how stupid can one kid get?

[Faceman]

Well I have to get something out of my system.
In addition to my studies I coach kids of every grade at a learning aid institute. We're located in Austria (German=main language) and I teach German, English, Latin and sometimes Ancient Greek and Math.
I rather like working with the kids, after all they're not stupid they're just lazy and mostly start to get it if I explain properly.
BUT
there's of course that occasional troublemaker who doesn't only refuse to work but also surprises you with knowledge which makes you wanna explode.
Yesterday I had such a case again.
The loud-mouthed boy (second year of junior high)wrote the following "English" sentences (no context - just single examples)

Im 2 kats an 1 rabit. Im 1 sister. The man go the dog the House. The big dog sed. ...

Now for the solution. What he meant with these sentences was:

I've got two cats and a rabbit. I've got a sister. The man takes the dog home. The big dog is sad.

Now as this kid has passed first grade (which is when English starts in our country) I could only assume that he was provoking me. After all who could be that inept! But talking to his former coaches I found out that he supposedly writes like this all the time and refuses to learn how it's done correctly. I was shocked especially because some all too well-meaning teacher had given this boy Ds on tests and had not flunked him. Now there's a boy in second grade who can't even say "I've got a sister".

BWAAAAAH - If you excuse me. I have to take some valerian before I become demented.

[ 09-04-2003, 04:03 AM: Message edited by: Faceman ]

[605]

I can't be sure what's worse... the teacher for allowing him to pass, the parents for not caring enough to help fix this obvious learning disability, or the kid's self esteem for being obviously unable to grasp something he's being told he should know. Perhaps he's dyslexic (sp?) or has some learning disability that no one has had the patience to deal with yet? There's many possibilities that maybe you're not considering in your fustration... although, I must admit, it doesn't look good for the kid.

[Faceman]

I've worked with dyslexic kids believe me when I say he is not. The problem is that he is completely unwilling to work on his apparent mistakes and no form of motivation will get through to him. Also as his coach/tutor I have only limited possibilities. As long as he still gets Ds at school he's going to be content - and worse: his parents are going to be content.
What I don't get is the complete lack of sense in his expressions. Normally kids write Germanised sentences like: "I've a cat" but they all know/sense that a sentence requires a predicate (last example) or what "I am" means.
What strikes me is that he ought to know that "I'm a sister" (corrected spelling) doesn't mean what he wants to say but uses it anyway.

[Link]

There is no such thing as a kid that can 'have influence on his or her tutoring' IMHO. The kid is learned specific things, and he or she hasn't got any input in that matter, whether he likes it or not. This is just ridiculous, especially since the parents don't do a thing about it.

[mistral4543]

That's a shame, but you can only do so much.

For your own health and happiness, you might want to consider letting go of this case if it becomes clear that no amount of hard work you put in is going to result in any difference to his performance.

How about his parents? They can be involved and encourage him to do better. I think it starts with the parents not just the responsibility of the educators.

[Kakero]

ROFLMAO! If he's an Asian I'm not suprise he'll wrote/type like that.

[Faceman]

Originally posted by Kakero: ROFLMAO! If he's an Asian I'm not suprise he'll wrote/type like that.

Now why would that be? [img]graemlins/uhoh2.gif[/img]
BTW He's an Austrian just like me (although my father is an Indian and my grandmother was a Czech and my grandfather was a German and ... you get the picture)

Originally posted by mistral4543: That's a shame, but you can only do so much. For your own health and happiness, you might want to consider letting go of this case if it becomes clear that no amount of hard work you put in is going to result in any difference to his performance.

Unfortunately this is not an option. I teach at an institute and he is part of one of my learning groups. He has purchased his courses and somebody's gonna have to teach him. My bad that my boss decided it should be me but I can't change anything about it.

Originally posted by GForce: How about his parents? They can be involved and encourage him to do better. I think it starts with the parents not just the responsibility of the educators.

I've already consulted my colleagues (who taught him first) and my boss about telling his parents that their son knows diddly-squat of the English language. They told me they had already tried but as long as he does not fail exams at school the parents are happy and not to be convinced to influence their child respectively.

[ 09-04-2003, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Faceman ]

[Micah Foehammer]

Since failure appears to be the ONE thing that will get the attention of both this kid and his parents, why not simply fail him in the course???? Passing him with a "D" may be the path of least resistance but it doesn't address the problem. I am more than a little amazed that this "student" can actually achieve a passing mark on exams unless the pass/fail boundary is set artificially low. How much control do you have over the exams and the grading? Can you change the basis on which grades are awarded so that in-class work counts for a substantial amount of the final grade?

[ 09-04-2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: Micah Foehammer ]

[Azred]

Having been an instructor myself, all I would have to say to this person is "don't come in my class, because I am not afraid to give you an F and then stand by my decision". If he wants to fail on purpose, then by all means give him what he wants.