At Red Bank Middle School, sixth-grade math teacher Terri Holmes is flipping her classroom.
A flipped classroom is a fairly new teaching concept Holmes has been researching for years, and thanks to a Junior League of Chattanooga mini-grant, she’s getting to put it into action this fall.
The way it works is the students take home school-issued iPads, typically reserved for in-class learning, to watch a pre-recorded five-minute lesson for homework. They can watch it as many times as they need to in order to understand the concept, Holmes explained.
The next day, they come to class, ask any questions they may have and work on completing an assignment.
“So it’s flipped,” said Holmes. “You learn at home and then come to school to do the work.”
She said she is working toward making her class a blended classroom, incorporating both the conventional and flipped methods of learning and application.
“It’s not about getting rid of the teacher,” she said, explaining that she still interacts with the students in class, answering their questions and helping them understand the math concepts.
The flipped method provides many benefits, she added, including giving students a head start on learning a concept. Also, the video lessons will always be available to them, which is especially helpful when studying for a test.
One school Holmes researched flipped its entire campus, and though research and experimentation is still being done, the school has already seen higher graduation rates, said Holmes.
The JLC grant provided money for a tablet and headset for Holmes to use to record the lessons, as well as other technology that enables her to connect with her students’ iPads during an in-class lesson.
Holmes said she has to compile data on how the project goes this year to turn over to JLC, and she hopes to see an even higher interest in learning from her students by then.
“It’ll take some getting used to … but is their medium; it’s more interesting [to the students],” she said.