Alternative Schools

The first part of this presentation was on charter schools. Charter schools are innovative and "outside-of-the-box" teaching that usually centers around some type of theme or program, such as performing arts or math and sciences. It was very interesting going onto the different charter school websites and looking at the different information. I think that it would be interesting to teach at a charter school, and I really like the idea that students are the center of educational structuring and that there are less students per teacher than a normal public school; less student numbers allows for complete student-centered approaches toward topics, and the faculty being able to do things that might not be able to get done in a public school. I could see there being funding issues as well as difficulties in students transferring or moving to other school districts from one of these schools.

Another type of alternative school is religious schools. This was much more common in the early part of the 1900's, when religion was a steadfast part of education and was a vital part of the curriculum. One religious school in Maine is Catherine McAuley High School, which is a Catholic school.

Another type of alternative schools are Expeditionary Learning Schools- Outward Bound. These schools focus on smaller school settings, goal setting, and looping in grades 9 and 10. One of these schools is Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine.

Another school that Katie Rose talked about was the Summer Hill school, which is an independent holistic private boarding school in England. Basically, it is a completely democratic society where the students are allowed to do how they choose and be completely free as long as their actions do not harm anyone else's rights. They have laws that protect the rights of the other people around them; they are not even required to attend lessons. The students who graduated from the school are usually very independent and free thinking.

Discipline

This educational issue was on discipline. There are several different types of discipline strategies. Assertive Discipline is the most common form of discipline in public schools today.This strategy is based on a set of teacher made rules and standards and the teacher is in complete control. Teacher Effectiveness Training distinguishes between teacher-owned and student-owned problems, and can often play a huge role in the effectiveness of the teacher's discipline strategies. I liked the idea of Student Team Learning, which focuses more on instructional rather than disciplinary strategies. Good discipline skills involve having a classroom where students remain on task, behave responsibly, and show good human relations. One interesting piece of this issue was that Corporal Punishment is still legal in twenty-one states.

Classroom Management

This educational issue was focused around classroom management. Some of the ideas that were presented were lesson planning techniques, tips for keeping organized, tips for keeping grades, ideas on how to set up classroom rules and the class was even given a link for creating their own classroom set-up. In that aspect, I liked that part of the lesson that was interactive. Meghan and Sarah also gave us a comprehensive list of resources that deal with classroom management issues. Several hyperlinks were available, leaving it up to us to find most resources that we might be interested it.

Tracking

The first educational issue presentation was on tracking. Tracking is when students are placed with other students who are of the same ability achievement. There are pros and cons that can be presented in the subject of tracking. In some ways, I can see where it could be positive, when students can advance at their own pace rather than having to try to keep up with their peers, and being intimidated by the environment around them. However, it can also have negative effects,such as making the students feel bad about themselves as well as making them set lower goals or expectations of themselves.