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As a College Instructor the thing that leaves an impression on me is how average 90% of the students are. When I talk to them and review their work they are just not very impressive. Average at best. Most appear to not really put in that much effort and lack common sense and strong communication skills. I can see why our country is failing.
I know I come across as harsh, maybe you have a better impression of your students. Tell us more!
As a College Instructor the thing that leaves an impression on me is how average 90% of the students are. When I talk to them and review their work they are just not very impressive. Average at best. Most appear to not really put in that much effort and lack common sense and strong communication skills. I can see why our country is failing.
I know I come across as harsh, maybe you have a better impression of your students. Tell us more!
I've been teaching high school for 6 years and I can count on one hand the number of impressive students I've had out of the roughly 1000 students I've taught. Most of us are closer to average than we care to admit.
Now if you asked me how many parents I've met who are convinced their child is a genius, that number is easily well into the hundreds. Very few parents think of their child as average.
And if you ask my principal the numer of impressive kids, he'll tell you half of the graduating class. I guess some people are more easily impressed than others.
I've had three who really stand out but I would expect that students who really are geniuses aren't attending public school. We see high average not geniuses.
I've had teaching experience with children all over the spectrum. I used to substitute in preschool up to high school. Anyway, I would say at best 1-2 students are above average. Of those 1-2 from all the classes, maybe 1% is really a genius. I do want to comment, I've notice children seem more athletic and artistically inclined (art and music) than the children I went to school with in the 90s.
Last year and this year I had prek classes. Last year, none of my children were above average. This year two of my children were really above average. Parent involvement is tricky. I think it does give children an edge. I also feel truly "smart" (for lack of a better word) children don't need overly involved parents. Does it help? Of course, but it's not needed. A had a boy last year. He was not stupid, but he wasn't smart. He was also very babyish, despite having a January birthday. One day, he came in telling me something strange. He kept saying these strange things. I figured out he was telling me Shakespeare, but forgetting parts and mispronouncing words. Also, I had a window that facing outside. I could see her on the route she took. I would see her coaching him to say these things. One day, his mom picks him up and says "Have you noticed John (not his name) is obsessed with Shakespeare? We read it all the time." I say that's nice. She kept probing me and probing me. I finally told her "It's nice you two have a hobby, but do you ever discuss what it means? A lot of learning is about meaning, not memorizing". After that, she stopped forcing him to say those weird things. As opposed to the boy I had the beginning of this year. We would be talking roses one week. Then later, I would say "Miss. Mary said the sun finally rose from the clouds. We can go outside for recess". He would say "We read the rose book last week".
I have 62 this year. One is hyper impressive. Three are very, very bright, but are not academically mature. Another ten or so are pretty good. Unfortunately, that is about it.
I am not sure if a cosmic event occurred while these children were in the womb, that wiped out, intellectually, most of an entire year group, or if moms were dope happy, but this year's crop is stunning in its mediocrity.
Today we had to fill out a transportation form for next year. Two in the so called "honors" class did not know their address and another did not know his middle name. Yep. 8th grade, too!
I am not sure if a cosmic event occurred while these children were in the womb, that wiped out, intellectually, most of an entire year group, or if moms were dope happy, but this year's crop is stunning in its mediocrity.
Isn't it funny how all year groups seem to have distinct personalities? I will never forget my group that graduated high school in '06, they were smart, hard working, well behaved, and sought excellence. They were a teacher's dream - lots of bright, impressive kids there. Then the next year ('07 high school graduates) we paid dearly for our easy year before.... bunch of devious little imps, most of who could care less about academics at all, let alone excellence. Even the smart ones were sneaky little boogers who were always trying to figure out a way to create chaos. It was an exhausting year. I had more than a few friends decide to retire after that year. It was so remarkable that I still remember what year those two groups graduated high school and I taught them almost 15 years ago while they were in middle school.
I was an extremely bright kid, but never really "caught fire" for anything but my personal eccentricities until I had teachers on the same wavelength as I was.
One of my best and favorite teachers was actually a very well read pastor who gave the exceptional students in his AP English classes assignments above and beyond the standard AP curriculum. His assignments were more challenging than that of my college English professors. We had to impress him personally, and while he taught the AP English objectives, he went far beyond that with his AP class, which for the most part were very bright students that were already above and beyond an AP level curriculum. He expected a higher level from us than most of us were exposed to before or since.
I knew a lot of bright students, but there were few who were truly exceptional. One person I grew up with who has become a self made decamillionaire in his mid-20s didn't seem that "smart," but looking back, he was seeing things the rest of us weren't. While he'll be the first to admit he's "only" around a 140 IQ, his "intellectual horsepower" has been devoted to far more lucrative pursuits than most people.
I'm sure as a teacher certain students stand out, but who knows what they will become as working adults.
I was an extremely bright kid, but never really "caught fire" for anything but my personal eccentricities until I had teachers on the same wavelength as I was.
One of my best and favorite teachers was actually a very well read pastor who gave the exceptional students in his AP English classes assignments above and beyond the standard AP curriculum. His assignments were more challenging than that of my college English professors. We had to impress him personally, and while he taught the AP English objectives, he went far beyond that with his AP class, which for the most part were very bright students that were already above and beyond an AP level curriculum. He expected a higher level from us than most of us were exposed to before or since.
I knew a lot of bright students, but there were few who were truly exceptional. One person I grew up with who has become a self made decamillionaire in his mid-20s didn't seem that "smart," but looking back, he was seeing things the rest of us weren't. While he'll be the first to admit he's "only" around a 140 IQ, his "intellectual horsepower" has been devoted to far more lucrative pursuits than most people.
I'm sure as a teacher certain students stand out, but who knows what they will become as working adults.
I've notice that about self made rich people. They tend to be very dedicated, but also have one track minds. Most of them have poor personal lives.
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