Blog Post 1

After reading Krissy Venosdale’s blog Venspired and watching Sugata Mitra’s video, I feel that the current school systems could learn and improve much by taking their ideas and administering then to individual schools. In Venosdale’s blog If I Built A School, after reading, I felt like I wanted to get up and go to school right then and there! I felt like her ideal school was exactly how my ideal school would be! Your school level grade would not be dependent on age, but on what you know; the 20% time where teachers signed up to teach activities based on their passion; the giant tree house in the library where students came lose themselves in other world adventures; the school would be bright and colorful, most important, welcoming! I just absolutely loved it! Mitra’s ideas are brilliant, too! He started with a hole-in-the-wall, but after much innovative thinking, he used technology to prove that students can learn much more than we know!


What do you want your students to know?

In my dream school, it would be a school for kids with all different types of disabilities/ special needs, like: autism, down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, blind and hearing impaired, ect. I would want my kids to know that everyone is different in some way or another; every person is special inside and out. I would want them to know just how strong and brave they are and with all the obstacles life has put in front of them, they impress everyone every day with their superhuman strength to push on. I would want them to know, also, that education is important for each and every person. I would want them to know, that whatever dreams they have, they can achieve, and my school will be the one to help them accomplish that!

What do you want your students to be able to do?

I want my students to be able to be creative and independent when they get to my school. I want them to be able to express themselves in a way that they usually are told is “weird.” “Weird” or, as I like to call it, uninhibited is a major “must be able to do” for me! At Camp SMILE we, as counselors, are required to be “weird!” It allows the kids to open up and realize that it is okay to be different from everyone else! I would also want my kids to be able to have access to technology, such as iPads, because they might not have access to it anywhere else. Technology greatly increases the ability for people with special needs, who are non-verbal, to communicate with everyone else!


What will be the primary way of teaching your students?

Well, since this is my dream school, I’m allowed to get needy, right? I would have many, many teachers who have had experience with children with special needs. The classrooms would be very small and divided by the child’s level of help they require. They would have unlimited access to iPads and the teaching method would compose of much one-on-one time. The teachers would use different apps to help the students on the current topic. They would also have group activities that would be appropriate for the children in the class. Outside learning time to the children that are more independently mobile, would definitely be a must!


What tools will you use in your classroom?

As I’ve said, I would use mainly iPads/tablets. I would also use smartboards to show powerpoints from time to time. I would use picture cards for non-verbal students, who cannot use the iPad, to help them communicate what they want/need. I would have coloring tools available for all my kids to express themselves. I would, also, have a large collection of videos for every subject to help my kids learn better.


What role will the students play in your classroom?

The children will play the biggest role in my classroom! They will be the deciding factor in how the classroom and lessons run! According to how the students learn and at what rate, will decide the “lesson plans.” Depending on how they learn best, will decide on what tools the classroom uses. If the students learn best in groups, groups it is! School is all about the students, so their role is a vital piece of my dream school!