The main piece of advice I can give is this: I knew I was smarter than most of the other kids, and I knew the adults (my parents and teachers) knew this. So I figured since this was known, why should I have to do memorization busywork to prove whether or not I could? So sometimes I would just not do my work. Note that I didn't realize the point was to learn the subject at hand. In my defense, I mostly did this with assignments/tests I couldn't see the value of, such as memorizing exactly which explorers were in what areas of the US (usually Florida, where I lived) during what years. It's as though I expected to just be given an A even if I hadn't done the work, because it was already taken for granted that I *could* do any work. In retrospect this logic seems insane, but that's how I thought at the time, and apparently it's very common amongst G&T kids.
So yeah, my advice is: watch for motivation. I don't actually know that I know a way around this problem, except to find a way to convince kids that yes, actually, you do have to do the work, even if it's boring; the point is to do the work, not to prove whether or not you can do the work.
I'll also say that I was far, far, far happier in the G&T classes I took than in the regular ones, when G&T classes were available later on. They were more challenging, and if I wasn't being challenged, I was bored and unhappy and failed my tests. So I guess my other piece of advice is to make opportunities available. There's a fine line between providing opportunities for challenge and pressuring a kid too much, but the line is there. Let them explore.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-08-19 07:20 pm (UTC)So yeah, my advice is: watch for motivation. I don't actually know that I know a way around this problem, except to find a way to convince kids that yes, actually, you do have to do the work, even if it's boring; the point is to do the work, not to prove whether or not you can do the work.
I'll also say that I was far, far, far happier in the G&T classes I took than in the regular ones, when G&T classes were available later on. They were more challenging, and if I wasn't being challenged, I was bored and unhappy and failed my tests. So I guess my other piece of advice is to make opportunities available. There's a fine line between providing opportunities for challenge and pressuring a kid too much, but the line is there. Let them explore.