For the past three weeks, Mr. Woods, a science teacher at Don Lugo, has created a “Flipped Classroom” concept for his AP Physics students.

In a “Flipped Classroom”, “The homework is done in class, and the lectures and the note taking takes place outside of class.” states Mr. Woods. “I have created a YouTube channel and I upload videos that I create here in the classroom where I go through and explain concepts, draw diagrams, and essentially all of the things I would do here in the classroom during a lecture.”

Normally students are lectured in class and are required to take notes to prepare for upcoming tests or quizzes. There is no rewind or pause button if students miss important information that had been said. However, for Mr. Woods AP Physics students, when part of the lecture is missed, they are able to rewind his Youtube video and replay the information.

With his new idea, Mr. Woods along with his students, have more time in class to review for tests, do experiments, and have questions answered about his lectures.”Some of our labs can take up to a week, but with the Flipped Classroom, I am much less worried about limited class time.” says Mr. Woods. He is confident that the “Flipped Classroom” will be more convenient and helpful for his students.

The “Flipped Classroom” has already had a positive impact on several students.”In the beginning I thought it was going to be weird, but I found that it’s easier because I can pause and rewind the videos if I miss something.” explains Nikko Sanchez.” I do not have to worry about doing homework that is complicated and that I do not understand because his videos are very thorough.”

During class students are able to collaborate and solve their homework problems together. Mr. Woods says that “It is nice to listen in on their conversations and hear their ideas and thought processes with solving problems. It makes me feel like they are absorbing the information that is being said in my videos.” Although they are able to work on homework in class, he still assigns small amounts of homework to see if his students are able to understand his teachings on their own.

“I think that more teachers should try making lecture videos for their students. They make life a lot easier with all of the other homework I get.” says Nikko Sanchez. Mr. Woods hopes his idea will eventually branch out to other teachers on campus and lighten the load on both student and teacher.