FREEPORT – A visit to one of Alex Briasco-Brin’s eighth-grade math classes at Freeport Middle School shows a glimpse into a possible future of learning.

Instead of rows of desks facing the front of the room and a teacher lecturing while students sleepily follow along in a textbook, the desks in Briasco-Brin’s classroom are arranged in a large rectangle with the kids facing outward. Instead of textbooks, the students, some alone, some in pairs, are working on their laptop computers, learning at their own pace, with Briasco-Brin circulating among them, helping where needed.

It’s all part of a first-year program at the school in which the students, using a computer program with problems and text written by Briasco-Brin, take a nontraditional approach to learning math. The students are mostly eighth-graders, but there are some advanced seventh-graders in the class, and so far, test scores indicate they are learning as much, if not more, than they would in a traditional classroom setting.

Freeport Middle School Principal Ray Grogan said that the district uses the Northwest Evaluation Association test to evaluate its students. It is a nationally administered test to measure if students are learning at the average pace for their grade level. Grogan said the test anticipates that 50 percent of students will be at or above the expected pace and 50 percent would be below. He said that Briasco-Brin’s classes consistently score at 80 percent or above, meaning that 80 percent of his students are at or above their grade level.

In his 21 years of teaching, Briasco-Brin said, he has never used a textbook, preferring to have the kids actually learn the math, rather than just simply memorizing a formula in a textbook.

“I love math. I want kids to appreciate math, and be successful in math,” Briasco-Brin said. “(I want them) to understand the math, not just memorize stuff and how to get answers.”

The students access Briasco-Brin’s program on their laptop computers. Each unit has instructive text and a series of interactive exercises and quizzes that the students work on at their own pace, checking in with Briasco-Brin at the end of each unit before moving on.

“It’s set up for them to discover stuff instead of being told and monkey-see, monkey-do,” Briasco-Brin said. “This forces them to learn it themselves.”

Another unusual aspect of the class is the collaborative atmosphere that Briasco-Brin has fostered. Students are encouraged to help each other and work together, and they often do. There is a constant buzz of conversation in the room, but what is remarkable for a room full of young adolescents is that the talk is all focused on the work at hand as the kids put their heads together to learn math.

Briasco-Brin said that atmosphere of empowering kids to cooperate with each other is what he is trying to foster.

“They can take over the learning, it doesn’t have to be teacher-directed,” he said.

And the kids have responded.

“We’re discovering everything we’re learning,” seventh-grader Maya Egan said. “In most math classes, we just look at a textbook and memorize formulas. But in this, we have to learn everything that we’re doing.”

“It’s actually enjoyable to go to math class,” fellow seventh-grader Maya Bradbury added.

“I think it’s great,” eighth-grader Benjamin Sinclair said. “It’s definitely the best math class that I’ve ever had. Because it’s student-driven as opposed to somebody drone on for an hour. And you work at your own pace, you can get help when you want and you can discuss things with your friends, who will probably know what you’re having trouble with and how to phrase things better for you than a teacher would perhaps.”

Egan said that she has no problem learning at her own pace, especially when she knows that help is always available.

“I never feel like I would rather be doing something else,” Egan said. “When I come to math class, I know exactly what I need to do. (Briasco-Brin) is so helpful, too. Whenever I have a question, he’s always there to answer it.”

Sinclair said it is the first time that he’s had a class like this, and he likes being able to learn at his own pace.

“It’s definitely a lot easier to understand everything, and I feel that I’m learning a lot more because it’s easier to learn because you don’t have to memorize everything, you memorize as you go along,” he said.

Eighth-graders Willson Moore and Maya Pierce put their heads together to work on a problem during the class. They both said it was helpful to team up to learn.

“It’s really nice,” Pierce said. “Everybody has their strong suits and their weaknesses.”

“You’re able to explain it to each other,” Moore said. “We’re understanding how everything works.”

Grogan, the principal, said he wasn’t surprised that Briasco-Brin’s nontraditional approach was a hit with students.

“He has a passion for the subject but what makes him great is how he connects with the kids,” Grogan said. “Because there’s a lot of teachers that have great knowledge, but if you can’t connect with the kids and sell it, it’s no good. So he connects great with the kids, anything he does, the kids just eat up.”

But Briasco-Brin’s approach gets results, as well.

“It’s not only that the kids like it and he’s doing fun things,” Grogan said. “His (students’) test scores are incredible.”

Freeport Middle School math teacher Alex Briasco-Brin works with seventh-grader Maya Egan during a class last week. The students in Briasco-Brin’s math class work independently at their own pace, and school officials have been  pleased with the results.