Challenging the Gifted
I have to write about this because I just have to.
Here is the scenario:
I have an 8th grade student in my Honors Biology course. She is in the gifted program of our school, and has been getting 100's for basically ever. This year, she had the choice of going into an advanced life sciences course or taking Honors Biology. Unbeknownst to her, I have unleashed the smackdown on my Honors kids this year. Not only do they not have a textbook (I mean, they have one, it is just not the one I am teaching out of), but they also have timed tests.
In cyber school, everything is open book. There really is not much to be done about it because proctoring systems are costly in time and money. We are beginning the process of looking into such software and hardware, but we are years away (in my estimation) from actually implementing it in our courses. So, all of our students can look things up... textbook, google, notes, whatever.
Yet I have learned a valuable lesson from attending Mississippi State - timed tests suck. They really make you work. Even if you have access to the materials, you still need to study and know your information, otherwise you will never get to finish the test in time. I learned this the hard way when taking a test this past spring semester. Ouch.
Anyway, back to mom.
Her daughter has been doing very well all year so far, getting 100's. She would take her time on lessons and, as you can imagine, made sure to look back and check to make sure all of her answers were correct. She got a C on the unit exam.
Unleash the torrent of tears.
On one hand, I really feel for her. She is used to excelling in everything. She is used to it being easy. She is used to things just coming to her and making sense. She said herself that she did not really study. Hello me in 1999 entering college.
Suddenly, she hits a wall. It is not easy. She has to study... what?! She has to try. Hello me when I got a 32% on my first Calculus exam at Penn State. I cried. Oh did I cry!
But you know what? I also got Bs and As on every single test for the rest of the semester because I learned my lesson.
So while I do feel for her, I really sort of feel like... suck it up and deal. Mom asked me if I was going to curve the test or were they (imagine incredulity) "going to get what they get?!" I responded yes, they are getting what they get. However, I did ofter a bone: students who contact me can re-do their incorrect responses and turn in correct ones for half credit. I am only doing this because it was the first test and they have largely never taken a timed test before. That offer is going to go out the window after the first marking period ends.
Mom grilled me for a good 25 minutes...
What did the other students get? (The average is a C... which, statistically, is good news! Not all students should be getting As all the time. It should be challenging, and I am proud that my hard work this year has paid off and made it a challenge.)
What will this do to her grade in the long run? (Probably not much, daily lessons add up to more points than tests)
What if a college sees a B on her transcript?!?! (Uh, nothing... though I did not have the heart to break it to mom that one B is not going to ruin her entire post-high school life)
Are all teachers going to be using timed tests? (I don't know what anyone else does)
How many students passed the Keystones? (about 40%)
What about Honors students? (about 85%)
What about state-wide? (I don't freaking know!)
Mom then proceeded to tell me it was sort of her fault for not being there last week to help her. I quickly pointed out that I am available for questions and help all day, and I do kinda know the material somewhat (sarcasm), so it would be prudent for her daughter to start coming to office hours and asking me questions.
"But she never had to do that before."
High school is different, honey.
I told mom that a lot of studies have come out showing how gifted students get used to things being easy. Traditional school is designed around them: listen to me, take it in, spit it back out at me. Gifted kids can be really good at that. However, how much are they really learning? And when challenged, gifted kids readily will go back to the old familiar things they know how to do for fear of admitting that they are being challenged. Kids who are told they are "smart" never ever want to look less than the title, so they will not even try, or they freak out when they are "called out" on their lack of knowledge.
When I got that big fat F in calculus, I could not drop the course. I just had to work harder. And yeah, I ended up with a D for the semester... it is really hard to come back from that kind of grade when there are only 4 tests total. Trust me though, I did kartwheels when I found out I passed the class and I was really proud of how well I did the rest of the semester.
So what to say to this mom? If my son came home in tears with a poor grade on a test, I would like to think I would talk to the teacher and see what happened. Every parent's gut reaction is that their child is amazing and perfect and they want to alleviate any source of anxiety. But I don't think I would let him drop the course. I don't think I would let him give up. That is disservicing him in the long run! I want him to learn grit. I want him to learn determination. I want him to learn that yes, some things in life will come easy for you... and some things in life are hard, but if you want them enough, you can work at it and probably make it happen.
I guess I will find out some time this week what mom decided to do....
Here is the scenario:
I have an 8th grade student in my Honors Biology course. She is in the gifted program of our school, and has been getting 100's for basically ever. This year, she had the choice of going into an advanced life sciences course or taking Honors Biology. Unbeknownst to her, I have unleashed the smackdown on my Honors kids this year. Not only do they not have a textbook (I mean, they have one, it is just not the one I am teaching out of), but they also have timed tests.
In cyber school, everything is open book. There really is not much to be done about it because proctoring systems are costly in time and money. We are beginning the process of looking into such software and hardware, but we are years away (in my estimation) from actually implementing it in our courses. So, all of our students can look things up... textbook, google, notes, whatever.
Yet I have learned a valuable lesson from attending Mississippi State - timed tests suck. They really make you work. Even if you have access to the materials, you still need to study and know your information, otherwise you will never get to finish the test in time. I learned this the hard way when taking a test this past spring semester. Ouch.
Anyway, back to mom.
Her daughter has been doing very well all year so far, getting 100's. She would take her time on lessons and, as you can imagine, made sure to look back and check to make sure all of her answers were correct. She got a C on the unit exam.
Unleash the torrent of tears.
On one hand, I really feel for her. She is used to excelling in everything. She is used to it being easy. She is used to things just coming to her and making sense. She said herself that she did not really study. Hello me in 1999 entering college.
Suddenly, she hits a wall. It is not easy. She has to study... what?! She has to try. Hello me when I got a 32% on my first Calculus exam at Penn State. I cried. Oh did I cry!
But you know what? I also got Bs and As on every single test for the rest of the semester because I learned my lesson.
So while I do feel for her, I really sort of feel like... suck it up and deal. Mom asked me if I was going to curve the test or were they (imagine incredulity) "going to get what they get?!" I responded yes, they are getting what they get. However, I did ofter a bone: students who contact me can re-do their incorrect responses and turn in correct ones for half credit. I am only doing this because it was the first test and they have largely never taken a timed test before. That offer is going to go out the window after the first marking period ends.
Mom grilled me for a good 25 minutes...
What did the other students get? (The average is a C... which, statistically, is good news! Not all students should be getting As all the time. It should be challenging, and I am proud that my hard work this year has paid off and made it a challenge.)
What will this do to her grade in the long run? (Probably not much, daily lessons add up to more points than tests)
What if a college sees a B on her transcript?!?! (Uh, nothing... though I did not have the heart to break it to mom that one B is not going to ruin her entire post-high school life)
Are all teachers going to be using timed tests? (I don't know what anyone else does)
How many students passed the Keystones? (about 40%)
What about Honors students? (about 85%)
What about state-wide? (I don't freaking know!)
Mom then proceeded to tell me it was sort of her fault for not being there last week to help her. I quickly pointed out that I am available for questions and help all day, and I do kinda know the material somewhat (sarcasm), so it would be prudent for her daughter to start coming to office hours and asking me questions.
"But she never had to do that before."
High school is different, honey.
I told mom that a lot of studies have come out showing how gifted students get used to things being easy. Traditional school is designed around them: listen to me, take it in, spit it back out at me. Gifted kids can be really good at that. However, how much are they really learning? And when challenged, gifted kids readily will go back to the old familiar things they know how to do for fear of admitting that they are being challenged. Kids who are told they are "smart" never ever want to look less than the title, so they will not even try, or they freak out when they are "called out" on their lack of knowledge.
When I got that big fat F in calculus, I could not drop the course. I just had to work harder. And yeah, I ended up with a D for the semester... it is really hard to come back from that kind of grade when there are only 4 tests total. Trust me though, I did kartwheels when I found out I passed the class and I was really proud of how well I did the rest of the semester.
So what to say to this mom? If my son came home in tears with a poor grade on a test, I would like to think I would talk to the teacher and see what happened. Every parent's gut reaction is that their child is amazing and perfect and they want to alleviate any source of anxiety. But I don't think I would let him drop the course. I don't think I would let him give up. That is disservicing him in the long run! I want him to learn grit. I want him to learn determination. I want him to learn that yes, some things in life will come easy for you... and some things in life are hard, but if you want them enough, you can work at it and probably make it happen.
I guess I will find out some time this week what mom decided to do....
posted by FireWithin at 3:19 PM
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