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Rethinking the American School

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     In Khan's book, The One World Schoolhouse , they illustrate the origins of the modern day school. I was surprised to learn how little had changed in the past 200 years. The construct is still largely the same, even though the world, and therefore the need for the modern structure has change so much. What we're doing now just simply doesn't work for many students. School, as is stands today, is not made for every learner. Dare I say it's not made for the majority of learners, but a few. We have adapted to this by accommodating those who do learn so differently that they would not be successful otherwise. We use tools such as IEPs and 504s to try to even the playing field. But even that is so very recent, just the past couple of decades.            I appreciated the way Khan explains that Fichte's motive was clear, "If you want to influence a person, you must do more than merely talk to him; you must fashion him and fashion him in such a w...
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Creating Classrooms for Equity and Social Justice

 In this introduction, Johnson argues that in order to create classrooms for equity and social justice, teachers need to not only teach students the academics but also foster an environment where activism isn't just encouraged, but expected. Johnson states that to be effective in this way, teachers much envision a "social justice classroom" which consists of "several interlocking components".  Talking points: As I was reading, I kept thinking about the time constraints on teachers already, asking them to take on an activist role on top of that seems like a lot at first but when Johnson breaks down how they envision it, I think it would become second nature at some point. It is certainly a shift in the traditional way schools are currently run. That model hasn't changed much, the teacher teaches and the students, by and large, are told not to question too much. One of Johnson's components for a social justice classroom is "Critical" in which stu...
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Introduction

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 Hi. I'm Erica Boutelle. First and foremost, I am a mom to two kids; One daughter (Kendall, 19) and one son (Leo, 11). I take that job very seriously and I lead with that because they are my world. I've been married for 21 years to my husband Greg.  Me, My husband, daughter and son.  In addition to being a wife and mom, I am a graduate student at Rhode Island College.  This chapter of my life kind of snuck up on me after an unplanned, abrupt retirement. I was active duty Air Force for four years and got to live or visit some really great places. After my first enlistment, I decided that was enough for me and came home to RI. Once I was back home, I discovered that I could get free in-state tuition if I joined the Air National Guard. My plan was to do my one weekend a month, go to school for free and be done with the military. After drilling for two months, I was offered a full-time job there on base. I accepted and spent the next 26 years working either in the milita...
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