Questions for Jonah

Questions for Jonah

• Some schools start rank early on- for example, at my old school, students receive their rank every semester starting from 9th grade. The way the students perceive and think about their rank is very different from here, when we just receive our rank in senior year. Do you think something like that could be used as a factor for motivation since it’s over a longer period of time or do you think rank in general should be eliminated?

• What do you think you have achieved personally with the accomplishment of getting rid of rank?

• Do you see any possible drawbacks to not having rank anymore?

• Do you think rank could be beneficial in any way?

• What about the students that didn’t want to get rid of rank and thought of it as a good way to gauge where they compared to their peers?

• Why did you describe sleeping as “merely to do nothing”?

• How do you think the issues of sleep can be solved?

• Do you think the problem of students not getting enough sleep is due to the students themselves and how they manage their time or due to the sheer amount of homework teachers give?

• Would you consider keeping a running timeline of your thoughts/little notes you have about your topic so that it wouldn’t need to be as perfect since it isn’t defined as a journal but rather just some loose thoughts and ideas?

• What is your focus for this project? You mentioned the Hidden Malaise, but it still seems quite broad and open.

• Do you have a concrete goal in mind as to what you want to accomplish this year?

• Or will you be working in many different areas regarding the topic of education?

• Are you looking at problems within education in high school in general or college as well?

• Will you connect how problems with education in high schools may link to problems in education in college?

• Or how problems in education in high schools may stem from problems in education in college and vice versa?

• If you could only choose one, what do you think is the single most important problem within education today?

• Are you considering elaborating more on outside factors that may impact the education system’s problems? (ex: social and economic background)

• In Guilderland, it is not encouraged for there to be an advanced or enrichment course early on, which was emphasized to me when I started going to school here. (You’ve also stated it in a journal: They have talked about not using the word enrichment. This would be a boon to their idea that we are not creating some kind of separate “enrichment” course, but rather cultivating the right kinds of learning inside “regular” classes.) Only in 8th grade do you really see a division in accelerated classes. At my old school, starting from 3rd grade, students are allowed to take enrichment courses and advanced math courses if they qualify. In middle school, there are different level courses, similar to honors and regular courses. Do you think something like that is beneficial or hinders the growth of students?

• What criteria should students have to meet to be able to participate in an enrichment/advanced class?

• Should they have to take a test or should it be based purely on their desire to learn?

• I think the idea of emc at the elementary school level is interesting. Would it be more guided than the class at the high school?