Gary Stager is visiting a tiny nation abroad, whose name I can’t spell without peeking, and it has adopted a new Constitution.
Gary says that teachers could save a lot of time if they simply adopted the Constitution of Uzupis and used it as their class rules.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
That is a delightful post (and Constitution). Thank you for linking to it!
From Tomas Venclova’s book Vilnius: a Personal History (which I highly recommend):
“Walking upstream through the Vilnia gorge, you soon arrive at Užupis. WHen I was growing up, this region was almost rural: willows bloomed here, dogs barked, roosters crowed. Lilac bushes concealed wooden privies; women washed their laundry in the river; men sawed wood in the farmyards; and young girls walked in the streets, barefoot or wearing only slippers. My friend, the late writer Jurgis Kunčinas, was an alcoholic and a Bohemian. In his novels, he succeeded in recreating the spirit of Užupis: the poverty, fortuitous love, and the heavy hand of Communist rule. Prior to the Second World War, the Polish poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński also lived here. The same sort of anarchistic ironist, he left behind some very good poetry and funny, absurdist plays consisting of just a few lines each. Late in the Soviet era, this part of the city deteriorated; the stucco crumbled on the sides of houses,and the walls collapsed. The dilapidated apartments were occupied by impoverished members of the counterculture who proclaimed the Independent Republic of Užupis. Their Constitution declared: ‘People have the right to live on the shores of the Vilnia, and the Vilnia has the right to flow past people.’ On one of the walls someone painted an arrow with the inscription: ‘Heaven–12 km.’ This era is now coming to an end, for the new elite has been attracted to Užupis. There are several other such districts–let’s call them suburbs, even though they lie almost in the center of the city–where Vilnius turns imperceptibly into a village. One is Žvėrynas, a collection of small wooden houses at the bend of the Neris. Today it, too, is becoming more and more exclusive and expensive, yet in the winter snow you can still see partridges that have strayed from nearby woods and thickets. Another is Šnipiškės on the other side of the Neris, built next to high cliffs formed during the Ice Age. But this too has almost entirely disappeared.”
Dr. Ravitch,
You made my day. Thanks for linking to my silly article.
Next time we’re both in Užupis, I’ll buy you some mead!
I’m guessing that mead is honey. If so my Ukrainian comes in handy again!
One learns so much from reading your posts. I just took some time and looked at some videos of this little republic that I, like many others, have not ever heard of. How quaint and very old as it sits along a beautiful small river. It looks like a place where creativity and individuality prospers. A place for artists to express themselves. A place where they can live by the Constitution, which I agree would be a good set of classroom rules.
I love intentional communities. It would be fun to experiment with classrooms that are (un)structured in this way. I’m pretty sure, though, that a lot of the teenagers I work with would abuse too many of the “you don’t have to _____ ” rules…
If all children lived in a world of love and stability, then more of this could be done in the classroom. But just like good parenting, the only way I know how to do “good teaching” is to be part task master and part love and inspiration.