by Julia James | Mar 3, 2014 | Daily life, Ideas, Stories
If I’m being honest, it wasn’t anarchy, but something more akin to libertarianism. The rules weren’t really gone, but School Meeting voted to suspend enforcement of any victimless violations. And not even all of the rules were gone — those...
by Julia James | Jan 9, 2014 | Ideas, Stories
A little over 20 years ago, a young Connor Tyrrell (now president of The Circle School Board) dictated a list of reasons he wanted to attend The Circle School. I think most of them remain relevant today! -Julia I’ll learn Japanese at TCS. I can do math at my own...
by Beth Stone | Dec 12, 2013 | Ideas, Parenting
Sometimes while serving on the Judicial Committee at school, I am involved with my fellow JC members in giving a sentence to someone charged with physically or emotionally hurting someone else. It is often challenging to figure out an appropriate sentence, and...
by Julia James | May 31, 2013 | Ideas, Public policy
Peter Gray’s latest post over at Psychology Today, Be Glad for Our Failure to Catch Up with China in Education, reminds me of this post Jim wrote here back in October. Both make the pretty commonsense point that standardized test scores are probably not a great...
by Jim Rietmulder | Mar 24, 2013 | Ideas, Public policy
As a teenager in the 1970s, I wanted to be a fifth-grade teacher—an impulse that remains today, perhaps because I still love and listen to my inner nine-year-old. I studied interesting schools back then (still do), and traveled to visit several while still in high...
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by Jim Rietmulder | Jan 28, 2013 | Ideas
Agency is the capacity to choose and act on your own behalf, and may be a hallmark of life. A rock just sits there, but living creatures can do things, can take actions. Even bacteria detect and move towards nutrients, making choices and taking action in a primitive...
