[ExI] education again

[William Flynn Wallace]

>From personal experience, many of my (our?) smart friends really don't
know.  We haven't had much skills training in managing people,
including circles of friends.  mike

Here's an opportunity that may take some research to find out if it's
already happening:  a significant percentage of math/science smart kids
have autism, Asperger's or the syndrome.  All are similar in that social
skills tend to be fairly low level, since that is one of the diagnostic
criteria.  Why not help them learn those skills by being mentors to
others?  At first a special ed teacher may have to be there to get them
started and to learn how to interact in a mentoring environment.  Then
after they have demonstrated the skills necessary the teacher can move on
to another prospective mentor.  And then the now adept mentor can fill in
for the special ed teacher and mentor other mentors.

I have no background in special ed (even though I taught Mental
Retardation, now a taboo term), but this seems like such a good idea that
it may have already be put into practice.

Good idea Mike

bill w

On Wed, Jun 1, 2016 at 3:23 PM, Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 1, 2016 at 10:22 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> > They can do some accommodations now, but I can see problems with trying
> to
> > shoehorn in dozens of minors into a college environment.  We need some
> kind
> > of basic rethinking, perhaps some kind of breakaway effort or
> Kickstarter or
> > something.
>
> I wonder if your 14 year old can mentor one of the similarly gifted 10
> year olds.
>
> It would help with the shortage of teachers for that kind of student.
> It will also help with some of the social interaction that the
> stereotypically bookish tend to miss (and are then so unprepared for
> college partying).
>
> I imagine this should be viewed not as a chore or annoying price to be
> paid, but as an opportunity to build peer-teams.
>
> The Unknown can be daunting but also exciting.  If you're going to
> venture where none have gone before, you first have to cross a lot of
> the known world before you can expand the boundaries.  It's worthwhile
> to gather like-minded people to extend your intellectual supply lines.
> How do you do that?
>
> From personal experience, many of my (our?) smart friends really don't
> know.  We haven't had much skills training in managing people,
> including circles of friends.
>
> I think that needs to be on the table for your next-generation
> education proposal.
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