I think there's a big difference between getting one or two years ahead and doing what this kid did--going to school with people a decade older than you are. That's a huge gap no matter how you look at it.

Yeah, I'm thinking a 10 year old genius might not be able to socialize with the average 10 year old, but won't be able to socialize with the average 18 year old, either. But I guess making friends isn't the most important life goal....

And why will none of them ever stop EXPLAINING when I've said "Yes, yes, I get it, you don't have to say any more?"

I was asked to not return to a temp job -- a job doing editing and desktop publishing, which I DO FOR A LIVING -- because the very first day I was there, when they were showing me the ropes, I DIDN'T WRITE ANYTHING DOWN. They didn't think I could handle the job b/c I didn't write down how to open and use PageMaker. Their loss.

That's jackass, Steph. I always had people at temp receptionist jobs flabbergasted that I understood how to work the phones the first time, but that tended to make them want to invite me back.

Maybe I look ditsy and unreliable. I dunno.

Actually, when I started at my present job, lo these many years ago, apparently my co-workers were kind of nervous about me working out, because when they trained me -- you guessed it -- I didn't write anything down.

After a couple of months, when they finally confessed this, all I could do was laugh. Their chief worry was that I just kept saying "Okay....okay....okay...." as they were explaining stuff, instead of asking questions or, I dunno, not understanding stuff. I can't help it that I pick things up quickly.

t edit Heh. It occurs to me that this post reads like "I can't help it that I'm JUST THAT GOOD," which is not what I mean. I pick things up quickly, but that's really in terms of learning the mechanics of how to do something -- learning to do something WELL takes a while. Sometimes a long fucking while.

But like, can't they tell the hour after the training that you really did get it? This is why I call jackass on them.

ION, I don't think I can eat cheap Chinese food anymore. I swear, I've been fucked up on MSG all night -- all logy and kind of tingly and weird.

But like, can't they tell the hour after the training that you really did get it? This is why I call jackass on them.

Yeah, they were being jackass. Too bad for them.

Also, I cannot stop posting!

A thing I forget is how "good at school" and "smart" really are different skills/aptitudes that don't necessarily intersect.

I was just having this conversation with my mother about how everyone thinks they understand education because they went to school. Turns out? Being a student isn't the same as being a teacher.

Can you blow this up to a big giant banner and put it up in ever school in the US?

Cause I had to go to school to learn about cognition and pedagogy to become a teacher. And I'm good at what I do and I do challenge my higher level kids and pull the other kids along. I've never had a child or parent say that my class was too easy.

But I do have people all the time (mainly administrators) who act like they are pros at teaching because they had 13 years of k-12 experience. hint to parents: never start a conference with "When I was a kid...."

Moreover, smart and competent don't necessarily intersect either. Smart is pretty useless without competence.