Or percentage grades) allow parents to follow a child's learning (Wassermann 386). This breaks the cycle of rewarding or admonishing children for subjects that may naturally be easy or difficult. Instead of creating situations that may lead to learning-related anxiety, progress reports give parents information while children continue along a natural learning process. In the case of teachers, those who enjoy traditional structure may find an open style daunting and initially chaotic. However, giving it a chance may be in their best interest. Many of the common struggles that cause burnout in teachers (again, these include behavioral problems, student apathy, etc.) are lessened in the open classroom. Hertzog reports that many teachers are less stressed by this method (530). Additionally, Dunn reports that teachers often regain their occupational focus because for the first time they feel that children are responsive to learning (20-22).

In a final concern, some students do require structure. Many of these students crave structure because they have already been in the school system and have adapted quickly. However, other children just need guidance. Like students who learn at a slower or faster rate, the needs of these children are also easily addressed in an open style classroom. While other students may choose their projects and manage learning objectives from beginning to end, students who need more structure can...

Creating checklists will allow them to see their own progress and to know what come next.
While critics of open classrooms, or proponents of traditional classrooms, may have reservations about an open teaching style, most of their concerns can be addressed. Further, a very open style of teaching allows children to flourish and learn to the best of their abilities, while also helping those children traditionally "left behind" in traditional schools: multicultural students, ELL students, and those learners who work at a different pace. Since teaching is the enhancement of learning, the value of an open style of teaching is apparent. As such, a very open style of teaching is the best, most effective means of teaching.

Works Cited

Brown, Monica R. "Educating All Students: Creating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Classrooms, and Schools." Intervention in School & Clinic 43.1 (2007): 57-62.

Cuban, Larry. "The Open Classroom: Schools Without Walls Became All the Rage During the Early 1970s. Were They Just Another Fad?" Education Next 4.2 (2004): 68-71.

Dunn, Mary Anna. "Staying the Course of Open Education." Educational Leadership 57.7 (2000): 20-24.

Heimlich, Joe E., and Emmalou Norland. "Teaching Style: Where Are We Now?" New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 93 (2002): 17-25.

Hertzog, Nancy B. "Transporting Pedagogy: Implementing the Project Approach in Two First-Grade Classrooms." Journal or Advanced Academics 18.4 (2007): 530-564.

Liles, Abram. "Students' and Staff Members' Perceptions of an Alternative School for Disruptive Students in a Rural School Setting in North Carolina: An Intrinsic Case Study." Diss. North Carolina State University, 2003. 22 Nov. 2007. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11/unrestricted/etd.pdf.

Wassermann, Selma. "Dare to Be Different: Can a School Choose its Own…