Tags for "Choice"
The First Three Minutes of Unschooling
We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... Skinner Box to Freedom
"Stop doing that and apologize."
"What? She doesn't care."
"She's not going to tell you she cares, but I do.... Is Education Meant to Be Easy? And other ruminations on required assignments
Each week, I give students anywhere from 25 to 50 pages to read for class and I ask them to... Freire’s “True Word” Conclusion—Or Beginning…
This same day, a student handed me a card in which she wrote, "Thanks for giving me the freedom to speak my mind."
The next day, two students threw me a little farewell party to end the semester--two students who hated my class a month ago.
The last day of class, a student thanked God he never had to have me again. "Now I can FINALLY get an 'A'!"
A semester of mixed reviews.
As part of their final project, my students had to identify a community problem and design an intervention to combat said problem. A majority of the students rose to the occasion and shined... Maybe Kids Should Have a Say in How They Receive Information?
How much order should be implemented by a teacher?
What does a student-driven classroom look like?
I think that all teachers that are interested in democracy in the classroom ask these questions on a regular basis. I think that the answers are as different as the individuals involved.
I want students to feel ownership of the class and the material I teach. I want them to recognize their participation is needed if they are too learn. I don't want them to feel that learning is something that happens to them, but instead, something that they choose to do.
Currently I am trying to answer my questions by letting the students select the... ‘Cause It’s Like Democracy….
The experiment is going so well that we have increased the control the kids have in the daily lesson planning. Every day there is bell work, but that is the only set event of the class period. I have the day's activities arranged in three or four different orders. The students vote for the arrangement they believe fits their needs. Each option includes the same work, but the order is different.
So how is it going?
From my perspective, pretty good. I am not seeing as many springtime behavioral issues as I have... In the Interest of Full Disclosure
In the interest of full disclosure, I feel the need to divulge a few things to the IDEA audience.
I AM a public school teacher, in a non-democratic school. Students do have a choice in course selection, but often do not receive the classes they ask for in their schedule. Kids can choose to ditch class, and face the repercussions. Students can also choose their level of engagement in each class, and to some extent the grade they will earn for the course. Those are the choices the students can make, and the extent to which...
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 - 12:06 AM by Khalif Williams in Uncharted Parenting
Even though we went to mediocre public schools and are the products of lovingly conventional parenting, my wife and I are trying to create our own family quite differently by embracing attachment parenting and, more recently, unschooling our children.We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... Skinner Box to Freedom
Posted on Nov 17, 2009 - 08:44 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve
So, there I stood. In front of my thirty 9th graders, hour after hour, watching them write letters to each other, put their gum under their desks, talk to their neighbors while the assigned worksheet on the parts of speech I just spent the night before diligently creating fell silently to the floor. Think I am being melodramatic? I wish! In one class, I laughed to myself for a solid thirty seconds (a long time in high school time), after I spent three minutes going back and forth with a student as to why throwing wads of paper at a girl he did not like was unacceptable."Stop doing that and apologize."
"What? She doesn't care."
"She's not going to tell you she cares, but I do.... Is Education Meant to Be Easy? And other ruminations on required assignments
Posted on Dec 04, 2009 - 01:51 PM by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu
The semester is winding down for my teacher education students and me. We are all filled with that sense of anticipation that comes when you see hard work reaching an end. It is at this time each semester that I start gathering my thoughts about changes I want to make to my courses for the new semester, and it is at this time when I ask my students to give me advice and feedback on how things went for them in my class. Inevitably, the conversation comes around to the reading responses -- the weekly written assignments where students give evidence of having read and processed the assigned texts.Each week, I give students anywhere from 25 to 50 pages to read for class and I ask them to... Freire’s “True Word” Conclusion—Or Beginning…
Posted on Jan 31, 2010 - 08:46 PM by Ammerah Saidi in The Learning Curve
"You're the worst teacher ever!" The last words of a ninth grader I had kicked out during final presentations.This same day, a student handed me a card in which she wrote, "Thanks for giving me the freedom to speak my mind."
The next day, two students threw me a little farewell party to end the semester--two students who hated my class a month ago.
The last day of class, a student thanked God he never had to have me again. "Now I can FINALLY get an 'A'!"
A semester of mixed reviews.
As part of their final project, my students had to identify a community problem and design an intervention to combat said problem. A majority of the students rose to the occasion and shined... Maybe Kids Should Have a Say in How They Receive Information?
Posted on Apr 08, 2010 - 10:46 PM by Alison Bagg Brink in ImprovEducation
How much control should students have in a classroom?How much order should be implemented by a teacher?
What does a student-driven classroom look like?
I think that all teachers that are interested in democracy in the classroom ask these questions on a regular basis. I think that the answers are as different as the individuals involved.
I want students to feel ownership of the class and the material I teach. I want them to recognize their participation is needed if they are too learn. I don't want them to feel that learning is something that happens to them, but instead, something that they choose to do.
Currently I am trying to answer my questions by letting the students select the... ‘Cause It’s Like Democracy….
Posted on Apr 29, 2010 - 10:02 PM by Alison Bagg Brink in ImprovEducation
Students began choosing the delivery method for new information at the beginning of the month. I discussed this in "Maybe Kids Should Have a Say in How They Receive Information?"The experiment is going so well that we have increased the control the kids have in the daily lesson planning. Every day there is bell work, but that is the only set event of the class period. I have the day's activities arranged in three or four different orders. The students vote for the arrangement they believe fits their needs. Each option includes the same work, but the order is different.
So how is it going?
From my perspective, pretty good. I am not seeing as many springtime behavioral issues as I have... In the Interest of Full Disclosure
Posted on Sep 03, 2010 - 10:22 AM by Alison Bagg Brink in ImprovEducation
I am a public school teacher. I teach First Year Spanish. I have been teaching for 15 years. I am a parent. My children are students in a democratic free school.In the interest of full disclosure, I feel the need to divulge a few things to the IDEA audience.
I AM a public school teacher, in a non-democratic school. Students do have a choice in course selection, but often do not receive the classes they ask for in their schedule. Kids can choose to ditch class, and face the repercussions. Students can also choose their level of engagement in each class, and to some extent the grade they will earn for the course. Those are the choices the students can make, and the extent to which...