Work in Progress - 08/11
Why Don't Students Like School...Duh? - Peter Gray
Celebrate Strengths, Nurture Affinities - Mel Levine
The Myth of Laziness - Mel Levine
The Homework Myth - Alfie Kohn
The Schools Our Kids Deserve - Alfie Kohn
1) Provide more choice in what students learn. At least a 50/50 negotiated curriculum - Half Mandated - Half Chosen
2) Reduce the amount of things expected of EVERY student. The mandated curriculum should be truly the basics, the essentials for a good life. How do we determine this? What are the common understandings, skills, and dispositions of every teacher at your school? What are the things that every citizen should be able to know, do, and understand? And I'm talking EVERY citizen. For every skill mandated, the questions to the teachers in the room should be, can you do this? For every concept, skill, or understanding, the question should be, do you know this? If more than a couple of teachers cannot do these things, then the thing should not be mandated.
3) Provide more opportunity for students to do what they like to do.
4) A diploma should be earned by proving competency in the basics, which are truly the basics, and by personalized learning. Doing nothing is not an option, unless you into meditation.