[Mpls] Class size and other related education items

[Michael Atherton]

Dan McGuire wrote:

> The suggestions you have would likely benefit quite a few 
> teachers and parents in Minneapolis and elsewhere.  Please 
> post them online for all to see. 

Is E-Democracy a 501(c)(3)?  And if so, if I provide an answer
to this question can I deduct my consulting fee as a charitable 
contribution? ;-)

Before you start:

Rule 1: Be sure to evaluate whether your teaching methods 
result in the learning and achievement gains that you hope 
for and not just what is emotionally rewarding for you as a 
teacher.

Rule 2: Setting high expectations and insuring that students
are accountable for them is often more important than how 
and in what context content is delivered.

Rule 3: Incremental performance feedback is essential for 
student achievement and accountability.

Rule 4: Students cannot learn in chaos.  An adequately
controlled environment is necessary for student learning
and achievement.

Adaptations for Large Classes

a. Distribute responsibility, evaluation, feedback, and
assessment.  Use small groups and student critiques.

b. For large numbers of students, resort to sampling for 
most assessments.

c. Automate. A little learning on your part can result
in an iterative magnitude savings of time invested.  
If you're thinking of it odds are someone has already 
written a program to do it (there are 3.8 million
teachers in the U.S. most of them doing their own
preps).  If you program it, share it. 


Now I suppose that Mr. McGuire will explain why these
suggestions won't work. ;-) But, I can analyze and 
explain execute all of them successfully given a 
specific situation.

Michael Atherton
Prospect Park