Boring teachers? *yawn*
sean german
Subject: Re: No Attention Span
Newsgroups: alt.parents-teens
In-Reply-To: <1993Jun17....@bnr.ca>
Organization: Bowling Green State Univ.
Cc:
Bcc:
In article <1993Jun17....@bnr.ca> you write:
>I just recently met with my daugther's teachers on a evaluation test they
>performed on her.
>
>They all concluded that she has a hard time focussing on the person who is
>talking to her (ie. doesn't following instructions, seems off in space most of
>the time).
>
Ok, but how is she at DOING things? If she starts a project on her own--a puzzle, model airplane, ect--will she see it through to the end?
You describe me in most of my lectures(I am a college senior), but leave me
alone with a text, or better yet, just let me loose in the lab(I am a chemist)
and my attention span is fine.
Bottom line: 1)I learn at my own pace..maybe your daughters classes are to easy for her. she sounds bored and unchallenged.
)Doing is better than listening...there is a place for both, but I learn very little from a description of a lab procedure. I learn tons doing it.
Just becuase she doesn't listen to her teachers, dont assume she has a problem.
The problem may be with the teachers.
sean...who was a freshman for 3 years so knows lots about college...just ask!!
(:+)
creative soul
>>I just recently met with my daugther's teachers on a evaluation test they
>>performed on her.
>>
>>They all concluded that she has a hard time focussing on the person who is
>>talking to her (ie. doesn't following instructions, seems off in space most of
>>the time).
>>
>Ok, but how is she at DOING things? If she starts a project on her own--a puzzle, model airplane, ect--will she see it through to the end?
>You describe me in most of my lectures(I am a college senior), but leave me
>alone with a text, or better yet, just let me loose in the lab(I am a chemist)
>and my attention span is fine.
I don't really have anything new to add here, but sometimes affirmation is
valuable. Most of my teachers -- many of the college teachers, but
*especially* my high school teachers -- were horrendously dull. I'm a
highly intelligent man (not boasting, just facts) with a tremendous
curiosity. Making a bright kid sit through dull classes for years on end
is very destructive. And of course, the teachers want to blame the
problem on the kid!
Ruth Ginzberg
> Making a bright kid sit through dull classes for years on end
> is very destructive. And of course, the teachers want to blame the
> problem on the kid!
>
I just want to agree with this, and I have an illustrative story to tell along
this line:
My daughter (who just graduated from high school today, BTW -- 7th in her
class, ntl honor society, ntl merit letter of commendation, major awards in
music & social studies) was put by her 1st grade teacher into the "slow"
reading group. Since she didn't seem like a slow learner to me, I asked for a
conference. The teacher's "diagnosis" was that (I think this is an exact
quote) she was "a child with a below average intelligence and a pushy mother
who was unable to accept her child's limitations."
Because this just really didn't fit with my experience of her AT ALL, I
arranged for a private evaluation of her during the summer between 1st & 2nd
grade, by a psychologist who was VERY highly recommended as being one of the
best around. [BTW - this was not exactly cheap...]
[here's where this story gets relevant to the current thread...]
The psychologist's diagnosis was two-fold: (1) she was allegedly
intellectually gifted, and (2) she allegedly had Attention Deficit Disorder
Without Hyperactivity. [I heard these twin "diagnoses" as a long way of saying
"she's smart & she's bored in school."] The psychologists recommendation was
that she be referred to a child psychiatrist for a Ritalin prescription for her
alleged ADD. Alas, the psychologist forwarded her report to the school. So
when fall came, the school social worker decided that she *MUST* be on
medication for her ADD (now that it had been diagnosed, and meds recommended)
before she could be readmitted to the school. This was the same way they dealt
with kids who flunked eye-screening tests. They *had* to have glasses or a
letter from an eye doctor saying they didn't need glasses before they could
return to school. I thought this was getting totally out of hand, as I never
did believe that she needed *medication*. A huge meeting was called: me, the
teacher, school social worker, school nurse, private psychologist (whom I had
to pay extra to attend this & two other meetings), principal, & God knows who
else, I can't even remember any more. I finally caved in and agreed to let her
have a trial of ADD medication. The child psychiatrist from our family
practice group recommended Cylert. So she actually was on Cylert for 6 weeks
or so. But when I started reading about liver complications, etc., I decided
that *NO WAY* was she going to take a druhg she didn't need which could cause
serious complications. Off the drug. Another meeting. I kept asking, didn't
anyone SEE a CONNECT%ION between these two "diagnoses" ??? She's smart, so
she's bored, so she doesn't pay attention. Finally I insisted that I wanted
this treated BEHAVIORALLY, because I was opposed to the medication. So I
exercised my right as a parent to opt for BEHAVIORAL treatment rather than
medical treatment. So they put her in a special education class.
****** I could go on and on and on..... but to make a long story short(er),
the only thing that really helped win this ridiculous battle was that we moved
3 times over the next 3 years, and by the second time I wised up and said that
her 1st & 2nd grade records were "lost" -- so she was able to start 4th grade
in a new school without all the prejudices of my previous battles with her
previous schools infecting her relationships with her new teachers. I honestly
don't know how we could have dealt with it if we had needed to stay in the same
school district for all 12 years.
Just one parent's experience; not intended as a general statement about ADD or
drug tratment of it. Each situation is different...
------------------------
Ruth Ginzberg <rgin...@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Philosophy Department;Wesleyan University;USA
Pete Lancashire
Yep, I can in one day find a head doctor that will call 'this kid' ADD.
-pete
--------------------------------------------
----- Pete Lancashire pe...@sequent.com ----
----- Kid in spirit. Big Brother to be! ----
--- or now ---
- Adopt ? ME ? HELP !!, Am I going crazy ? -
--------------------------------------------
Robin Carkhuff
>*especially* my high school teachers -- were horrendously dull. I'm a
>highly intelligent man (not boasting, just facts) with a tremendous
>curiosity. Making a bright kid sit through dull classes for years
>on end is very destructive.
I'm one of those high school teachers. I was also one of those bored
kids. I teach in a psychiatric residential facility, so my students
have a wide range of abilities. I find that when I'm talking in a
way that is interesting to my brighter students, the less able kids
don't understand and become bored and disruptive. If I explain
things so the slower students can understand, the bright ones are
bored and tune out. My students' range of abilities is probably an
extreme (IQs between 70 and 130), but I'm sure the general situation
is true for the regular ed. public schools. Often I think that a
tracking system would help, but on the other hand, I'll be the first
to admit that there is no easy way to put a finger on a child's
ability.
One suggestion that parents of bright but bored students might try:
Find out what's being taught in class and challenge your child to
learn more about the interesting details. Let the teacher know that
you're doing this so he/she can be prepared for unexpected questions
or comments from your child.
The other thing I'd encourage parents to do is pressure the school to
provide GIFTED Special Ed. services. Gifted is a category, but
rarely are the districts funds allocated to it. This my be a
personal prejudice, but I really think giftedness deserves much more
extra encouragement than many other areas of Special Ed.
If all else fails, let your child know that he/she's sometimes
justified in being bored and that being able to fake one's way through
boring situations is just one of those skills adults have to master.
Robin Carkhuff
Rich Littell
Carkhuff) writes:
> >Most of my teachers -- many of the college teachers, but
> >*especially* my high school teachers -- were horrendously dull.
>
Robin,
Thanks for the input, my daughter is a straight A student and she
is in the advaced/gifted program at out local middle school -- she
like you and the original poster is generally bored out of her
mind.
I work with her, constantly, trying to find ways to make
life/school more interesting for her. I'll have to give your
chanllenge suggestion a try when the school year start this
fall.
I wish that my wife and I had the money to send her to a better
school; however, that is pretty much out of the question. One
nice thing about some of her teachers, the kids are allowed to
read, at there desk, when they understand something, or are done
with their work. It helps some. Lots of times, she'll have enough
time, in class, to finish her written homework assignments leaving
us more time to read and study at home.
Well, I best get back to work, have a happy 4th of July.
Rick Littell (rlit...@encore.com)
Robbie Felix
>In article <20t4fb$n...@fnnews.fnal.gov>, ro...@severian.chi.il.us (Robin
>Carkhuff) writes:
>> >Most of my teachers -- many of the college teachers, but
>> >*especially* my high school teachers -- were horrendously dull.
>
>life/school more interesting for her. I'll have to give your
>chanllenge suggestion a try when the school year start this
>fall.
>
I have no background in math and science, although these are her main
focus. I figured that there were many people who *loved* these
subjects that I knew ( I recruit engineers for a networking company,
who has access to more math and science lovers?).
So I found people who *love* physics, math, other science disciplines
and I asked them to share their love for these subjects with my
daughter to make up for the teachers inability to make the subject
interesting.
My daughter ( who was barely getting a C ) ended up with a
B+ in physics.I find it interesting to note that the teacher didn't
get her contract renewed ( I thought my daughter was making excuses at
first when she said the teacher was boring and didn't understand the
subject matter well enough to teach it!), but my daughter learned the
material *and* got some passion for the subject besides.
If you have friends ( or can hire a college student with a passion for
the subject) who truly love a particular subject that your child needs
to develop a passion for, try to enlist their enthusiasm. Perhaps you
could even arrange some type of field expeditions with the tutur, the
child and yourself and learn something yourself!
It worked for me!
rf