The Baltimore Sun recently reported that Sahlonda Holt was selected as the Howard County Teacher of the Year.  One of the reasons she was selected is because she flipped her classrooms.

In Shalonda Holt’s biology classroom at Centennial High School, desks are not configured in a traditional arrangement of tidy rows pointed at the whiteboard. Instead, they are grouped into clusters that face every which way.

That’s because Holt doesn’t lecture — at least not during class time.

“Once or twice a week, there’s a video — a PowerPoint with my voice, basically, doing a lesson — and they have to watch it for homework,” she said. “And there’s a question they have to respond to, and space for them to ask me any questions.”

Her implementation of this innovative flipped classroom model, in which students are introduced to new material outside of class, is just one of the reasons that Holt stands out as a teacher, said Centennial High Principal Claire Hafets. She advocated for Holt’s selection as the 2016 Howard County Teacher of the Year, which was announced Feb. 11.