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If the gifted in your school are under-served, it's a good bet the whole population is under-served. But how do you even know what a GK (gifted kid) looks like?
An 8 year old mathematically GK was asked by his mother what needs to be fixed in this picture.
His reply: "I would take out the cent sign, and put in a dollar sign, because otherwise that would mean 4.5 mills."
She had to look up the word "mill." It has two definitions:
10 per cent of a penny. In many jurisdictions, property tax assessments are based on a mill rate.
The mill or mille(₥) (sometimes mil in the UK) is an abstract unit of currency. In the U.S. it is equivalent to 1/1000 of a U.S. dollar, while in the UK it was proposed as being 1/1000 of the pound sterling during the decades of discussion on the decimalization of the pound.
He added, "I would give the guy 5 mills, and expect change. I'll bet he wouldn't like that."
His mother's comment: "This problem was from a Saxon pre-algebra book, and all they were looking for was the change to the dollar sign."
10 comments:
This comment has little to do with the post to which I'm attaching it, except that the kids involved are probably gifted. I thought there was a MathCounts post or comment somewhere on KTM2, but I couldn't find it.
The Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition – 2007 was held May 10-13 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Kevin Chen of Sugarland [sic -- it's spelled "Sugar Land"], Texas, answered this challenging math problem in less than 45 seconds to win the MATHCOUNTS National Champion title at the Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition on May 11 in Fort Worth at the Fort Worth Convention Center:
On an exam, a student answered 15 of the first 20 questions correctly. Of the remaining questions, he answered 1/3 correctly. If the student answered 50% of all questions correctly, how many questions were on the exam?
Answer: 50
The eighth-grader from First Colony Middle School competed against 227 other middle school
students in this prestigious competition, hosted by Lockheed Martin, a MATHCOUNTS National
Sponsor.
Kevin's dad works down the hall from me at the same company.
Kevin was on Regis earlier this week. (Yay, math nerds on talk shows!) He'll be going to the White House.
Unlike most recent spelling bee and geography bee winners, Kevin is not homeschooled. First Colony MS is a public school in one of the better-regarded suburban districts.
Children like this should be embraced by the schools!
Why?
Because they represent a uniqueness which schools love to show off - think the arts and music. In this case, math.
Unfortunately, schools that don't embrace the gifted are really showing what they are made of - and that is they are afraid, limited, & weak in their ability to embrace and nuture those smarter than themselves.
By default, they are then seeking to lower the bar but only so that they feel better about themselves.
Shame on them.
Agreed. By the way, the kid in this story is getting third grade math in school.
"Because they represent a uniqueness which schools love to show off - think the arts and music. In this case, math."
I've noticed this in our schools, especially grades K-6. With full inclusion, they don't want to make the slower leraner feel bad. It's OK to do this in art with poster contests, or in music, with solos, but don't even think about math or geography.
I was at a teacher-parent meeting once where the teachers were trying to figure out how to showcase good student work. Unfortunately, the context was to promote the school at budget time, not provide the kids with some public recognition. They couldn't figure out how to do this. It's OK to hang good art work in the local bank, but not math.
Actually, It's hard to worry about the recognition factor when the curriculum is so bad and the schools treat smart kids like they really aren't smart. Smart kids make them uncomfortable. They have to pretend that they aren't so smart or it will really mess up their neat assumptions.
I've spent two years trying to convince my elementary school to provide above grade level math instruction for my daughter. I recently looked at the school's Consolidated School Improvement Plan (required by the district to meet NCLB and accreditation requirements) and found this is their strategy for improving math instruction:
"Create an environment that recognizes and increases awareness of student and community diversity, respects worth of each individual, and addresses racial and cultural harmony. (Diversity awareness activities are important because, if children feel safe and accepted, they will achieve more in Math.)"
"Students will participate in school wide character education program. (Character education activities help to motivate students to strive for excellence in Math and achieve.)"
"Provide incentives and recognition to inspire good citizenship and achievements in Math. (Awards and other forms of student recognition help to improve self-esteem and motivate achievement.)"
These are direct quotes from the school's Mathematics Action Plan, with a subheading "Based on Scientifically-Based Research." After reading the full plan, the decision to homeschool wasn't hard to make.
I teach gifted kids and my favorite all time gifted kiddo remark: When asked the difference between a fish and a submarine on an IQ test, he thought a few seconds and said..."You put mustard on a sub and tartar sauce on a fish". I still smile when I think of him, wonder where he is?---N.
Hi N Bosch! I read that story recently in a book about gifted kids. Was that your story? Cool!
Googlemaster -- I gave your question to my 3rd grader. He got it right! But it took him ten minutes. LOL.
On an exam, a student answered 15 of the first 20 questions correctly. Of the remaining questions, he answered 1/3 correctly. If the student answered 50% of all questions correctly, how many questions were on the exam?
Answer: 50
When asked the difference between a fish and a submarine on an IQ test, he thought a few seconds and said..."You put mustard on a sub and tartar sauce on a fish".
I don't know if I would consider that child "gifted".
well, maybe that's just cultural, of course. My son (5 y.o.) said that they both swim, but submarine is a machine and fish is a living thing. Again, he is not 9at least I don't think he is gifted).
I gifted child for me would have an encyclopedic knowledge at the very early age, probably...
I have to chime in with a personal story. My oldest child had cognitive testing at our previous schools district. She is gifted in several areas. This district has an amazing gifted program with a director that inspires and pushes these children to do amazing things. She was the only girl in a group of 5 students and had peers that she related to that seemed to understand the way her mind works. The program did not interfere with her work, they allowed her to do accelerated math and she was a very happy, challengeed child.
This is where the story changes. We moved to a district that has an extremely good reputation for academic excellence, met with the principal and thought she would be okay despite the lack of a gifted program. How very wrong we were. She has had a difficult year. She isn't as motivated and she is definitely not challenged. Their idea of "enrichment" is extra work you can do when you finish all your other busy work which, of course, she never cares to do. It's amazing what a difference having the right learning environment is for any child, but particularly for a child that truly thinks about things differently than most kids. Her mind just works on a different plane and sadly, this school and her peers don't seem to get her at all.
Even worse, my first grader is most likely in the same situation. I'm actually sad when he gets 100% on everything and tells me he is always the first to finish. That means he isn't being challenged, and that's a terrible waste of talent.
Anyone who says that gifted students can handle things on their own or don't need any intervention is very mistaken.
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