By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
For sophomores and juniors seeking more flexibility in their schedule for the 2019-2020 school year, math teacher Aaron Tyson may have an answer. Tyson teaches a zero-period, hybrid-online precalculus class that can help self-motivated students have more control over their schedules. Here are the basics.
“A hybrid class means you meet once a week – or more, some teachers like to do more – and then the rest you do on your own time,” said guidance counselor Lindsey Gonzalez. “Teachers generally post lessons, they post videos, they post homework, and so it gives you a little bit of leeway [in terms of scheduling].”
Tyson’s class is equivalent in content and credit to a regular precalculus class, but students only physically attend class one or two days a week, where they will do live activities or review. Most of their instruction takes place at home, where they watch and take notes on instructional videos and complete online activities at their own pace. Homework assignments from the regular precalculus textbook are scanned and submitted to Canvas as PDFs.
“The way that my course is set up is I actually release content in two-week modules, and each week consists of anywhere between two and three sections in the textbook,” said Tyson. “The students will have an assignment due at the end of the week and typically there will be a quiz due at the end of the week, and then in the second week they’ll have another two or three sections to work on and then they’ll have a test at the end of the two-week module.”
Tyson began teaching the class in the 2016-2017 school year, as part of a district-wide initiative to offer more hybrid classes. Math teachers from around the district agreed that precalculus would be the best level of math to offer in a hybrid format, and Tyson volunteered to teach the class at FVHS. He personally adapted the curriculum for a hybrid format and recorded the approximately 250 instructional videos his students use to learn the material.
“[The first year was] crazy. I didn’t sleep at all,” said Tyson. “Every day I would go home and then record and edit videos for the class so my entire life was consumed by creating the class. But now that it’s in my second year I don’t have to create as much content, so I can just focus on refining the course and making it better.”
Even though Tyson no longer has to create class content from scratch, he continues to work extremely hard to improve the class and ensure that students have all the resources they need to be successful. He remakes videos he’s not completely satisfied with, and makes himself available during zero period, at lunch and during sixth period for extra help even on days where his hybrid students don’t have to come to class.
“[Tyson’s class] is impressive,” said math teacher Shannon Atkins. “He spent countless hours in the last two years making videos so that students have the information at home so it’s almost like they’re in the classroom with him except they’re at home… He’s kind, and truly wants to help every single student in his class as much as he can.”
Although Tyson works to keep the class running smoothly and make sure that students have any help they need, students do need to be self-motivated and manage their time well to be successful in the class.
“If you’re planning to take a hybrid class you should expect to do roughly the same amount of work as you would in a normal face-to-face class because while you might not be spending as much time in class, you’re going to be spending that time [at home] working on watching videos, taking notes and doing homework so it definitely makes up for it,” said Tyson. “It’s not a class that you can just skate by in.”
For students who are able to manage themselves and keep up with the work however, hybrid classes can be an opportunity to complete coursework on their own schedule and better manage sports, work or other commitments or circumstances that may be difficult to handle with a normal school schedule. This is what Mr. Tyson tries to provide with his hybrid class, and he hopes he can continue to do so for years to come.
“[My goal is] just to continue to try and keep making it better,” said Tyson. “To find better activities, to find more ways to make it engaging and a good learning experience. Because that’s ultimately what it’s all about. It’s not about having an online class but it’s about having an online class that students can perform as well in and also still get the same quality of content.”
