If I could create my own school and make up my own rules
there are many things that I would do to enhance children’s learning, as well
as autonomy.
First of all, the atmosphere would be very laid back. Each
student would have their own computer device to work on throughout the day. The
students would have the opportunity to work at their own pace. I would give
each of them guidelines and potential paths they were to follow throughout each
subject, but each would end up at the same standard, they would just get to
choose how they got there. I would allow the students to walk around freely.
There would be no “Mrs. Rush can I go to the bathroom,” every 5 minutes. They
would have free rein. I would have a ratio of 5 students to 1 teacher. Teachers
would be in charge of teaching content and then students would go off on their
own and work through their own programs, designed to meet their needs.
I would also have a class that focused solely on future
careers. Each day, as a class, we would explore a different career. We would
talk about the disadvantages and advantages of the job. We would do job shadows
and have individuals with those careers come in and talk to the class. We would
talk about personality traits that are associated with each career. I think often
kids are focused on the money aspects of careers and aren’t really aware of the
extra time and effort that these careers require.
I love the idea of a micro society. I would do a unit on a
micro society. Kids would build or create something that they think would sell,
or that they would like to have. They would create an advertisement for it,
which would hit the art standard. They would create a label which would use
require their writing skills. Then they would try and sell it at the school
store and figure out profit margins. I think this project could be elaborated
and taken in many directions and it would be up to the students where they
wanted to go.
I think autonomy is huge for kids and if they know that they
are working at their own pace and they are calling the shots, they will be more
motivated to grow and challenge themselves.
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