In one recent class, I was doing homework for the lesson being taught that period since I already understood the topic. When I was caught, the teacher ordered me out of the classroom. I was confused about why she threw me out and felt frustrated to be trapped in a lesson I already knew.

Everybody learns in different ways. Some learn through repetition, and some can use a method once and remember that information for life. As a result, it doesn’t make sense for everybody to do the same work at the same pace. As students, we need more flexible learning for us to have effective education.

The traditional classroom, where the teacher lectures in class and students do homework at home, can be useful, but it is not optimal for all students. Homework provides practice for classroom material. But if students understand the subject, homework feels like a waste of time, and the lecture becomes an endless drone. Even if students aren’t understanding, strict class calendars mean teachers might end up moving on before everyone is ready and students feel lost while doing the homework.

But a “flipped” classroom would benefit me and many others. This method has students learn from the textbook at home and do problem sets with teacher support in class.

While this might not be suited for humanities classes centered on reading or writing rather than problem sets, it would be beneficial in world language and STEM classes.

Students should be focusing more on their learning needs, rather than on repetition. This style allows prepared students to move ahead, or students who are having trouble to get extra help. Teachers would appreciate this because they would be able to give more individual help to students.

Since many students often excel in one subject while lacking in another, the “flipped” classroom style allows them to save time in the subjects that they are proficient in, so they can spend more time on the ones they are not. We need to embrace this style of teaching in our school so it can be a better learning environment for all of the students.