Just a thinking….
Thursday, September 15th, 2005to open up the discussion with a small group of at-risk students at a
local high school this Friday. I’ll be setting up their blogs and
getting to know them. I plan to tell them that they are the ones whose
voices we need to hear. They can help us learn how to improve the
learning.. We’ll be using
our blogs to write about issues that matter to them. We need their help
on how schools could improve. Tonight I’m working late so I’m thinking
about questions to ask.
- Do you think schools need to change? If so, in what ways do you think schools need to change?
- What is the school doing to help you be a successful learner? What could they do?
- What is a successful learner?
- What should the school be teaching to help you succeed in the future?
- How could students help schools improve?
- How do you know if you are successful?
- What motivates you to learn?
- What do you wish your teachers were doing to help you learn?
- What makes a good school?
- What makes a good teacher?
- What helps you learn?
- What hinders your learning?
- Is school relevant to you? If not, how could it be relevant?
- What would you change in your school? What needs to stay the same?
- What does your school do really well? What does your school need to do better?
- Is technology a part of your learning? Tell me about it.
- Do you use technology outside of school? What technology do you use?
- How would you like to use technology in school?
- Do you get a chance to talk about your goals for learning? Would you like that?
- How do you learn best?
- What’s your favorite part about your daily routine? What’s your least favorite part?
Now I am just
thinking. I usually start with questions and many times the questions
lead me in different directions. I probably won’t even get to this on
Friday
but I thought I’d toss these ideas out. I’m open for any input or
suggestions. This is a group who have not always had good experiences
with learning. They could teach us a lot if I can gain their trust. I’m
in a whole new arena and know I have much to learn. I have some great
teachers I’ll be working with who will be my navigators as I start this
learning journey. I’m looking forward to it.