Are there such things as weekend clubs and/or summer schools for 'gifted and talented' kids? That strikes me as where this sort of thing would go down best.

--And.

David J. Peterson, On 20/12/2006 01:23:
> Sai:
> <<
> One thing I've been thinking about lately is getting back into
> teaching - high school or community college level, since that's all
> I'd qualify for at present with only a BA.
>  >>
> 
> You can't teach community college with a BA (this I know, since
> I just got finished today filling out all my paperwork, finally).  You
> have to have an MA, or a Community College Teaching Credential,
> which they no longer award.  In case you got this idea from me,
> I needed my English BA in conjunction with my Linguistics MA
> to qualify to teach English at the community college level.  Plus,
> the full time jobs usually go to Ph.D.'s (or those who've spent many
> years teaching part time).
> 
> Sai:
> <<
> 1. Any comment on how viable it would be to teach a linguistics class
> in a high school, or better, *how* it would be viable?
>  >>
> 
> I had actually thought of this once.  I would have really liked to
> have taken a "linguistics" class in high school--one that, say, focused
> on a different language each month, and allowed you to explore
> differences and similarities--kind of like a practical approach to
> linguistics, rather than an experimental or theoretical.  Of course,
> conlanging would work well with this type of course.
> 
> This type of course, however, couldn't really get off the ground.
> It would need to be designed by a committee of tenured teachers
> and lobbied for within a school district.  School districts are notoriously
> picky about what classes they offer outside the core, because they're
> business people--some of them even elected officials.  Innovation
> doesn't really fly.
> 
> Where this *might* fly is a private and/or charter school, where
> the director/operator has direct control over curriculum, and
> doesn't really answer to anyone.  That might be a place to pitch
> your idea--especially an expensive one where they like to offer
> a wide variety of options to their clients.
> 
> Another really wild idea that you might consider is (and, yes, I'm
> serious) opening your own school.  That would require more than
> an idea for a class, but you'd certainly get to do everything your
> way.  One book you might check out is _The Marva Collins Way_:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Marva-Collins-Way-Updated/dp/0874775728
> 
> She started her own school in her basement in Chicago with like
> ten kids.  She was a teacher that felt that physical contact was very
> important, and that kids should be reading things like Shakespeare
> from first grade on.  This book explains not only her teaching
> philosophy, but how she actually set up her own school, and made
> it profitable.  She also has her own article on Wikipedia:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marva_Collins
> 
> Sai:
> <<
> 2. Any comment on teaching linguistics through conlanging, in a formal
> setting (i.e. getting it approved by the various appropriate
> commitees, possibly articulated to be equivalent to Ling 100, etc)?
>  >>
> 
> You have to focus on the results.  It's going to be a hard sell, since
> they don't teach any kind of linguistics at the community college
> level, let alone high school.  I think trying to set up a mainstream
> linguistics class would be tough--one that focuses on conlanging,
> even tougher.  Parents don't care about anything except what
> valuable information and/or skills their child will be getting from
> a given class/school.  I think including natural languages would
> be a good idea.
> 
> <<
> 3. (for locals) Any places I should particularly look at in the CA Bay
> Area, or (for non) places that it'd be worth moving to?
>  >>
> 
> Start checking links; calling numbers:
> 
> http://www.uscharterschools.org/
> http://www.essentialschools.org/
> http://www.petersons.com/pschools/
> 
> And start reading up on K-12 educational theory and methodology.
> 
> -David
> *******************************************************************
> "sunly eleSkarez ygralleryf ydZZixelje je ox2mejze."
> "No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."
> 
> -Jim Morrison
> 
> http://dedalvs.free.fr/
>