The Weekly Newsletter of Educational Alternatives - www.EducationRevolution.org
AERO Conference: Call for Workshops! - Registration Now Open - June 26-29, 2014 in NYC Area
Super Early Bird Rate Ends in Five Days!

 

Last year many people said that the workshops were the best we ever had. But this year, as I read the proposals coming in, they are knocking me over with their power and innovation. I just hope I'll be able to get around and see a lot of them. Which reminds me-we need many volunteers to help us with the conference; registration, bookstore, signs, daily announcements, transportation, childcare, just to name a few needs. Volunteers can register at the presenter rate. Also, if you have a group of five or more we can make a special rate for you, especially if it includes students.


As we said last week, so many people told us they needed more time to register at the Super Early Bird rate that we are continuing it until the end of February, just five more days. It will then go up to $250 for the four day conference. Actually it is five if you include school visits which will be on Wednesday, the 25th of June. Schools will be closed, but some schools will open especially for those visits.
 

AERO membership is still on sale. You can get an additional 10% off using the coupon that comes with AERO membership. If you don't have membership yet, wait until you get acknowledgement so you can apply the coupon to get the discount. It doesn't apply to dorm rooms as we offer that to you at our cost. And there will be additional savings this year as there is no advanced meal cost. You can eat at the campus cafeteria which is just steps from all the action, or you can go elsewhere. But we will have networking events during some of the meals.

Brooklyn Free School is planning an exciting keynote, with staff and students presenting about the widely recognized democratic school.

We already have over 40 amazing workshops and will soon stop taking proposals. But you can always email me personally to see if something can be squeezed in. We'll indicate on the conference site when all the slots are filled. But remember that during each session we will have two rooms available for spontaneous workshops. This is a unique feature of the AERO conference.

Tesla has extended their days to do limo service at the AERO conference to two days, from the train to the conference! What an experience!

Again it would be very helpful if you could spread the word to your networks about the conference. We need very much to get beyond preaching to the choir! Lets get more people involved, including your teachers, parents, students and other community members. Special group rates can be arranged. 

Interview: Ron Miller on Community & Education
   
Ron Miller, education historian, author, and friend of AERO recently gave the following interview on community & education as part of the ongoing series that we've been sharing with you each week from Isaac Graves. Here's a snippet from Ron's interview:

IG: What does a democratic education mean to you?

RM: Well, it naturally follows from my definition of an ideal community. It's an approach that respects every person, that honors diversity, even while it builds a sense of community where everyone feels that they belong. Everyone has a voice and can participate as they are, be themselves. They can pursue their own learning interests and inclinations, yet they are challenged to go outside themselves and accommodate others' needs and perspectives as well.


Interview: Nikhil Goyal on Community & Education


18-year-old author of One Size Does Not Fit All, Nikhil Goyal gave the following interview for the ongoing "Community & Education Interview Series." In the interview, Nikhil gives concise answers to his questions on the relationship between community and education. 

Read the interview here.

Chris Mercogliano: "There is No Normal"

 

I got a letter the other day from a special education teacher-to-be in Ohio. Reading my book Teaching the Restless was bringing up her concerns about certain things she had observed during student teaching sessions with several second-graders who had been labeled ADHD. She-I'll call her Jane-mentioned the teacher's intolerance of the kids' idiosyncrasies and the fact that one little girl's difficulty wasn't a learning or behavioral problem; it was simply being required to sit still for such long periods of time.

 

Jane ended her letter by asking me to send her the syllabus from my "Ritalin free school," as she put it, so that she could show it to her future principal at the middle school where she will be working as a resource room teacher next year.

 

Of course I was heartened to see Jane's instinct for seeking the possible causes of the trouble not only inside the children she was learning to teach, but also in the critical and restrictive climate of the classroom. But how am I going to explain to her that the answer isn't a change in the syllabus; that what is called for is a radical shift away from the educational and medical paradigms that gave rise to so-called "disorders" like ADHD in the first place?

 

Here's what I came up with: 

 

Read the rest of Chris Mercogliano's post here.

 

Mimsy Sadofsky: "The Sudbury Valley School Approach" (Video)
Watch Mimsy Sadofsky's 2006 AERO conference keynote address "The Sudbury Valley School Approach" here.
 

News & Resources
Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to jerryaero@aol.com.
Thank you for your ongoing support. With your help, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!

Sincerely,

Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization

The Ten Signs You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child
Many parents don't realize that the education world has changed drastically since they were in school. Schools and class sizes used to be smaller, dropout rates lower, in-school violence almost unheard of, and teachers weren't terrified of showing affection to their students, or of discussing moral values. Of course, even then, school was far from perfect, but at least the teachers-and usually the principal-knew every student by name, something that is increasingly rare today.

Because our public school system has deteriorated considerably, many parents, teachers, and individuals have taken it upon themselves to create public and private alternatives to that system; and it is important for parents to know that they now have choices.

So how do you know that it's time to look for another educational approach for your child? Here are some of the signs:

1. Does your child say he or she hates school?

If so, something is probably wrong with the school. Children are natural learners, and when they're young, you can hardly stop them from learning. If your child says they hate school, listen to them. 

February 23, 2014 
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