A Different Beat

There are some students that you just cannot figure out. Some students sharpen their pencils at any available moment just so they don't have to listen to you talk. Some students raise their hands at every waking moment, craving your attention. Some students sit in the back and shy away at the chance of speaking in front of the class. Other students are in their own little world, thinking their own thoughts and beating to their own drum. These students, I have come to find, may be the brightest and most intelligent of the bunch.

I have two such students in my class this year. Both intelligent, but they both lacking social and organizational skills. These two students struggle to turn in work and stay on track with everyone else in the class. When work is turned in, it usually is graded well. But that's the problem. WORK IS RARELY TURNED IN. I want to be able to harness their intelligence so that they can succeed in class.

Today, one of the students that "beats to their own drum", came up to me after everyone had left for the buses and asked me "why is the magnetic south pole not at the bottom of the map in the center of Antarctica?" It took me a second to contemplate why that was. I couldn't think of the answer of the top of my head and I told the student that I would have to look that information up for him because I really didn't know the answer. A few seconds after my response, he said "well...maybe it's because the earth is tilted on an axis and that's why the magnetic south is there." It is things like this that make me wonder what is going on in his head. Once every week or so my CT and I will sit staring at each other scratching our heads at the information this student knows. This was one of those moments.

Every mind is unique as is every person. It is my job to harness each students strengths so that they will be successful in life. How do I support these students so that they can be successful in life? Does having a messy desk contribute to a messy future? Or does not turning in your work on time (or ever)) equate to a life full of tardiness?

These are all answers I need to investigate during my internship. Who knows I could have the next Einstein in my class and I don't even know it because I am too worried about neatness and organization.