The high school class we got a chance to visit with was great insight to what future education will be like. I think the creative and open style of teaching is a difficult path to steer, but I feel that it is worth it. It teaches aspects of learning that can only be learned on your own. Growing up around a poor education system (Birmingham, AL) made me relate to the question Alison asked in class about how this would work for a student with a second grade reading level. The poor education system such as the one mentioned has not changed to help students with a lower starting point. This creative style of teaching could be good and bad in this situation. It would bad, in my mind, if the student does not take advantage of the open-endedness of the environment and does not feel they have a good starting point of interest, so they never start. On the other hand, I see many beneficial factors of introducing a class environment such as the high school class that visited. A class like this could be seen as intimidating, but if presented in the right manner, a student of this caliber could see this as an opportunity to discover an interest of some sort. From past experiences, many of my friends who struggled in school just were did not like what they were learning and they eventually stop caring about school. I think introducing a flexible background that the students are allowed to make could help someone find a passion, but also learn about themselves and what they can make of themselves. The flexible learning environment also could help with students who work better outside of classrooms. From past friends, school represented something that they were being made to do. A flexible environment would represent a way to express themselves and achieve personal growth with feedback.

I would suggest adding an option that is not academic to the creative learning environment. Options like sports could help with students who have not achieved much success in the classroom. Being an athlete, I remember being motivated by the opportunity to play basketball and how basketball in many ways kept me discipline and on track. Sports are an unifying activity and could be helpful when trying to spike someone’s interest.