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Intelligent Students

Sometimes teachers expect the worst from their students. I’ve highlighted this tendency before. Sometimes these teachers have had bad experiences with some unenthralled students and sometimes these teachers are just bad teachers. Whatever the case, the beginning of the year often has teachers comparing horror stories in preparation (perhaps emotional or mental preparation) for the coming semester. The classes I most often hear horror stories from are the classes students are forced to take for a credit in an area they don’t intend to study further. For me these classes were science credits. I waited until my senior year to … Continue reading →

Cons of Students Knowing Skill Levels

Previously, I discussed how it was brought to my attention that some schools are now helping students to understand their skill levels. The students are being given a skill number that helps them know where they stand academically. In my last article I discussed the pros of students knowing their skill levels. In this article I will address some cons of students knowing and understanding how they compare academically. Lack of Effort When an intelligent student is given a very high skill number and realizes that his or her number is much higher than some other students, the child may … Continue reading →

My Frustrations with Teachers and Above Average Students

We have had the discussion about educating gifted children before. We all realize that much more focus is placed on struggling children than those who are well beyond exceeding. Most teachers are threatened by intelligent students and have no idea how to take them beyond their level. Those that do know how are not willing to put in the extra time of planning. Today I want to stay clear of the word gifted. Some children are smart but not gifted. Just because a child is intelligent and may function higher than the standards set for his or her grade level … Continue reading →

The Fight Over ‘Intelligent Design’

In Georgia this week, the Cobb Country school board abandoned what had been a 4 year legal battle. The School Board had put stickers in its science books saying, “Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be studied carefully, and critically considered.” The school board agreed to remove the stickers and never to put anything else in their science books which undermined the teaching of evolution. In return, the parents who sued over the stickers dropped their legal action. Interestingly, the school board placed the stickers in the books after a … Continue reading →

A Good Argument for Inclusion

Is it better for children who have special needs to be included into a “mainstream” classroom, or, will children with special needs benefit more from spending most of the school day in a special education classroom? This debate has been going on for decades. Perhaps it is time for schools to ask what parents think about this issue. The debate about whether or not to include children who have special needs into “mainstream” classrooms is one that tends to evoke strong emotions in both parents and educators. In the past, the accepted answer to this question has swung back and … Continue reading →

Praise for Effort Begets Effort

Recently I read an article Babycenter by Gwen Dewar, Ph.D called Praise that Makes Kids Feel Stupid. The article spoke about the detrimental effect of telling a child “You’re so smart.” On the surface this may sound illogical to you. After all, we are supposed to uplift and praise our children, right? If we do not praise our children they will lack the confidence to achieve, right? Wrong. The article maintains: People who believe that intelligence or talent is fixed and innate become helpless in the face of failure. The concept is illustrated by a child who does poorly on … Continue reading →

Out of Print

Recently I’ve been doing research. Okay… for the past four years I’ve been doing research of one form or another. What I keep coming back to is the absurdity of unavailable information. When I’m doing research there is a blend of old and new information I might want to look at. The internet has provided the opportunity to quickly research and review information for a wide variety of purposes and students have certainly benefitted from this technology. What is disappointing is when something gets between the student and their ability to learn. There are often different colleges and sometimes those … Continue reading →

Short Answer

Once again my students are preparing for an exam and once again I am preparing to write up the exam they will be given. It is a complex course I teach. The students have three subjects, three instructors, three tests and a combination of in-class work, lecture, guest speakers and guest artists. One has trouble blaming them for asking what they should focus on while preparing for the exam. As such, they are given access to review materials in order to assist them in their studies. In truth, these review materials are often nothing more than the slides and notes … Continue reading →

My Kids

Today was the day I gave a big lecture to my course. Not a lecture of anger but a lecture filled with content. The content was varied and hard. I talked about the types of things it would be filled with last time. I believe that the lecture was a success but I don’t want to talk about that today as much as I want to talk about the term I’ve been known to use when talking about my students outside of class to other people: kids. Now, I want to make it clear that this isn’t meant as a … Continue reading →

Review: The Phonetic Zoo

Ever since my daughter was in Kindergarten she has struggled with spelling. We had a few good years due to a great curriculum and active hands on word studies. However, as she hit the junior high level she was no longer interested in spelling games yet still lacked spelling skills. She is a very intelligent girl but spelling is not her forte. I thought that she would simply have to live out the rest of her life as a poor speller. After all, I know plenty of people who have resigned themselves to be poor spellers. My daughter, now in … Continue reading →