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AP/GATE Teachers Chatboard

Are they having "fun"?

by Facilitator

May 30, 2011

I would agree with both teachers who posted earlier about the importance of students enjoying themselves and feeling fulfilled. It takes a talented teacher to integrate gifts and talents in ways that enrich students meaningfully and with great reward. I believe that the dedicated teachers on this discussion board do that.

However, there are times that students will not feel content. There will be moments of discomfort, as students are stretched and challenged beyond the limits of what they have accomplished in the past and beyond what they believe they can do. If students persevere past this point of discomfort, they will grow towards fulfilling their strong intellectual potential. I just wanted to point out the obvious, that we can't always make students (and parents) happy, but with good reason. I think that true challenges pose the greatest rewards, but the road the road to success can be frustrating. And, as we all know, the greatest failures oftentimes teach us the most ...See More

GT Teacher br> > However, there are times that students will not feel > content. There will be moments of discomfort, as students > are stretched and challenged beyond the limits of what they > have accomplished in the past and beyond what they believe > they can do. If students persevere past this point of > discomfort, they will grow to...See More

Jun 6, 2011

M Having fun equates to student engagement. Student engagement is tied to motivation and yes, achievement. There is a whole body of research and a book available through ASCD on the topic of Student Engagement. And guess what it says, in a nutshell. Students need to have fun and be engaged in learning. The struggle part is okay as long as the child b...See More

Jun 10, 2011

My thoughts When I became a gifted teacher at my schools, the initial transition was tough b/c the previous teacher focused on the fun but not necessarily the challenge.

Over the years, I have come up with a way to help the students understand what we are trying to achieve. Fun is a side-effect. I explain to them that while we certainly will strive t...See More

Jun 11, 2011

Bill T NC science/social studies I've worked with gifted and advanced learners for some years now.

6th grade is challenge enough, as it is the beginning of "secondary" education in my school district, and is particularly so for the advanced student.

Many of these students come to us having never really been challenged in elementary school as our district is ver...See MoreI've worked with gifted and advanced learners for some years now.

6th grade is challenge enough, as it is the beginning of "secondary" education in my school district, and is particularly so for the advanced student.

Many of these students come to us having never really been challenged in elementary school as our district is very "inclusion" driven and so elementary classes are very heterogenous. True, there are gifted "pull out" programs, and the teachers in these programs do the best they can, but it isn't the same as having the students in a "gifted" class, where they can be challenged all day instead for an hour or two. Add to this that some regular ed teacher are somewhat territorial and some even resent the "interference" of that gifted ed specialist and...well...one can see that possible complications involved.

So when I up the stakes, making these students work for their grades, making them think, insisting they use their innate abilities, two things happen...and neither is particularly good:

First, the students who are not really gifted at all but in the program solely because their parents are pushy and have political pull (it happens in our rural district) find they cannot keep pace and cannot do well in a higher level class. Our middle school did, this year, tend to put higher level students together, for the most part, a deviation from the usual thing.

second, for the first time in their academic life, gifted and above average students find they have to stretch and work to get the kinds of grades they did in elementary school. They've been accustomed to gliding through, getting top grades with little effort. Now, suddenly, things have changed.

I get a lot of heat, every year for it. This year I had a little group of parents, most of them with gifted children, who found every little thing they could to fault me (and made up some other ones) in order to discredit me, going over my head to our new principal to complain. I refused to back down. Most of the students finally rose to the challenge. Those that didn't really don't belong in a gifted ed program, in my opinion. They lack the drive and the work ethic to be successful.

Having said all of this, I seek to make my classroom experience "meaningful," not merely fun or academically demanding. Yes, many of the things we do are interesting and "fun," but they also involve some serious effort and critical thinking. Just this past week, the parents of one of my "highly" gifted students told me that this year was her son's most rewarding year, yet. Yes, he had to work hard, but he loved it and learned a lot. More than this (this is me speaking now), I think he developed somewhat of a passion for the disciplines I teach. To me, that is more important than anything else.

Jun 12, 2011

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