tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post8509282765341772258..comments2024-03-26T23:57:42.268-04:00Comments on SpeEdChange: The School I'd Likeirasocolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-36817939463858032232010-03-22T23:45:24.012-04:002010-03-22T23:45:24.012-04:00This is completely fantastic. You pointed out man...This is completely fantastic. You pointed out many, many flaws that I have with our current schools. <br /><br />I would add only one thing to this incredible post and say that I have always enjoyed communities within a school as I felt that they discouraged bullying and encouraged student achievement.Katyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02189007616883663434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-67376500444189386782010-03-16T10:02:33.649-04:002010-03-16T10:02:33.649-04:00A group of very insightful and dedicated teachers ...A group of very insightful and dedicated teachers started a k-8 school of similar design ( with district approval and support) here in northern California almost 20 yrs ago. Unfortunately, state testing has resulted in almost the entire program being dismanteled. Testing made it mandatory that kids be given certain curriculum in a certain order whether relevent to their needs or not. It's been very sad to see the school dissolve into just another k-8 factory.carolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-21371342914525522552010-03-14T23:58:32.689-04:002010-03-14T23:58:32.689-04:00Ira - I was referred to your blog by Dave Truss an...Ira - I was referred to your blog by Dave Truss and thankfully so. I like the ideas you have for "your" school. I'm part of a Design Panel in my District - we are designing 1/2 dozen schools (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 schools). Wrote a post recently about designing a new secondary school. We wrestle with the ideal school vs the realities of how hard it is to change practice and thinking... I would be interested your feedback here http://shift2future.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-should-secondary-schools-look-like.html<br /><br />Anyway, I'll be following your future posts - great thinking.Brian Kuhnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12565982072371979984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-63492116579570933612010-03-13T16:16:39.881-05:002010-03-13T16:16:39.881-05:00Harold,
I would love to start a school. I am mai...Harold,<br /><br />I would love to start a school. I am mainly in agreement with Ira about how school ought to be. (I'm MissShuganah on Twitter, so you know who is addressing you.) Have you ever seen the TED talk <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html" rel="nofollow">Once Upon A School With Dave Eggers</a> To me, these tutoring centers are wonderful, inventive ways to engage kids. Wouldn't it be great if we a) had these set up in partnership with existing schools and b) used this as a model for a school? School needn't be dreary. Wouldn't it be great if school were more of an adventure? <br /><br />One thing that occurred to me while I was in school was how it was beaten into you to conform. I tried that, and it just about murdered my soul. We need to de-institutionalize school. We need teachers, but we need joy over regimentation. We need less checklists and more compassion. The attitude shouldn't be the tired old saw of "those who can, do, and those who can't teach." First of all it's not true. Second of all, we need teachers who have real fire in their bellies, ie, their own passion for learning and willing to check their egos at the door. Nothing more refreshing to me than to hear a teacher say, "Good question. I don't know. Let's look it up together." I cannot imagine anything more empowering that to see your teacher learn along with you. That doesn't mean they give up their authority. What it means is that they respect their students enough to be OK with admitting to not knowing. <br /><br />We need to recruit people into education who do not just think in terms of easy A's or three months off every summer. We need to ensure that more people who want to engage minds and touch souls enter education, and, more importantly, move into administrative positions. <br /><br />We also need to learn to trust one another. Have the best interests of the students at heart. That means that teachers need to learn to trust parents and approach them as potential allies instead of parents = the enemy. Yes, there are going to be selfish people who only care about themselves or how their kid's education looks on <i>them</i> as opposed to parents who care about their kids happiness and well -being. Some of us are eager to work in partnership with teachers and principals in creating the best learning environments possible. <br /><br />I have been wanting to form a school for years now. I have two differently brained little girls, who in some ways, remind me very much of another very differently brained little girl who had a largely horrible elementary school experience. It's as much for that little girl that I want to, need to, create a more compassionate, less regimented learning environment. Joy of learning should take priority over learning by rote. <br /><br />Maybe it would be better to learn about rocks, say, as opposed to what one hundred is. Or maybe a kid could learn to dance instead of callisthenics in gym class. Or maybe a kid lacking in fine motor skills <br />could do an art project that is less complicated. Or have it be OK if someone else folds the paper into quarters. (Seven years old and she still cannot fold a piece of paper, is what my first grade teacher muttered under her breath while standing behind me.) Main thing for me is to teach to talents and joys while still working on deficits. <br /><br />http://www.onceuponaschool.org -- Maybe this all ready is the educational equivalent of Field of Dreams.Debbienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-65372720065846918652010-03-12T18:10:03.993-05:002010-03-12T18:10:03.993-05:00Ira - if you need a Special Education teacher who ...Ira - if you need a Special Education teacher who loves teaching, but is beginning to really dislike all the paperwork. I'm thinking about retiring this summer, but would be interested in an "interesting" school concept besides the status quo we have now in most public school. <br /><br />:) Get the idea off the ground and they will come.<br /><br />HaroldHarold Shawhttp://haroldshawjr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-643717570511796832010-03-12T14:32:46.882-05:002010-03-12T14:32:46.882-05:00I have multiple answers for this.
Given that I&...I have multiple answers for this. <br /><br />Given that I've talked and tweeted at length about my handicapped daughter and what barriers she is up against, I will set that aside, at least for now.<br /><br />I am reminded of a very innovative program I partook of while in high school. Two Science teachers came up with what they called Special Science Sequence. Was a course designed to take three years to complete. What Mr. O and Mr. D. did was to interweave one year of biology, chemistry and physics in a way where a student could see the connects between the three. It was also a study at your own pace kind of thing. Even though it was supposed to take only three years, a student could take it for four years if that was the pace they chose. <br /><br />I finished this class in three years, largely motivated by the fact that I really hated high school and, at the time, they'd let you graduate in three years. Others, nicknamed the Screw Offs, were a very bright group of guys who took four years. They knew that no one was going to give them grief for taking four years. They spent a lot of class time gathered around the physics teacher, Mr. O, or "O" as they called him. <br /><br />Me, as with most of the girls, I spent my time hunkered down over a textbook, conducting experiments or watching slideshows, etc. at the library. Both men were serious about science, but they also knew they could trust us to get the work done. The relaxed atmosphere meant that learning was more than just memorizing a series of facts. Had I had more confidence in my math skills, perhaps I would have done more with physics. I just loved it. And I am sure I would have found it an intimidating experience in a typical classroom setting.<br /><br />We had long tables and such. The space spoke, this is a science class. But, even so, I didn't find it confining. There were no lectures. No notetaking. At least not in the traditional sense. Easy access to both teachers. I felt at ease. <br /><br />Not sure about my ideal school, but that would certainly be my ideal learning environment. Our teachers trusted us to do the work. And we did. Imagine that.Debbienoreply@blogger.com