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Old 11-13-2011, 02:50 AM
 
Location: Whoville....
25,386 posts, read 35,427,335 times
Reputation: 14692

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bydand View Post
I struggled with this same exact thing with my oldest son. My wife and I finally looked at where he was emotionally as the deciding factor and not just the academics... he stayed in the grade he was in. I have often wondered if that was the right decision, and your post has shown me that it probably was. So sorry your daughter is having a hard time now, but THANK YOU for sharing that with us.
But even that can change. Dd's full grade jump was made for social reasons (academically supported). She fit with the older kids. Well, now that she's 13, that's no longer the case. And, unfortunately, she's now even farther ahead, academically, because as she moved through middle school, they kept pushing her up a class here and a class there. We didn't think much of it at the time because it was just a class here and a class there but, because of this, credit wise, she jumps from freshman to junior next year. (She entered high school 1 credit shy of being a sophomore).

The problem, as I see it, is that just because a child is ahead today, doesn't mean they will be tomorrow. I can't tell you how many kids I know who started reading at 3 who are typical readers or even struggling readers today. Kids who did exceptionally well in elementary school who now struggle in high school. I've come to the conclusion we all develop at our own rate and it's not constant.

I thought dd's grade skip was the right move because she had advanced 1 year for every 9 months since birth but that pattern stopped after about 3rd grade (the point where she skipped). After that, she seemed to slow academically and stop socially. She was not a typical 9 year old but she is a typical 13 year old. Puberty seems to have been the great equalizer in her case.

You think you're doing the right thing at the moment but things can change. Academically, she holds her own but now she's not the smartest kid in the class. She's just the youngest kid in the class.
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Old 11-13-2011, 05:15 AM
 
Location: Central Florida
973 posts, read 1,701,335 times
Reputation: 1110
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133 View Post
Actually most of the time the teach did not have the answer, or at most it was a half arsed answer. When I was able to muster the power to listen to them, I would ask a questions, my teachers would flub on the answers. Maybe they just did not know the answer (this happened in college too), or they did not want to tell me. I was a rotten student to have. I acted out from time to time, and gave my teachers a badtude because I was frustrated.

You mention "critical thinkers". Define critical thinking please. I always hear this term, but no absolute description of it.

In my english classes, we went over pieces of literature, and . . . . I dont even remember what went on, but it sure was not about rhetorical devices, techniques used in movies. Now that you mentioned that, I wished it was. All I would have needed was an example of each kind too.

Ivory defined critical thinking very well. And really, that is what a teacher's job is and NOT to have students only regurgitate what they said.

Now as far as your teachers and questions, are you sure you are remembering this all correctly?? Teachers don't know everything that is for sure, but if a teacher is certified in his/her field, I would think knowledge on the subject would be ample. Were your questions related to what you were discussing or way off base? It is hard to answer since I wasn't there to witness it. But it does sound to me that your learning style may have been different from the norm, and you may have "marched to the beat of a different drummer".

Believe me, in the 50's and 60's all teachers did was to lecture and we were expected to not think on our own, but to just spew back on tests what they had said. Memorization was the key to success; and yes, even though this does play an important role in thinking as one has to know the basics, one needs to really use all of Bloom's taxonomy to complete the process of being educated. But ya know what?? It was mainly due to those teachers (sans one whom I modeled myself after) that I became a teacher myself as I wanted learning to be more fun for the next generation as well as to become responsible citizens who used their brains.
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Old 11-15-2011, 01:51 PM
 
Location: Texas
38,859 posts, read 25,405,195 times
Reputation: 24780
Quote:
Originally Posted by Workaholic? View Post
Some good friends of mine are High School Teachers and the thing they hate the most about the classes is the bored looking expressions on many of the kids faces. They tell me that they work with the School Principal and mentors to try to come up with ideas on how to get the kids to participate in activities where they will learn by doing. They also work on their public speaking skills so their tone and presentation is more dynamic and interesting. They learn all about the educational games and how to use technology in the classroom.

But even after all this work many of the kids are just plain bored. They just don't see how the material helps them and are bored by the subject. They are tired and told that it is cool to look and act bored. They don't want to be there and think the teacher is dumb.

If you are a teacher, how do you deal with bored looking students after you tried everything to be interesting and engaging and nothing seems to work?
I'm no longer a teacher, but I taught in a public HS a few years ago.

What I found was that setting up group activities kept the classes lively and the students engaged. Teens LOVE to interact, so give them an opportunity to do so. Let them work in groups on a worksheet that's due before the end of class. If you teach science, have lots of lab activities.

Took me awhile to catch on, though. Because way back when I was in school, they called this cheating. But over the years we've learned a little about how kids learn. The kids will discuss the assignment (and some other stuff, too) among themselves and the ones who don't pay attention to a lecture will LEARN from their peers when they're in a group. Teens will listen to another teen explain something when they won't hear a word the teacher says on the same topic.
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Old 11-15-2011, 08:09 PM
 
Location: Live in NY, work in CT
11,252 posts, read 18,758,701 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Gringo View Post
I'm no longer a teacher, but I taught in a public HS a few years ago.

What I found was that setting up group activities kept the classes lively and the students engaged. Teens LOVE to interact, so give them an opportunity to do so. Let them work in groups on a worksheet that's due before the end of class. If you teach science, have lots of lab activities.

Took me awhile to catch on, though. Because way back when I was in school, they called this cheating. But over the years we've learned a little about how kids learn. The kids will discuss the assignment (and some other stuff, too) among themselves and the ones who don't pay attention to a lecture will LEARN from their peers when they're in a group. Teens will listen to another teen explain something when they won't hear a word the teacher says on the same topic.
I find exactly the same thing from my experience though sometimes the "lazier" teens just want to cheat off the "hard working" ones and sadly often the smart ones are willing to let it happen so they can be "cool" and with the "in crowd".

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out 20 years from now or so.....
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Old 11-16-2011, 03:15 AM
 
Location: Whoville....
25,386 posts, read 35,427,335 times
Reputation: 14692
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bydand View Post
I struggled with this same exact thing with my oldest son. My wife and I finally looked at where he was emotionally as the deciding factor and not just the academics... he stayed in the grade he was in. I have often wondered if that was the right decision, and your post has shown me that it probably was. So sorry your daughter is having a hard time now, but THANK YOU for sharing that with us.
In our case, at the time of her skip, dd was with the older kids, emotionally. What happened in the meantime is puberty. She was a mature 9 year old and actually fit better with the 10 year olds, but she's a typical 13 year old and now hangs out with her old friends at the middle school. Her current crop of peers is taking drivers ed. She's a year off. They're dating. She thinks boys have cooties. She still plays neo pets. They're making vodka soaked gummy bears... And to add insult to injury, she went through puberty late. I thought the skip was a good idea until her classmates out grew her.
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Old 11-16-2011, 03:19 AM
 
Location: Whoville....
25,386 posts, read 35,427,335 times
Reputation: 14692
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7 Wishes View Post
I find exactly the same thing from my experience though sometimes the "lazier" teens just want to cheat off the "hard working" ones and sadly often the smart ones are willing to let it happen so they can be "cool" and with the "in crowd".

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out 20 years from now or so.....
It's not interesting, it's painful. The cheaters grow up to be manipulators who will do anything to make you look bad so they look good because they can't actually make themselves look good or they out and out steal ideas. It still doesn't pay to be the smart one as an adult unless you work in a group of all smart ones. It's only after you quit for another job that they realize what they lost.
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