A previous teacher sent me a couple links today, rather distracting me from my studying... but they were too good not to share. "The School I'd Like" is an article about kids who have sent in their ideas on what the perfect school would include. Considering most were elementary kids, some of their responses were impressive and exhibited more forward thinking than I thought possible from children under 12. Of course, some were just plain cute.
"Every class should have a cow so they can sell the milk from the cow and improve the school," wrote Joshua Kennedy, 11.
Don't forget to look at the Children's Manifesto.
Then there was the link to The Finland Phenomenon, a short piece discussing the school system in Finland. As the video describes, it's a school where teachers aren't evaluated, students aren't given standardized testing... it's a system based on trust. It's sad to see where the USA stands on the chart included in the article. Sad to know this system apparently work here. I'm excited to track down this documentary.
