Siwik feels that making high school students participate in a flipped classroom is overall mentally draining and, although school is supposed to be difficult, it adds unnecessary work that could be taught in school hours.
“I don’t think teachers understand that some students don’t have the availability to do so much work outside of school.” Siwik said. “I know that homework is expected, but it’s unreasonable to load on so much.”
Generally, students are supposed to be learning in the six hour school window. Homework and studying is to be expected, but for students whose lives aren’t fully fixated on school, having to teach themselves course work outside of school is not contributing to their success. Every student learns differently and that is something teachers should expect and accommodate if they want their students to be successful in their classes.
“I hope that maybe the teachers get the hint from kids dropping out.” Colley said. “It just isn’t suitable for everyone’s learning and they need to accommodate all students.”
