From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jun 09 2003 - 15:09:08 MDT
--- "Terry W. Colvin" <fortean1@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Someone Wrote:
>
> >It is my opinion that ADHD is the result of boredom in kids who
> > should be in an accelerated learning/self study programs that
> > teachers are too democratic/liberal to approve of and
> > administrators are unable to finance with state or federal support.
> Feliciano says:
> I am not sure every ADHD kid needs accelerated learning, but they do
> need a different learning style. The child might find worksheets
> boring beyond belief. This child might need to build something or
> draw something or do the work on a big sheet or the blackboard.
> The child might do better as part of a team. As a special ed
> teacher I have always wondered why there are so many more boys in
> special ed than girls. I think it is because a girl will sit
> quietly and respectfully and still do nothing or very little
> and still get a passing grade because she is nice and she "tried."
I, who wrote the original paragraph, was the sort of child who modern
teachers would get hopped up on drugs to get to behave, or to pay
attention. Here's a little history:
In fifth grade I spent more days in detention than not. I had C and D
grades. I was forced to learn at the same dull and snails pace as the
rest of the idiots and was bored out of my skull. Misbehaved to the
point of wrestling matches with my teacher. Got corporal punishment
from the principal (ruler on the wrist).
Sixth grade I had the best 6th grade teacher who rewarded achievement
and ran her own self-study projects in class. I did quite well and was
also part of a new gifted child program that encouraged study projects
in areas of interest. I designed a space colony.
Dad and I took a course at the local community college in BASIC
programming. 7th grade seemed to start off on the same dull footing. I
was put into average aptitude class groups and was bored out of my
skull. More detentions. Mum spoke up and I was moved into a math
self-study group that accelerated me to the point where I took
pre-algebra during second semester and algebra in 8th grade. I was
moved into higher aptitude classes in other areas and was also made a
teaching assistant in a new programming class. I wrote programs for the
school's only TI-99 PC, a football video game, a roulette game and a
slot machine game.
By freshman year of high school, I was taking the same classes as my
two year older brother.After that, the only discipline problems were
due to being the top nerd in a rural school.
The high school guidance counselors saw my nerdiness as a threat. They
encouraged my parents to get me to want to be more 'well rounded' by
claiming that I needed to be that to get into the Air Force Academy,
since my dream was to become an astronaut. I did band, chorus, played
team sports, whoopdeedoo. No more accelerated learning programs. I'd
have to survive on the notches up I'd already gained. I usually read
the entire textbook of a class within the first month, and stayed
occupied in class by selling answers to other students. This economic
activity got me some popularity, far more than 'well rounded'
activities got me, so I was invited to parties and offered alcohol in
school. What did it matter? I was bored out of my skull again. By
middle of junior year I was kicked off the ski team for being drunk at
a race (didn't matter that I won the race, my best performance of the
year). I'd abandoned computers entirely.
Modern schools do not want to encourage nerds to be even better nerds.
God forbid, a teacher who encouraged it might be responsible for the
next Bill Gates, and THEN where would we all be??? Paying more money
for smart kids to get better education is seen as undemocratic, while
wasting money on low aptitude kids to stay in normal classes is
pro-democratic. The only way, therefore, to get special attention to
gifted kids is to accuse them all of being defective and hopping them
up on drugs and putting them in special ed programs. Meanwhile, parents
are discouraged from home schooling and denied vouchers they need to be
able to afford private school educations for their gifted kids.
=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- Gen. John Stark
Blog: Sado-Mikeyism: http://mikeysoft.zblogger.com
Flight sims: http://www.x-plane.org/users/greendragon/
Pro-tech freedom discussion:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/exi-freedom
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