Kimberly Jean

Recent Activity

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  Kimberly commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Pharmer's Market: The Cost of Producing "Successful" Students

  this article has phenomenal insights and is superbly written.

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  Kimberly commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  Teachers Without Masks: a Sudbury Alternative

  I can't agree with this post more. I was introduced to the Sudbury ideology recently and became immediately enamored [so much so, I actually posted some information about it myself: www.organicedu.org].  After visiting the original Sudbury Valley School at their openhouse last month in Boston, I can say, being in the presence of children immersed in this atmosphere was truley amazing. Students of the school looked adults (strangers at that!) in the eye and were confident that what they had to say had merit. There was no sense of the typical jaded 15 year old who was dragged in on his day off. These kids wanted to be there! These kids were passionate. Their staff leaders equally so.
  
  I think the current authoritarian school model is outdated. Too often teachers have to maintain a keen eye over their shoulder because if they "step outside the norm", if they go that extra mile, if they try to innovate in class, the administration comes down on them like a lightning bolt. They haven't been teaching to the [standardized] tests, and so, what they've taught is considered useless.
  
  Unfortunately, this militarized model gets propegated throughout the entire infrastructure, common of public schools. From the school boards to the principals, down on to the teachers, and to the students themselves. No one dare step out of line. No one dare question the standard. Unfortunate, indeed.