North has recently implemented flipped classrooms that venture from the traditional ways of teaching in order to give students a different learning experience. Flipped classrooms are not only a new way of learning but a way to connect students to resources that relate to their class.
“On my Twitter account, I try to keep students informed of current events with a political impact or when a current event happens that connects to a class concept, such as President Obama giving an executive order. I make sure to point it out even if we haven’t gotten to that unit yet so the students are aware of the terms and have concrete examples when we do review the terminology in class,” said Government teacher Erin Wise.
Flipped classrooms use online resources to help the students learn outside of school and so the teachers can use class time to discuss the learning topics.
“I like to use the internet as a way to keep the class conversation going or share resources and articles that we don’t have time to review in class,” Wise said.
Flipped classrooms center around the idea of technology. Some classrooms have been testing the idea of students having Chromebooks, which allow students to access research materials easily.
“Having Chromebooks enables students to discover more research than ever before. It allows Ms. Hinz and I to demand that the students do a great deal of the research that in previous years we would have done. Technology allows students to take charge of their own education in the humanities especially,” said English teacher Patrick Green.
Students are able to concentrate on other things during class time like discussion and projects with the way class time is reorganized.
“I think the workload is different than a normal class, but it’s really the same thing we would have anyways but instead it’s outside of class. I like it because it opens class time up to projects and discussions,” said freshman Abby Hsiao.
Flipped classrooms open up resources and communication between teacher and student.
“I feel like I can reach my teacher better and I can ask more questions outside of class. Sometimes it’s really helpful to get something answered that you may not have been able to in class,” Hsiao said.