Teaching The Average Student
Contributor
Written by
Bonnie Frank
February 2014
Contributor
Written by
Bonnie Frank
February 2014


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Who is an "average" student?  What is meant by "average" intelligence?  

My mother always said that all of her children were average. Not only is this statement improbable, it is inaccurate.  Four of the five children are living: one has a doctorate, one has a Master's Degreeand two are attorneys.  Although I always told my mom that we weren't average, I did not have statistics to back up my comments.  I won't mention how far away each of us is from average in the categories below, but I will tell you that I was correct when I said we weren't average.  Here are some statistics about "the average American" fromwww.cdc.gov  and theaveragebody.com

                          *Average American IQ is 98
                          *Average height for an American woman is 5' 4"
                          *Average height for an American men 5' 9.5"

                          *Average weight for an American woman is 164 lbs.
                          *Average weight of an American man is 191 lbs.

When it comes to statistics, one should use a much larger population, not a tiny sample size of five.  My siblings and I weren't average, yet we all grew up in the same house with the same parents and had basically the exact same public education K-12.  Was this education meant for us?  Was it designed for the average child?  Who was the curriculum designed for?

Any classroom is made up of a diverse group of learners.  Each student has an individual learning profile comprised of areas of strength and those that need more concentration.  Should a teacher teach to some vague notion of "the average child'' or should s/he teach to the unique audience each new school year brings?   How does one teacher effectively reach all of these students?

Differentiation  is an educational buzzword today that basically describes what teachers did with the one room school house long ago and what many homeschooling parents are doing with their own children today.  Different learners require varied approaches to learning and should be allowed choices in the classroom and different assignments, tools and assessments.  Students with an I.E.P. (Individualized Education Program) have these educational allowances available to them by law, but many parents of "average" children say the educational needs of their children aren't being met. 

Todd Rose was not an average student; in fact he was a high school dropout... Now he works at Harvard.  In this TEDx talk, he discusses "The Myth of Average." I think you'll enjoy this video and I'd love to know what you think about it!  Please feel free to share this blog post via Twitter, Facebook orGoogle +!

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