Long, long ago I was a student with very little drive. It started as a typical case of “senioritis” but continued to deter my career during my first attempt at community college. I would daydream in class, skim on readings and eventually struggle when the time came to face the music (or, as the case was, the test).
I was not alone in this battle, and there are certainly many students from kindergarten through college who still find it difficult to succeed—not because of learning disabilities or lack of motivation, but simply because the traditional classroom setting can be boring if one is not truly enthralled by the subject matter.
To combat this, a new teaching method has developed that could have saved me during these painful years of trying to pay attention and understand all of those pesky math and science requirements.
“Flipped learning” is the process where, as the name suggests, the roles of classroom and homework are flipped. Students watch the lecture portion (what used to take place in the classroom) ahead of time and come to class already having learned the material.
Class time is then devoted to the “homework” part of the equation; students practice problems, take quizzes or work in small groups to further learn and master the skills or the lesson plan.
This method already does several things that appeal to me. It takes those hours that some may spend watching YouTube videos and uses the technology in a productive teaching manner. It then forces everyone to be active and participate during class time, which eliminates any opportunity to daydream or doodle.
Musical Musings and Other Stuff 