Because our classroom is our home, we will encourage students to give it special care and attention. It is not just a classroom in which they pass 40 minutes before they move on, as in traditional high schools, but
their
room to live in, to keep their possessions in, to keep clean and to decorate. We, the teachers, plan to have our free period between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. before
Reading, Writing and Relat
ing begins so that we can open the room up to the students. Many students will learn to come early, walk in and out of the classroom, bring their friends who also arrive early and perhaps eat an early morning snack. Some students will do homework during that time because they know they can get help from teachers. A few students will use the room during that time to do extra work on a regular basis for credit.
The room that we will use is an oldfashion school room with four walls, plenty of blackboard space and many windows. Each teacher will use a separate section of the room, setting up work space for her students by putting together rectangular tables. Students will be divided into two groups, each of which will spend an hour in reading and an hour in biology/ sexuality on a rotating basis. We will assign students to the groups according to their reading ability. After this workperiod there will be a short break followed by activities. The tables will be moved to form a communal group so that everyone can work together.