Last week the class went on a field trip to the Lehman Alternative School in Ithaca. When I walked into the front doors, I was taken aback. Partially from not having been in a primary school since 2004, but also because of the energy that was in the entire building. After being greeted by Chris Sperry's daughter, I caught the last minutes of the All School Meeting and it was here that I saw the future of education. I could not believe that the students ran the meetings. They proposed initiatives to the agenda. If this isn't the flat world, then I don't know what is.
We received a tour of the school from Sperry and in the gymnasium/cafeteria we were told about the vacations that students take. Every student is in some committee and the rewards are insane vacations that would NEVER have happened in my high school. One thing that was striking about the Alternative school, or at least this one, is that students are responsible for their education. I know when I was in high school, I could care less about half of my subjects that I was studying. But here, everyone wants to be a part of the action. And why shouldn't they. They operate on an entirely different plane of education and I wish I had the opportunity when I was younger to have been a part of it.
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Apparently, you're not a golfer.
A web log for the furthering of my techological education and use of big words.
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- I am a twenty year old English major from a little town called Mexico, NY. I like reading and writing and hopefully I have lots of good stuff to say! I also like rock and roll, movies and listening to my iPod.
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3 comments:
Chris, you need to think deeply about the kind of school you want to teach in! I hope this field trip helps you do that.
Hey! As a future teacher would you ever see yourself teaching in a school such as Lehman Alternative? It was very shocking to walk in and see how much of a voice the students have and the great connection between the students and teachers...just wonderin!
I agree that those field trips were awesome! I'd imagine that cool things like that are the key to motivating those students. But I was so surprised by exactly HOW motivated they were. I can't believe that one student wrote a 65 page single-spaced paper! And in the same class, someone else only wrote 5 pages. It's amazing how different the students are, and on what different levels they are on. Education is all about pushing your limits and doing your best. Those students were learning in an environment that encouraged them to do their absolute personal best. If that first kid had been in a traditional school setting, he would have settled with getting by on the bare minimum. It's so sad when a student wastes their education like that.
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