an ideal school

My friend Tammy at aut2bhomeincarolina posed a question on her blog. Basically she was wondering what people thought the ideal school/school day would look like for their special needs child. I tried to answer with all my kids in mind, special needs or not, but of course my comment was way too long for blogger to accept as a comment! (Yeah, I get longwinded.) So I thought I'd post my comments here as a post on my blog, and link it to Tammy's for anyone interested in other views. Great question, Tammy! Thanks for helping me think hard on this one! And without further ado, here are my comments on some aspects of what I think would be an ideal school for my kids:

Primarly work/teach within meaningful and collaborative group projects. Vary degrees of responsibility for students within projects, including individual responsibilities, very small group/partnership responsibilities, and large group responsibilities. For example, if the larger group was creating a landscaping/gardening project, it may delegate responsibilities to subgroups of 3-5 people (such as design, shopping, manual labor, etc). Within those small groups, individuals/pairs may have more specific responsibilities (one pair price check Lowes and another Home Depot, then report back to see where supplies should be purchased for the better deal). Give the kids experience working independently and in groups (larger and smaller), and give them the accountability factor of having others in the group depending upon their timeliness and good work.

Likewise, have collaborative teachers. Even the best teachers have weaknesses in addition to strengths. Have 2-4 teachers (or more, at least one teacher for each mini-group of students) who are collaboratively working with the group(s) of students to accomplish the project. Again, some teachers might be better with the planning/ideas and others might excel at the hands-on, for example. Give the students the opportunity to work with each type of teacher/leader.

Loop teachers with students so they don't have brand new teachers they have to get to know each year. Teachers should stay with a group for a minimum of 2 years. Rotate teachers one or two at a time into/out of a group. Always make sure there's at least one veteran teacher with the group of kids.

School year round, taking approximately 2 week breaks every 6 weeks or so, plus extended 5 week breaks 2x per year (once between Thanksgiving and New Years and another in the summer, maybe mid-June through mid-July).

Have more than one collaborative project going. Have a major long term project (such as the landscaping thing) and also have a short term project going (something 1-6 weeks in length). Not all students have to be working on the same shorter term projects.

If there's a cafeteria, have all food/drinks be all natural. Have special diet accomodations as necessary (such as gfcf). Allow no vending machines or candy/junk food fundraising on campus.

Don't start so darn early in the morning. Or have multiple start times. Maybe have an open house sort of school day. If a small group of students are morning people, let them meet early. If a small group consists of night owls, let them meet later. When everyone has to meet, schedule it at a time both groups can function in (maybe 10AM). And of course occasionally someone will just have to suck it up and be there early or stay late to get things done--that's called 'life.'

Have multiple ages and developmental levels working together. Vary the pairings/groupings to take advantage of possible group mixings. Think 'one room schoolhouse.' Don't always have older/higher kids always responsible for tutoring/pulling along younger/lower kids, however. Give them opportunities to be paired together sometimes where they can really have an opportunity to excel and push the envelope. It's great to have them leading/tutoring/etc, but they need the opportunity to work at and beyond their level as well.

Don't work on specific skill subjects (math, spelling, handwriting, etc) unless someone requires remediation in a specific skill area. Otherwise, let the work be cross-curricular and natural. Considering again the landscaping/gardening project, there is science, art, math, economics, PE, writing/comp, and home ec involved, and even history could be worked in if someone was creative (such as growing Liberty Gardens or heirloom gardens or recreating a historic landmark's landscaping, etc).

Be outside as much as possible (whether you're doing gardening/landscape projects or not!). If you must have class indoors, make sure all classrooms have windows, and make sure the windows can be opened (and then open them!).

Don't overuse technology. Do use technology, but don't overuse it. Technology can enhance thinking and creativity, but it can also hamper thinking and creativity. Use technology wisely and not just for the sake of using technology. Every classroom does NOT need a computer, or a TV/DVD.

Allow substantial time for independent projects that students choose for themselves. These projects don't need to be "graded" and they don't need to be 'traditionally acceptable.' Just give them time and resources to pursue their own interests. Hook up kids with similar interests for a time for said projects. Also, try to find them an adult mentor (outside the school whenever possible) for said projects. For example, if a little kid likes to draw, give him time to draw. A mentor could be someone to draw with him, or someone who could help him turn his drawings into greeting cards he could then mail to loved ones, or even something he could market, depending on the child's interest. The mentor is there to encourage and support the child, offer interesting ideas, but not to take over the project and potentially squelch the interest. The mentor should be a resource, not a designer/director of said interest. The mentor should be able to think outside the box.

Have community members (town govt, business leaders, church members, etc) involved in the evaluation of the students' projects, not just teachers. And have the students actively involved in self-evaluation, creating portfolios that highlight not only their strengths, but also targeting weaknesses that need to be addressed or proposing additional questions that could be further pursued at some later time (perhaps as one of those independent studies after the larger group moves on from a project). The students should present their portfolios to the 'board' of community members, who can then offer their own advise and impressions and novel ideas to the students.

Okay, I'm done now. Wouldn't that be an awesome school???? And I guess I should add parental involvement, though that should be a given. There would of course be many additional details that must be dealt with to implement such a learning environment.

Oh, and one last thing, which should really be the first thing: Keep the glory of God at the center of the school. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls, and all our strength. God created and established this universe, the laws that govern it, the people who inhabit it. Don't let the sterile acquisition of knowledge puff you up. Remember and teach that above all, God is God and you and I and all the teachers, students, celebrities, and world leaders are not. If any school can impart just that to its students, it has succeeded in the most important priority of all.