Two students from Germany visited Dr. Abe Fischler on March 26th 2010


What are the basic changes which are needed to improve the educational system?
-organization+structures of schools must be changed
-the set and fixed time frame prevents the students from being successful learners

Why does the time frame prevent students from being successful?
-every student is an individual and should be treated as such
-every student has a different background (social+learning background)

The learning program should fit the student and this order cannot be reversed.

Class structure of a Charter School

4 hour class periods

7.45-11.45 (4hours)
12:00-4:00pm (4hours)
5:00-9:00pm (4hours)
The schedule is flexible and thererfore most of the students can manage to attend at least one class period per day in order to fulfill the requirements. If the students wish to attend more than one class period, they are welcome to do so. Because of the fact that numerous students are working at least one job they may choose which calss period they want to attend.

What about homework and textbooks?
There is no homework and there are no textbooks at all in order to help the students to stay INDIVIDUALS.

If the students are having a compiuter at their disposal
>>>> if the students have computers at their disposal

and if they wish to continue their work which they startted in the morning,
>>>> started

they can log onto the server of school via internet and they can continue and finish their work.
>>>>>  server of THE school

Are the computers useful?
The computers are the main tools in the school. Every students has a computer terminal.

>>>>>   Every student has  ...

The students are working throigh different programs which they choose.
>>>>  through   different programs that they choose.

REVIEW  that/which    


The computer becomes a LEARNING TOOL and a RESEARCH TOOL. The different computer programs were designed to record every student´s progress. The programs know the statuts of every student and therefore everyone can choose his or her own pace of learning.
>>>> status


The most important thing is the necessity of technoligy.   (sp = spelling)


 The technology enables the school to help the students to graduate and to reach the status of a client which has not been reached yet. Technology is also needed to replace textbooks which are mostly not up to date and therefore not very helpful to help the students in their learning. Instead of spending money on books, money should be spend on new technology.

<>>>>>  spent on new...

What is the purpose of this computer based learning?
The students should be trained to be a SELF-LEARNER.
>>>>  self-learnerS

 They should develop a certain CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING instead of knowing all the facts by heart.

What does the teacher do?
The computer based learning also allows the teacher to draw back
>>>>>   fall back?
retreat??


and change his role from a teacher to a FACILITATOR, a MOTIVATOR and an ASSISTANT. He shows the students how to do groupwork, which is supposed to be project-oriented and he can help the students to find resources for their groupwork but he is not supposed to engage actively if it is unnecessary.


>>>>   most people don't write   "he can help the students to find..."

better:    "he can help the students find..."



The project MUST be chosen by the students to make sure that they are intressted (sp)   in what they are working on. The teacher is the person to connect the different topics. The teacher is not supposed to be on stage.
How are the schools financed?
The schools that exist so far are funded by privat (sp)  investors. To build a Charter School, one million dollars are needed. The technical equipment costs about 400,000 dollars and 600,000 dollars are needed fort he new buidlings.  (sp)

How do you evaluate a new student that is coming to the school?
First of all, a student is not to be seen as a student but as a CLIENT. The school helps the student to graduate. In order to evaluate a new student, a test in maths and reading has to be taken. These are the only two fields the students are tested on.

My own opinion:

I think that Dr. Fischler is right in saying that the educational system needs more money in order to improve. In addition I agree with him in saying that school should be more focused on every individual. The technolgogy is one way to create an individual learing environment but I am not sure, if this ist he right way to do that. But his way of creating an individual learning environment is very effective and it is appealing to students. Could his system be applied in Germany? I am not sure about that and it is unlikely that his system would be implimented by the German government.

>>>>> implemented  (sp)

Maybe the government will change its opinion some day in the futiure ,but ,at the moment the German educational system is changing and the Fischler system does not fit into that.
Christian and I were totally amazed by this pioneer of education.
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THAT / Which
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/which-versus-that.aspx


Here's the deal: some people will argue that the rules are more complex and flexible than this, but I like to make things as simple as possible, so I say that you use that before a restrictive clause and which before everything else.

Restrictive Clause--That

A restrictive clause is just part of a sentence that you can't get rid of because it specifically restricts some other part of the sentence. Here's an example:

Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness.
The words that sparkle restrict the kind of gems you're talking about. Without them, the meaning of the sentence would change. Without them, you'd be saying that all gems elicit forgiveness, not just the gems that sparkle. (And note that you don't need commas around the words that sparkle.)

Nonrestrictive Clause--Which

A nonrestrictive clause is something that can be left off without changing the meaning of the sentence. You can think of a nonrestrictive clause as simply additional information. Here's an example:

Diamonds, which are expensive, often elicit forgiveness.
Alas, in Grammar Girl's world, diamonds are always expensive, so leaving out the words which are expensive doesn't change the meaning of the sentence. (Also note that the phrase is surrounded by commas. Nonrestrictive clauses are usually surrounded by, or preceded by, commas.) Here's another example:

There was an earthquake in China, which is bad news.
Expendable--Which




If you leave off the clause that says which is bad news, it doesn't change the meaning of the rest of the sentence.
A quick and dirty tip (with apologies to Wiccans and Hermione Granger) is to remember that you can throw out the “whiches” and no harm will be done. You use which in nonrestrictive clauses, and if you eliminate a nonrestrictive clause, the meaning of the remaining part of the sentence will be the same as it was before.

Needed--That

On the other hand, if it would change the meaning to throw out the clause, you need a that. Do all cars use hybrid technology? No. So you would say,

"Cars that have hybrid technology get great gas mileage."

Is every leaf green? No. So you would say,

 
"Leaves that are green contain chlorophyll.

It would change the meaning to throw out the clause in those examples, so you need a that. (Also note that the that clause isn't surrounded by commas. Restrictive clauses usually aren't set off by commas.)

Remembering to use that with restrictive clauses and which with nonrestrictive clauses is the best method, but the quick and dirty tip of using which when you could throw out the clause will also get you to the right answer most of the time


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I am a happy facilitator...

IF THE READER WANTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT Dr. Fischler's ideas, go to www.TheStudentIstheClass.com
His email address is   fischler@nova.edu