So busy, so very busy. Today is Skip Day... John's at home; I'm at work. We would have gone to Silver Dollar City, but there are many various reasons why we didn't. It's gonna be a long day at work. I have to work overtime to make up for some time I took off yesterday. Not fun at all, but I'll manage, I'm sure. Mike's supposed to be putting Flash on my computer sometime soon... I get to learn a new program! Fun stuff. But really, I'm excited. I like learning things that are creative. I just learned something new about PhotoShop, and that made me happy. It's gonna save me a lot of time!
The reason I haven't been blogging lately is that I don't really have much to blog. I've been keeping my life/emotions low-key lately, so I'm not even worked up enough to put my thoughts down on computer.
Um... I'll just tell a story about myself... Pick an age, any age...
Okay 6. Something that happened when I was six...
First grade was a very educational year for me. I learned how to make jello pudding in a baby food jar... Make a mouse out of my thumb print... Grow bean sprouts in the closet (and EAT them!)... Clean my desk with shaving cream... Get fun things by reading books... I guess all I needed to know I learned in first grade. I also remember things that changed the way I viewed education forever. I was in a "gifted and talented" program. Every Wednesday at 1:00 Angie and I (and Chris and Josh from second grade) got to get out of class to go down to the library and learn "special things." Things like using photo exposure to impose objects onto paper. We learned how to use lemon juice and an iron to write "secret" messages. Lots of "scientific" things. It was great. Except for the other kids in my class. They didn't like the fact that Angie and I got out of class to go do things that they couldn't. I didn't see why it was a big deal - while we were gone, they would do things that I already knew how to do, and it bored me. It was the start of something that would stay with me all the way until graduation. Being smarter than everyone else isn't easy (and obviously not humbling, either). By fourth grade, the jealousy from my peers was so convicting that I determined that being smarter wasn't worth it. I began to hide my grades from people... I would even do less than my best just so I wouldn't be made a public spectacle. It's evident that I stopped learning as much, too. My IQ level actually DROPPED from Kindergarten to 6th grade. I figure that it's due to the fact that my peers convinced me that being smarter wasn't good. That I was a social leper because I was smarter. First grade. That's where it all started. I doubt that kids that young realize that they are having an impact on other kids that could last all the way up into high school. Funny thing is, I still graduated Valedictorian... But how much more could I have learned if I hadn't been influenced by negativism? Exactly why I'm a strong opposer to this whole "dumbing down" theory. There are smart kids out there... and they're probably in first grade.
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