Would you like your kids to dance on their desks in school? (Video incl)

[justlearning]

I just saw this story on cnn.com and found it interesting. I was wondering what you think of these techniques. Would you like them to be used in your school? If your kids are in a school with mostly Caucasians, do you think they would still embrace these techniques the same way as the students at the Ron Clark Academy (who appear to be mostly African American)?

Here's the link to the video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/10/03/nr.holmes.new.way.to.learn.cnn

ETA that here's the link to the Academy's website: http://www.ronclarkacademy.com They have a long video on there about how their school started, its mission, etc. Very inspirational!

[MartiesMom2B]

I think Martie would love it. In her school, you need to be quiet during class time, lunch, in the hallways, etc. They have a recess period at the end of the day. To let your kids remember lessons through song, let them get up and dance would be great. I don't think it's for every kid, but it seems like it's working. I love the colors of the place, it looks exciting. I'm sure that there is wait list to get into that school.

[infomama]

Very interesting. I wonder how the kids would do when placed back into 'traditional' school (public or private) after their 4 years the the RCA.

[elizabethkott]

This was a great video - thanks for sharing!
I'm currently working on a project to present to fellow faculty at my own high school regarding arts integration in mainstream core classes - how the arts can help students acquire information and retain it, and how we as arts teachers in the secondary school can be used as a valuable in-house resource for planning lessons, units, and curriculum. We don't need to be sequestered off in our seperate "electives" affecting only a small portion of the school community, but can be used in mainstream classes reaching all members of the school!!!
I passed the video on to my AP and my principal as a form of further evidence of my project's findings. :D

[elliput]

Schoolhouse Rock in action. :jammin:

[justlearning]

Very interesting. I wonder how the kids would do when placed back into 'traditional' school (public or private) after their 4 years the the RCA.

Good question--I wonder that too. The RCA is only for grades 5th-9th. During that time, they also make two big trips a year, traveling around the world. I wonder if their expectations about school will be so elevated during that time that they would have a difficult time adjusting back to a regular school.

[mamicka]

I think that the example that this school has put out is one of making learning fun & thinking outside the box. I think that each school utilizing this technique would look different & so would account for the different styles (personal or cultural) of the teacher & the majority of the students.

Overall, I agree with their philosophy. However, I wouldn't be happy about my kids learning songs that seemed to be political, but it is a private school.

ETA: I don't think I'd aprove of standing/dancing on desks, but that's a personal thing. It seems very unsafe to me.

[fortato]

I would send my child in a heartbeat. Did you notice how articulate those kids are? We need more schools like these.

[newg]

I use to do something in the classroom called the phonics dance......we did it every day after recess to help the kids learn the different sounds certain combinations of letters have when grouped together...........so when they got to a word they were having trouble with...if it had a phonics dance sound in it we sing the song/do the dance and it helps them figure out the word...........

We also did songs/chants/dances in the morning as part of our morning meeting.......

I think it's a great idea.......very few kids learn to their full potential while staying "inside the box"............

[niccig]

The students look motivated and enthusiastic about learning. The title of the clip says it all for me "students that enjoy going to school". It's very different from what happens in many traditional schools where it's now all about sitting at a desk and quietly studying. There's no art, music, sports or even recess in many schools now. Children can't sit still all day long. Heck even I get antsy after a couple of hours. If they can get up and move their bodies, have fun and are learning, then I'm all for it.

We've enrolled DS in a non-traditional school. I don't know if they dance on the desks, actually they don't get desks until grade 4. Before that there are tables and other stations in the room that they work out. It was a selling point of the school for me, even more now as friends' boys are getting into trouble at the public K for not sitting still.

[Fairy]

I think this is outstanding. I love it. It's clearly working, these kids are engaged, well-spoken, and enthusiastic. I would kill myself on the slide, but like the concept :wink2:

I would probably not send my child, but he learns well right now traditionally. But I'd do non-traditional approach to education in a heartbeat if my child needed it. And I think the teacher at the center of the story hit the nail on the head, kids do not have the same foundation of mindset than they did when we were kids or certainly our parents. They have iPods and video games and cell phones and text constantly. There is a stimulus there that just has never existed before from tinyhood. That's key. And I really like this.

Definitely, the first thing I thoguht of was Schoolhouse Rock. Which rocks. DS sings "he was a hairy bear, he was a scary bear" all the time.