| Super Early Bird Rate Ends TOMORROW! |
This is your final "heads up" that the Super Earlybird rate for the AERO conference ends tomorrow, Friday, February 28th at midnight Pacific Time. It won't go up much, to $250 for now. But if you are pretty sure you are coming you can put down a $50 deposit and that will lock in this rate. We'll bill you for the proper balance by the end of April. Furthermore, if you are or become an AERO member, with all the perks and privileges that entails, you get an addition 10% off the registration rate when you use the coupon membership gives you. This brings it to nearly $200, a rate far, far lower than any other 4-day conference we've ever heard of. Actually it is five if you include school visits that will be on Wednesday, the 25th of June. Schools will be closed, but some schools will open especially for those visits. We know that many in our network can't afford much more and we don't want you to miss this conference. That's one reason we arranged for the conference to be at an inexpensive university with $55 a night beds rather than an expensive New York City hotel with $250 a night rooms! Plus, there is no expensive meal commitment this year. You can eat at the low priced Hillwood Cafeteria or elsewhere if you wish. Who knows where we'll be after this year?
We have 47 amazing workshops and will stop taking proposals from the website on Friday. But you can always email me personally to see if something can be squeezed in. But remember that during each session we will have two rooms available for spontaneous workshops. This is a unique feature of the AERO conference.
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. We can also use volunteers!
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Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools
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Click here to enlarge this informative graphic via YES! Magazine. You will find information about their latest issue, Education Uprising, by clicking the graphic as well.
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Stuart Grauer: "Happiness as a measurable educational outcome"
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AERO member and presenter Stuart Grauer reports on what he found on his recent trip to Korea. Meet him at the AERO conference.
After a generation of devotion to high test scores, South Korea's educational success had taken schools to a place where few nations have ever been able to go: the serious consideration of how to become happy. I learned that Korean teens get six hours of sleep a night - not enough to develop or nurture qualities like empathy and creativity. This year's conference theme - International Perspectives on Happiness Education - is a concept that may have been unfathomable only a generation ago.
I began my visit by asking my new friends what their problems were in helping students be happier. Their answer should have been no surprise. It was the same answer I received when I asked similar questions of parents of high-performing Chinese students. It was the answer I got from teachers in Havana, Spain, and Boulder, Colo. It was the same answer I hear from teachers across the country reading my blog postings. I hear this answer from progressive teachers, conservative teachers, teachers who are fresh and starting out, and teachers who are fed up.
Read the rest of AERO member and conference presenter, Stuart Grauer's article here.
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Chris Mercogliano: "Teaching without Forcing"
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Good news! Chris Mercogliano will be doing a workshop at the AERO conference this year after a several year absence.
 My last post, a lengthy reply to a letter from a teacher-to-be who was reading one of my books, met with an excellent response from another young woman who started a small, inner-city school in Austin, Texas four years ago. In it she asked about the nuances of how a teacher can facilitate learning by following the student's lead instead of the dictates of an imposed curriculum. More specifically: "How do you take observations [of the child's interests and strengths] and turn them into a plan for each child?" The question warrants an in-depth answer, and so again I have decided to post my reply in order that everyone can see it:
Read Chris Mercogliano's response here.
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John Taylor Gatto: "The Incident at Highland High School" (Video)
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Watch author and former teacher John Taylor Gatto's 2006 AERO conference keynote address "The Incident at Highland High School" here.
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| 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.
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Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to [email protected].
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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
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The Ten Signs You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child
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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.
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