Reverse teaching is a term parents and students at Woodland will hear and learn more about this year. It is referred to as different things — blended learning, flip teaching, backwards classroom, or reverse instruction. This type of teaching gives teachers an opportunity to be better teachers by being fully engaged with the students.
All of these educational terms mean the same thing--students will research, watch videos, participate in on-line discussions, and “do the grunt work” at home. In Woodland’s Middle School, we see the benefits of students becoming responsible for their own introduction to or review of material at home. This allows time at school to communicate more clearly about student’s progress by having student/teacher conferences or to be actively engaged in working math problems, writing papers, and creatively designing projects. Teachers are able to spend valuable classroom time working one-on-one with students rather than lecturing or presenting information.
Expectations will be set that students come to class prepared. The beginning of each class may be set aside to answer questions students have from viewing the assignment from the previous night. The students may be asked to bring an entrance slip with the answer to a question from the video they viewed at home. This will hold the students accountable for following the expectation set before the assignment is given.
While Woodland wants to make sure each child is prepared for high school by introducing educational practices such as reverse teaching, we do feel strongly about our traditional means of teaching and learning, so every class, every day will not be flipped, but opportunities for students to experience this type of education will be implemented. We hope you will see some real enthusiasm and interest in learning from your children.
Mershon Cummings
Middle School Director
