If you could create a school, for any age group K-12, what would be your main focus in academics and extracurricular activities? More science less language? Longer lunch breaks or shorter classes? Uniforms or no dress code? ...etc. It's a class assignment for me and also a future goal, I am wondering what other people value in an educational institution.
Mandatory IQ-testing and psychology consulting for teachers on a regular basis. Smaller classes and more focus on individual talents.
wOw thats a cool school assignment, I would def. have enjoyed this one. Well I would def. make the school more science oriented, a large laboratory for chemistry and biology, all the latest computer equipment and instruments for experiments. Also I would make sure the school has 6 tennis courts, a swimming pool, a running track, a basketball court, volleyball court, and a large area indoor for ballet or martial arts. I would have couple short breaks and one long lunch break in middle. I will not want uniforms just a dress-code so that girls dont have too short of skirts and boys dont have holes in pants or anything of sorts. As for classes I would want them about 15-20 students each.
Check this out, top high schools in USA: http://www.usnews.com/articles/educ.../12/04/best-high-schools-gold-medal-list.html
increase the staff with part-timers and rotations / special speakers. Every teacher should have a full-time assistant teacher. Should black and white it, one teacher fits an authoritative role, and the other a friendly role. Pay teachers at least twice as much more and include food and housing in the contract. Give huge bonuses for improved performance to teachers. The school must be managed very well, only the top principles and headmasters allowed with years and years of good experience. Balance it out with some younger people too. A special project class should be run beginning in middle school. This is student meeting with the teacher once or twice a week and working on his project the rest of the time. Apart from that, leave everything alone except high school. High-school should start being more project based. Students should be able to leave after middle school for vocational school if they want. (but this should be the minority case) Get rid of homework, tests, and quizzes. Motivate students with free food or whatever else works, instead of using just one boring, drawn out "motivation". Classes should be erratic, and a little more random than they are. A solid curriculum is a must, but there also needs to be a cure for boredom. Schools should interlink certain classes especially come to high-school and especially social events. Let the 'loser' kids with no friends find friends at another school. School is half for knowledge about textbook stuff, and half for knowledge about interacting with others. Those left behind in the social ladder many times don't ever climb back out. Thats a good list ill leave it there
IQ tests for both teachers and students, Match teachers with class groups. No "mandatory" subjects OR sports. Students free to choose their own electives in subjects like Modern history, geography, English, etc. Tangential Sessions, I.e."Free thought" sessions loosely grouped around a current issue or event should be encouraged but should be voluntary, with an objective observer present to monitor the students. Student with the best oratory, logical deduction, personality, understanding, leadership should be rewarded. Teachers should be neither close to retirement, or just freshly started, cycle teachers through various subjects to ensure cross cirriculum profiency (in case there is a greater demand) Teachers also should be highly motivated. As a student, I suffer from demotivated teachers, stiff and unchanging syllabuses, lack of interest in my subjects. This all contributes to the fact that 2 days from my final set of exams, I'm procrastinating. My will to excel has been sapped due to the lack of interest I find in school. For example, In English, three of our prescribed texts have not changed in the last 10 years. We learn the same themes for the same texts over and over again, same as the year before us. We have no power over electives, forcing students to do romanticism instead of crime fiction or science fiction. Is simply demotivating. In modern history, there is a limited discussion of historiography, and we are told to stick to the "Facts" despite the pretentiousness of historical facts. In Economics, we are fed excess dogma about the power of the free market.
schools should focus more of vocational aptitudes..give students a taste of different career paths so they can be more equipt to decide what vocation they want to get in when they graduate if this were to happen and as students get closer to graduation and get a better idea of what vocation they want to go into, maybe their curriculum can be more focused for that career.. the idea of educating all kids to achieve academic ideals in a standard manner is not efficient in my opinion as different kids learn in different ways,to standardize the means in which we teach, defeats certain kids ability to learn. and there are subject matter that is being taught that 2 years(or so) out of school is completely forgotten..which means it was a waste of time and resources that could have been applied elsewhere that would have been more relevant to the students survival in a chosen career.. schools should me a little more focused to reality and not the ideals..ideals should still be taught,but reality is where you crash and burn when those ideals are not met..
So far you've said: IQ tests smaller class sizes more individualized curricula more opportunities to socialize make class time fun more interest based classes Opportunities to explore a vocational area of interest All very interesting, but what about extracurricular activities at school? Are they necessary? Should they be mandatory or optional? Elective classes should they be mandatory or optional or are they not needed?
elective classes should be optional. extracurricular activities are necessary and should be mandatory with extra as optional. what about my list Marie89?
Right, you placed a very heavy emphasis on extracurricular activities. I think electives should be mandatory. My high school didn't have any we were entirely focused on academia and I felt lacking. Electives should broaden your horizons and be fun and probably not graded.
if u dont know what K-12 is...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! geee....what talk of a budget? k-12 is under 12 grades of school
K-12 Kindergarten through 12th grade. Usually ages 4-18 And the budget is whatever your imagination says it is. Just imagine ideals don't worry about the cost.
For the younger kids too? Meaning you don't have to get an education? Or is it like college where as long as you keep up with tests and major assignments you don't have to be present?
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More science, more language . One hour lunch time is just enough . No uniforms . You can dress what you want but do not bring your pants down and showing your dirty underwear . At least 30 minutes of sport activities every day . Concentrate on behaviour and show them what is right and wrong : not to play with matches, fir and dangerous stuff , respect for others, accept all people regardless to religion, race, colour and nationality . Learn about the beauty of peace and the tragedy of violence ......etc.
I have no idea what the Hell just happened, but I was typing normally and it all came out backward. Anyway... A cirriculum that focuses on student's strengths, as opposed to what is perceived as weaknesses. Schools seem to have the goal of shaping kids into pegs that will slide, unnoticed, into holes that are pre-defined by the current status quo and that which is thrust onto us all as the currently dominant hegemonic ideal. Educational institutions should teach kids HOW to think and empower them to shape the world in their image - as oppsed to teaching them WHAT to think and reduce their efforts to maintaining status-quo.
