[Ohiogift] [OATAG] Airplaine instruction follow-up

Tue Oct 7 16:27:52 EDT 2014

Thank you all for expressing so many of my own thoughts regarding gifted
education and the one size for all attitude in the educational system here.

My son was not a "pick me" kid; he was and still is a "get me the Hell out
of here" kid and his standardized test scores have fallen for four years
now as he quit bothering and just "put in his time" in classes.  Now all he
wants is a GED asap.

We still struggle with his future plans but he is now 17 and if he wants to
drive a garbage truck for a living, I really do not care now.  Our system
destroyed any desire in him for getting an education. And I toy with the
idea of going into gifted ed as an instructor/advocate so this doesn't keep
happening.

We are both disappointed with and disgusted by the educational
opportunities available to those of us who cannot afford private schools
for our children.

K. Thurston

On Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 3:19 PM, Gifted and Talented in Ohio Discussion List
<ohiogift at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

>  Here is the comment that I just posted:
>
> The airline industry has designed seats that are based on the measurements
> of an average American man seated in a straight upright position.  That
> these measurements do not accommodate many people is a problem.  This is
> analogous to the situation of public schools where students are expected to
> conform to “one size fits all”.  Any student who is at the upper end of
> the bell curve is like the man who so annoyed you on the plane because he
> was taller and wider than average.  Did he have to be aggressive? No.  But
> gifted and talented children, who by definition are outside of the norm,
> need to be assertive or their different needs will be ignored.  What is
> offered to the rest of the class may be fine, but if it doesn’t meet their
> needs they may act out in annoying ways.  But what is wrong with a
> student so excited about learning that they can’t contain their enthusiasm?
> And why shouldn’t a child and the parents expect that their child actually
> learn something from the time they spend in a classroom?  It is much more
> convenient for teachers if all students are the same and fit the seats they
> are assigned. Children are different and they deserve to be recognized for
> their unique qualities even if they are outside of the average range.  Equal
> rights are not special rights.
>
>
> Judy Smith
>
> On 10/7/2014 11:52 AM, Margaret DeLacy margaretdelacy at comcast.net [OATAG]
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Friends:
>
> Below are two comments that were attached to the "Airplane Seat theory of
> education" blog.
>
> It seems to me that they encapsulate the problem TAG advocates are facing
> across the country. Their children need services but many educators believe
> that school is all about learning to get along, not about educating them to
> their full potential. Can we do both?
>
> I wonder whether the "special educator" who sent in the second message
> also believes that Special Education children deserve the opportunity to
> experience "deprivation, setbacks and failure" as a regular part of their
> school experiences.
>
> Margaret
>
> Salem OR Mom
>
> 9:05 AM on October 7, 2014
>
> My son was a "pick me". He is 14 and in Calculus and AP Physics along with
> his "regular" Honors classes. He has one of the highest SAT scores for his
> age in the country. He was trying to tell you something back in 2nd grade,
> were you listening or were you annoyed that he wasn't staying with the
> group?
> A kid trying to show you that he may be drastically in the wrong place is
> not a predictor of ASR or anything else but that a child needs a different
> environment.
> 1 reply
>
> Score: 1
> thespecialeducator
>
> 11:18 AM on October 7, 2014
>
> He turned out well despite his "pick me" attitude in second grade. But he
> probably was a pain in the you know what to his teacher and all those
> around him. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with reminding yourself that
> the world doesn't cater to your or yours, we share this planet (and tight
> spaces on planes) with many other people, all of whom are just as annoyed
> as you are for equally good reasons, and (worst of all for Americans) a bit
> of inconvenience is actually good for the soul as it teaches us how to
> handle things like deprivation, set backs, and failure that life routinely
> throws at all of us.
>
>  __._,_.___
>   ------------------------------
> Posted by: Margaret DeLacy <margaretdelacy at comcast.net>
> <margaretdelacy at comcast.net>
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