The EMHS Charter outlines the school's purposes and goals in challenging terms, outlining a strong vision for the development of our school. BUT is what is envisioned in the Charter the current reality at EMHS? If so, GREAT! If not, what areas would you like to see the EMHS community work together to improve?
You can find the EMHS Charter Renewal on the school's website http://www.eastmountainhigh.net/ under the Governing Council tab.
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I need a little clarity on this. Is it assumed that the Charter is correct in its vision and that improvement would mean actions that lead to fulfillment of that vision? Or is the question asking if the vision can be improved? Articulation of the vision? This is why I am concerned about putting the infamous "cart before the horse". What do the terms in the charter mean? It is easy to say that we - meaning any particular individual feels that they know exactly what it means - but WE - meaning the community in relative unity - do not. There are so many accepted assumptions about schooling (most of which are difficult to refute because they are emotionally appealing). It seems that these assumptions are frequently contrary to actual behaviors. Why? Are the assumptions potentially flawed? Are we basing the assumtions on a view of a world that no longer exists?
What can we improve on? We can improve on educating OURSELVES. An intellectual community that values the learning itself, in addition to the means and the ends, would contribute profoundly to the achievement of the stated mission.
Too often in education, we go racing toward some vague finish line without doing the training (i.e. laying the foundation and establishing the infrastructure) necessary to finish the race. As usual, I encourage a patient, relentless movement toward the process.
I agree. As I read through the charter, I just find myself making a list of things we don't really adhere to.
So, does the discussion begin with the assumption that the charter is perfect?
Or does it begin with what should change about the charter?
If we do not feel the need to address the fundamentals of the charter, then I think the discussion would proceed to how maintain adherence to the charter...
But I am not sure if we are at a place where everyone agrees on what the charter means...
Well I agree but charter means guidelines per say... but everyone just needs to read the charter only there can we all fully come to a deeper understanding of what the charter is and menas.
my bad *means*
I remember reading a majority of the charter two years ago. I believe that it is a very cool vision, but I question how that vision can be interpreted. Much of the language, in my opinion, can easily be abused to provide for almost any kind of behavior. This is a problem that the early United States had with the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution rectified many of these issues, making it more difficult to misinterpret the goals in the document. I am not sure our charter is necessarily at that point, and I wonder how much of it we are able to (Or should) amend.
The greatest issue, however, is simply that the charter is not a document that we seem to use. I do not know if teachers are even required to examine it, but I know that students hardly ever take this initiative. In fact, I can name many students who do not know that we have a charter, or what that really means. I believe that if we are to examine this valuable document, we ought to also make some effort to document the importance that it holds. Maybe rather than reading their Student Planner with the behaviors outlined, students could read copies of at least some parts of the charter? I'm not sure. What are your thoughts about this?
I agree strongly with what I am reading in this strand. The written document is important, but the ongoing dialog about it is crucial.
The Charter states that admin and faculty will provide a rigorous curriculum for all students, and that faculty will be sustained and enriched by professional development. But aren't we ALL learners? The entire community should be encouraged to engage in scholarship and participate together as learners. How do we do that? Can classrooms become stimulating places where community members will want to go on a regular basis to participate in discussions, projects, debates? Can lesson plans and "benchmarks" be met if socratic seminars involving all community members are a regular part of the weekly plan? Can teachers attend other classes than their own, and simply be students in a subject new to them?
How do we build a culture...where learning is eagerly sought by everyone? --and when a student comes in as a freshman, she/he is exposed to the expectations of the culture, not just the rules of the school.
I strongly agree! I think that a student ought to do much of the things discussed in Senior Seminar their freshmen year. I never had the Freshmen Seminar class, as I was an Honors student and so not required to take it, but I think that it had the ability to be a great thing. I think that a student ought to first examine their own goals, and become conscious of their education.
I am not sure about the best method of accomplishing this, or if it is even a good idea to approach it from the, "How do we make THEM think this way," train of thought either. I do, however, see that many students are given excellent opportunity that they do not take. I don't believe this has to do with students being bad or anything, it is simply that they have no personal investment into school other than time. Traditional arguments usually focus on the idea of a Student's Future. Well, that is a highly abstract idea, and almost impossible to make it real or meaningful to many students.
To avoid confusion, I'm Toby.
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Andrew's right. Not enough students--or, indeed, teachers--have read our charter! I haven't either, personally. But, in not reading the charter, I've come to a sort of confusion on what its exact purpose is--not in the functioning or funding of the school, but in daily student life. This, I think, is the reason that students do not read the charter: They see no practical purpose in it (that, or they are simply too lazy or unconcerned... >_>). If we were to somehow incorporate the charter into routine EMHS life, I think that more students would certainly take the time to read all (or at least some) of it.
How we're going to do that escapes me...
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Another thing I think we could improve at EMHS is the quality of the announcements made. No offense to anyone in particular, but the droll voices of the Admins get scarily easy to tune out after the third or fourth announcement.
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The next (and final) core problem I see in EMHS is that there aren't enough students who care about improving the school. They accept it as it is, even though there are various ways that they can input their likes/dislikes/criticism/praise/etc. I, for one, have never even considered talking to my Student Representative in order to improve the school. I don't know exactly why--could it be that there is too little appeal in it? I actually decided against campaigning for Sophomore Class President because I saw too little appeal in it: The only tangible evidence of Student Govt.'s works that I've seen thus far have been the various parties/dances/fundraisers that so little people attended.
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I never was much good at concluding things. O_o
Hey! Over Here! Look at me! Look at me!
A humorous and thoughtful talk on education...almost twenty minutes.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view?id=66
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