Another perspective on school improvement

 by Olga LaPlante

Right now, school budgets all around the state, if not the country, are being considered, discussed, laid out, revisited, and whatnot in pursuit of pleasing the fiscal gods and making ends meet somehow. If your district is not planning to make cuts, you are a lucky exception.
There are public debates held over the proposals, and mostly if not solely it's  adults' business. Why? Because we foot the bill and of course we know better.
I found this blog post this morning and I believe that kids should be a little – or maybe much – more involved in the process. They may not understand politics, but they definitely are capable – maybe not willing – to articulate what works for them and what doesn't. I think that as leaders and administrators, adults do end up making the decisions regardless of preceding procedures. What is truly important is that the adults take the chance to listen to what students have to say, leverage their talents and take the risk of believing that students do know a little about their own learning, and it's not all top-down as usual that is going to solve this mess. What do you think?

Student Ownership

Today David Trask shared some precious photos of a school lab station at Vassalboro Community School where a kindergarten girl had taken the meaning of "ownership" to a new level.

We can try to push all kinds of things into kids' heads, but unless we can connect in ways that involve them, very little will be gained. Education needs to be personalized . . . with real problems and engagement. For this kindergartener, using TuxPaint, this was for her a sensible connection to other important things in her world.

For more information on "Student Ownership" go to the LIM Resources Wiki.

How can we personalize education for our children?