A teacher on Tuesday. Retrieved from http://the-wall-info.blogspot.ca/2011/05/trial-wall-pink.html

Roger’s lyrics and the dialogue may be a bit extreme, painting teachers in an extremely dark light (I hope nobody has ever viewed me this negatively!) but I think he gives a fantastic perspective of what it is like to be a gifted, talented student in a class where there is a predominately traditional learning style.  Click on the link:

Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U

How was the student caged?  How did this impact his learning?  Did you ever feel like this at school?  How did you react?  Do you believe that a child has ever felt like this in your class?

Mirman (2003) argued that gifted children need teachers with specific qualities and sensitivities, including an acceptance of giftedness.  What qualities required for teaching gifted students do you think the teacher is lacking?

My response to the video

The part of the video that really stood out for me was the section where the teacher was reading out his poetry.  Be honest, have you ever read out a child’s thoughts to help him or her into following classroom rules?

“I think back to a time when a fabulously funny student in my class was amusing himself with his nonsensical drawings.  I did not read them in front of the class, I merely took them away from him.  The thing is I shared the drawings with colleagues and we all found them hilarious!  I also explained to the child that his drawings were funny but perhaps not appropriate for the learning.”  Me! Darren Charlton, 2012.

This student may not have been labelled as gifted but he was an underachiever, a characteristic many gifted children have.  An underachiever demonstrates a severe discrepancy between expected achievement and actual achievement.  McCoach and Siegle (2008) discussed how peers can negatively influence a gifted student’s achievement; this student was certainly more interested in gaining the laughter of his peers than the praise of his teacher.  How could I have refocused him towards his learning?  Reflecting on this story also made me think about my role as a facilitator; how can I get children to channel this creativity and originality into learning activities? I know how not to; force feeding them a curriculum in traditional ways.  I need to provide opportunities for children to have the motivation and freedom to choose a meaningful learning path that works for them.

It’s time to look at how some gifted students might react to being in a traditional setting, lacking in freedom.  Click on “Who’s to Blame for the Big Bad Wolf” to find out.

Professional Goal:  To channel humor into appropriate social learning opportunities.

Goal for Students:  To use humour in a positive way at school.

Question:  How can you channel humour into relevant learning opportunities in a suitable way?