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Tuesday, May 23, 2006Want to learn on your own schedule? Tired of hearing teachers tell you off for wanting to go to the bathroom in the middle of class? Do you just want the flexibility to fit the puzzle piece of going to school into your daily puzzle as you see fit? This is a reality in the Halton district just outside of Toronto, Canada. This groundbreaking alternative program really engages students to complete credits or school time in a more inviting atmosphere. Operated by Burlington, Ontario based Gary Allan High School that runs a wide number of alternative programs in the area. Five sites across the Halton district run simultaneously from morning till night. Open from roughly 8am-8pm the sites are to be found in Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Georgetown and Halton Hills, Ontario. Each site has several classroom spaces and computer lab space. The teachers are on a rotating schedule but each teacher will be there almost all the time or someone else with similar skills will be happy to help you. Your Self Reliant day starts whenever you like as you go in and sign in the time on a calendar sheet in a sign in book that each teacher has. You complete your work and write down the sign out time in the box for that day as well. As long as you have a minimum of 6 hours a week you are perfect, if you have a day job or a night job you can customize your schedule accordingly. I do go in each weekday to ensure I will go through to graduation as I'm almost closing the curtain on high school, but you can arrange this however you wish.  The courses follow the same guidelines as the rest of the Ontario secondary school curriculum with some adjustments that's up to the teacher. There's a wide variety of courses from Travel & Tourism, computers, digital photography to Social sciences, History, English and an assortment of other courses. Each time you arrive your assignments will be given to you in packages by the teacher. Computer courses have their courses online on the Gary Allan website via a portal which you can access from anywhere at anytime with your student login. Computer assistants mill about the computer lab answering all your technical queries just as teachers do about the classroom answering your questions about the assignments. You progress your way through the packages which tend to be larger than the usual smaller assignments you would get in a traditional classroom setting, as you are in the room longer for the most part doing your work. You choose when you leave, whether you make up extra time on a certain evening and when you take breaks. As with all alternative learning which Canada particularly the province of Ontario is on the cutting edge with you have a number of liberties that are part of your education experience. With this does come responsibility and as with the namesake of the program you must be self reliant.
 I for one have no interest in abusing alcohol, hearing sex stories or the like that no not always but most often comes with teenage group. Teenagers don't like to admit it but it has been proven time and time again that they are one of the most conservative groups on the planet. If you think about it it's truly not hard to believe, they all want to do as the other one does. They all talk about being drunk, going to drinking parties. For some strange reason they all love the same bands, movies, shows and have the same often very poor values. You are appreciated and part of the club if you swear incessantly. I for one see through this plastic mask as flimsy and thin and artificial as plastic itself. Not having this nonsense and spending time with more mature teens and adults I absolutely adore and wouldn't take back for a minute. There are no deadlines on any of the packages or assignments at anytime aside from exams and tests. Even then within a certain period of time these dates are arranged through the teacher and yourself. I have seen countless students who I remember from my regular high school who have no immersed themselves in Self Reliant. I believe that it's very important for students to have this option of being able to plan their own schedule and have all the concrete rules of the traditional system crumble away while being able to obtain their credits and learn. Don't take it from me take it from others and read this article written by a teenager age student recently published in The Oakville Beaver all about Self Reliant Learning. A truly worthy option for many of all ages with a different flair, far different than that of the traditional confines of a high school classroom. Teague Neal blogged on 9:46 PM
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Teague Neal |
