Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 BLOG- Ashley Taus

Individuals who are gifted definitely need and deserve to be taught in a different manner. Their lessons / assignments must be changed to make them more suitable for their abilities. After reading chapter seventeen, please answer the following questions:

(a.) Why would it be unfair to provide a student who is gifted more of the same work after he or she completes an assignment? In other words, you have given your 2nd grade class 20 addition and subtraction problems to complete for an assignment. Why would it be unfair to give a student who is gifted 20 more addition and subtraction questions once he or she had completed the original assignment? 

I believe that it would be extremely unfair to give a student who is gifted more of the same work because if the student has already completed their previous work correctly, it seems pointless to give them even more work. You are just providing the student with busy work which is not helping them learn or reach their full potential. As a teacher you should be giving assignments to students so they can practice what they were taught. Giving a student that is more gifted is not helping anything, it is just a waste of time. A teacher could give the student a more challenging think-sheet once they have completed the first one to see if they can expand their thinking and knowledge. 

(b.) Why is it unfair to constantly ask your students who are gifted to assist their peers with assignments? 

I think it is unfair to constantly ask the students who are gifted to assist their peers on assignments because they are not the ones that should be doing the assisting, the teacher is. A student that is gifted should be treated  (to a certain extent) just like the other students in the classroom. They should not have the role of aiding other students, they should focus on themselves and their learning. Of course there are times when students should work together and help each other because sometimes students learn better when it comes from their peers (another perspective), but this should not be very often and all students should be helping each other. 

(c.) What are some drawbacks to acceleration?

One drawback to acceleration links to social issues. When a student masters a subject and then moves on, they become distant from their other peers and what they are learning. The other students may see them as a outcast of differently because they are no learning the same material. This is evident when content acceleration occurs because the student is put in different classrooms for different subjects. Therefore, the student is always with different classmates and doesn't have the time to excel in one classroom socially. Also, the student could become extremely bored with the material they are learning. The student is learning their material straight from the book or worksheet. They are not involved in the introductions of lessons and activities, so they are not as interested in the material they are learning. Learning needs to still be fun and interesting to these students.