(1) Phillip asked,
"what would your questions look like if they were framed so that the child
is best supported?"
And Paul replied (in part),
"And of course this is all placed into the broader frameworks of societal
priorities each voice so conceives: e.g., what good is the realized
potential of a Van Gogh if what we really need is people who know how to
make better smart bombs?"
Sorry to be such a loose loop in what looks like last week's weave...
But, having just returned from a reunion with old friends -- one of whom
recently left the NYC playwriting world for Hollywood -- I am thinking of
"supporting the child" and how what we apparently need is people who know
how to write TV shows. I wonder if either smart bombs or sitcoms can be
produced with 8th grade reading skills.
(2) Mike asked a while back if any of us work with students who are NOT "at
risk." I was reminded of the "gifted and talented" class I observed for two
years. They had been labelled in Kindergarten and remained so labelled
through 6th grade without additonal assessment. This year as they were to be
promoted to 7th grade over half of them were kept back for summer school.
Elizabeth Kelly
Developmental Psychology
Graduate Center, CUNY