American Model Teacher
Karen Adkins and Roy Adkins drew 31 special education, regular education and gifted students throughout the county to their classroom, where they keep students four or even five years. \"We have kids with IQs from 44 to 144, some with physical disabilities,\" Roy says, \"but no labels are used with children.\" Eloped1 when Karen was 16 and Roy was 20, working low-wage jobs for 12 years before going back to school.Believe their past gives them empathy2 and purpose in this insular3 Appalachian coal county with a per capita income of $14,005. Started collaborative4 classroom 10 years ago after finding Roy's special education and Karen's multi-age students both benefited from inclusion. Base classroom on John Dewey and Fox-fire philosophies5, which say education should re- flect society.Scale down6 Mini-Society economics curriculum7, in which students devise8 currency, get paid for showing up and working, buy and sell wares on Market Days. Sort students into groups for tiered9 instruction; have three aides and one sign-language interpreter help with groups in hands-on10 learning centers. Test students individually to pinpoint11 what they know and how they learn:\"I have a mental IEP (Individual Education Plan) for every child,\" Karen says. Write grants to subsidize annual out-of-state overnight field trip. Send postcards from summer travels to all students to expose them to the outside world. Eat lunch with students. Incorporate sign-language into reading instruction. Their love for all children makes it work. There's such a special aura12 about them. You see them and they're genuine. It goes much further than academics.
注釋:
1.elope vi. 私奔
2.empathy n.同情,同感
3.insular adj. 超然物外的,與世隔絕的
4.collaborative adj.合作的,協(xié)作的,協(xié)力完成的
5.philosophy n.見解,觀點(diǎn)
6.scale down按比例縮減,相應(yīng)縮減
7.curriculum n.課程
8.devise vt.設(shè)計(jì),發(fā)明,策劃,想出
9.tiered adj. 分層的,成排的
10.hands-on親自實(shí)踐的,參與實(shí)踐活動(dòng)的
11.pinpoint vt.準(zhǔn)確描述,確認(rèn),確定
12.a(chǎn)ura n.氣氛,氛圍
卡倫·阿德金和羅伊·阿德金在全縣招收31個(gè)接受特殊教育、常規(guī)教育和有天才的學(xué)生,連續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)4至5年。羅伊說:“我們這里的孩子的智商從44到144不等,有些是殘疾人,但孩子們沒被加任何標(biāo)記稱號(hào)。”卡倫16歲時(shí)和20歲的羅伊私奔了,在做了12年低薪工作后又回到了學(xué)校。他們認(rèn)為是他們的過去讓他們有了同情心和奮斗目標(biāo),要在這個(gè)人均收入僅為14005美元的阿巴拉契亞山偏遠(yuǎn)山區(qū)產(chǎn)煤縣干一番事業(yè)。10年前,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)羅伊的接受特殊教育的學(xué)生和卡倫的不同年齡段的學(xué)生們都從混合班學(xué)習(xí)中獲益匪淺,便開始創(chuàng)辦聯(lián)合教室。班級(jí)教學(xué)是以約翰·杜威和福克斯法爾的教育觀念為基礎(chǔ)的,他們認(rèn)為教育應(yīng)該反映社會(huì)。他們微縮出微觀社會(huì)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)課程,讓學(xué)生自己設(shè)計(jì)貨幣,根據(jù)表現(xiàn)和工作獲得報(bào)酬,在“集市日”買賣商品。給學(xué)生分組,進(jìn)行分層教學(xué)。有3個(gè)助教和一個(gè)啞語翻譯在實(shí)習(xí)中心幫工。他們對(duì)學(xué)生進(jìn)行單獨(dú)測試,以準(zhǔn)確了解他們掌握了什么知識(shí),是如何學(xué)習(xí)的。卡倫說:“我為每個(gè)孩子設(shè)計(jì)了智力上的單獨(dú)教育計(jì)劃。”他們還資助每年一度的州外野地宿營。夏季去旅游時(shí)給所有學(xué)生寄明信片,讓他們接觸外部世界。每天與學(xué)生共進(jìn)午餐,把手勢語言與閱讀指導(dǎo)結(jié)合起來。……