My psychology teacher wanted to know what I thought made a great school. At first i had thought I didn’t really know, but then from listening to other classmates experiences, I got to think and recall my own experiences at my high school. I thought what made a great school was how society thought of it. If the school met the state test scores, automatically it would be identified as a school of excellence. How could any one declare a school to be excellent unless they have actually attended that school and lived it? For all you and I know, that school could have handed out the answers to the students, just to look good for the board of education. Then they would be come nationally known as one of America’s best schools. BIG DEAL. I don’t really care. Yes education is important, and too me it doesn’t matter where you get it, as long as you try your hardest and put in the effort. Every school could become a school of excellence if the students want it to be. If it’s where all the parents are sending there kids to school, then it must be a good school. WRONG! Just because there a million gazillion kids enrolled in a high school doesn’t mean it’s a great school. Ok. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit. But honestly, the school could be infested with termites, and covered in mold, with the roof leaking every time it rained with big long plastic bags hanging from the ceiling every time you turned a corner, and society would still consider it a great school just because of the number of kids who give it there all. I don’t know about you, but i sure do not want to be at that school. *cough. cough*
To become a great school, the school should try to offer programs like night school, or G.E.D programs, for those students who want to graduate from high school, but cannot make it day school whether they have become seriously ill or have to work daytime jobs in order to support there life. Most school’s offer a summer school program, which personally i feel is great. If a student needs more academic help, then they should be able to get that extended summer school help.
To become a great school, I think the school needs to be open to new ideas and suggestions. I think they need to listen to what there students have to say, know matter what it is, or how important it is to you. No student should be tossed aside like a piece of trash. Now trash may be a bit of a strong word to use, it’s definitely wasn’t my first word of choice, but i thought it was school appropriate. I do not believe a student should be kicked out of a classroom for disrupting a class because they are bored, being loud or do not understand the lesson the teacher is trying to explain. The teacher should take the time to listen to the disruptive student, and here there explanation for why they are acting the way they are. Maybe the student disagrees with your teaching style; maybe the student has no idea how you solved that equation or how you translated a sentence in Spanish. Maybe that student learns differently from the way you teach. The teacher should take the time to listen to the student and try to understand them better; so that way eventually they will be able to focus on their education, and improve there grades. Students should be taught in a comfortable class room setting. Maybe outside a discussion group or somewhere were the atmosphere is good for everyone.
The requirements for graduation should be the four main basic classes that the school says you need in order to lead an adult life. Like in math, english, history, and science. Once you have completed those classes than I think the students should have more chances to take the courses they want to take. The school should definitely offer more elective classes. We want to learn more, we need a bigger variety.
Pretty much, that’s all I have to say for now. :]
