Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Courage in the Classroom comes to King Middle School, Portland

by Olga LaPlante

Some common sense observations were noted during the round table discussion. Common sense doesn't discount the value of the observations, though, because common sense is not all that common.

There may be hope after all for the DOE, if they stick with their valuable observations. Read more here.

One simple trick to better school culture is looping. Why is it so rare? I find it the best strategy. Kids know the teacher, the teacher knows the kids, they have lots of shared experiences by the second year, it doesn't cost any money, as Duncan pointed out; teachers are accountable by default, students are accountable and more aware of their behavior, parents are no strangers; trust is established. Why would you not do it?

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