Misunderstood

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Home : 2004 : October : 13

Misunderstood
By Ellyn

I'm so glad to hear I misunderstood you. It's difficult to communicate the whole story in writing, and I admit to having worked with some people who have indeed tried to dump their responsibilities in the classroom.

I
guess my point is that you can't assume that gifted kids are little grown-ups, and I have known teachers who think that way. These kids aren't necessarily more emotionally mature than your slowest student, and giving them responsibility for a slower child (who may be seen as a difficult child) even for a short period of time can cause frustration, comparisons, and even anger unless it's

continuously monitored.

Just like you wouldn't bring a lay person (adult) into your classroom and tell them to go teach your students, you can't do it with gifted kids either. You need a "program" set up where you have spent the time to teach the gifted kids how to teach. If you are fully there when they're "teaching" to oversee that the dynamics are appropriate, kids helping kids can be a good idea, but doing so won't really free up much time for you. It will actually take more of your time because of the necessary training and oversight and dealing with questions, concerns and perceptions from students and probably their parents at some point. I guess it was your mention of the time issue that struck me, and that's why I responded the way I did. I'm sorry I appeared to gruff.