1. View children as individuals, each having a unique pattern of abilities and interests that need to be nurtured. This includes genuine respect for students' culture, language, and ethnic origins.All Cartoons by
Reality:
The cartoon reminds me of a flesh-and-blood child of 10. I'm
not so sure of his mind, but he seems to have extras of both joints and
ideas. He can twist his body into the most extraordinary unique shapes.
He uses his boundless energy to further his entrepreneurial skills to wash
your car or sell you lemonade. His parents wisely allowed him to
set up a table on the sidewalk in front of their house and use his interests
to foster math skills.
Comments:
As we look at individual children we need to keep an eye on their community
and family. No child comes to us 'unconnected'. As we connect
to the child and the child's environment we build trust and understanding.
If we try to keep the perspective of the child we are considering we will
be less likely to label or stereotype the child's context or the the child.
In the above story one of the connections we see is that between receiving
and giving, or using, the gift. A child psychologist, working with
children whose intellectual gifts were causing them some dysfunction said,
"I happen to like the label 'gifted' because it means to me that the child
did nothing to deserve it. It means the child has a gift that was
given to him and because he has that gift, he has certain responsibilities.
He is not 'better than,' merely 'different from' and with the gift goes
the responsibility to use it." The kind of person the child is, is
determined by the willingness to use these gifts in kindness and consideration
of others, and a willingness to give gifts back to the community.
In the story, the little lemonade seller has begun to use his gifts for
the good of his community (and his pocket book) while at the same time
using his interests and his energy wisely.
ED419 Related Activities:
Before assessing the gifts and abilities in the children in our charge, it may be useful to consider our own. There are many activitiies related to this rule. First, where are we each coming from? Begin to explore this avenue by considering and answering the first forum question "What is in a Name?" Later, go to the two activities that appeared with the original of this article Multicultural-Multiintelligent and Observe with Fresh Eyes. What you discover here may be answered in the forum question in week two.Finally, at some point during the quarter you will select an optional activitythat matches your style and interests:
Although the choice of reading from the lists of books on the syllabus and the free choice of material for your contributions for the annotated bibliography, will reflect your own areas of interest, the optional activity is the component of the course that will allow you the best opportunity to pursue your unique interest. If your strength and interest is in interpersonal interaction, you may wish to interview an educator. An artistic bent may be best used in a visual presentation of some facet of the course (a remake of a list "It's OK" is a specific example). If you have strong intrapersonal skills, you may wish to complete the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Someone who has strong research and reading interests may wish to gather relavent current events or read more than one book from the lists on the syllabus. After finding a mode of work that suits you, in some of these choices you also have the leeway to find a topic of great interest to you that helps you work toward solutions of real problems. In the fifth forum question you may share your discoveries with us.