I've always hated applying the term "behavior" to children. We don't talk about adults in terms of "bad behavior" or "good behavior". I remember snapping at my principal once, saying I'd prefer to discuss my students in "terms we don't normally reserve for slaves and dogs". Got his attention.

Anyway, "behavior" (let's say "attitude" instead) is high up on the list of casualties of ordinary teachers' misunderstanding of giftedness. The idea seems to be that if a kid is that smart, they must have the brains to keep themselves in check. That's like giving a university professor a job on an assembly line and telling him that surely someone with a PhD is intelligent enough not to get bored.

Last edited by zhian; 11/12/09 06:52 AM.