By Jack Bowen

This year, the math department has adopted a new teaching style called Flip Instruction.  In this method, students will be taught at home and helped during class.

Flip instruction is a popular teaching style used among teachers in “new tech” schools.  As teachers try to take advantage of the technology that is readily available to themselves and their students, they have started teaching while their students are at home.  Math teacher Mr. Earl Boyer explains that Flip Instruction is when “students view instruction at home and then complete the homework in class.”  Many of the math teachers agree that Flip Instruction helps students work at their own pace.  Junior Morgan O’Neil says that it really helps because “you can pause and rewind notes to go at your own speed.”

Many students around PHS are enjoying the new learning style in the math classes.  Sophomore Jeannie Spear says she enjoys the flip instruction because it “helps you through the problem and you get more of a one on one teaching.”  Since the lectures are now online, the students believe that the videos help when studying for a chapter test or just reviewing what they may have forgotten.  Math teacher Mrs. Michele Holloway says that another great advantage to this teaching method is that “students who are absent get the same exact lesson.”  This way, students don’t fall behind if they get ill on a day of a very difficult lesson.

Although easier for students, the Flip Instruction puts a lot of work on the teachers.  Math teacher Mr. Michael Delp says, “I am making a video lesson almost every night for Algebra II.  It takes at least one hour and probably closer to two hours a night to prepare the videos.”  The math teachers spend countless hours of their time preparing videos.  Mr. Boyer says “there are many evenings where you will still find math teachers here at five or six at night or even later.”

As the math department begins to show the benefits of this learning style, some students would like to learn like this in a class other than math.  Spear states that she would definitely like to see her Spanish class use flip instructions.