Today’s
guest on my blog is author Rae
Stoltenkamp. Her books span the genres of fantasy, science fiction and
magical realism. She is also a poet. In this article she talks about her
experience teaching to a gifted child and how that influenced some of her
books.
Before settling down to writing and
self-publishing I used to be a full time teacher in an inner city London
school. Regardless of the country you teach in, anyone will tell you this is a
challenging environment. Very quickly into my teaching practice I realised I
had a knack for communicating with children with Special Needs (SEN as it’s
called here in the UK).
Most times when people think of Special
Needs they latch onto the idea of a child with learning difficulties. Several
times during my 13 year teaching stint I was reminded that while the majority
of my students did indeed have these difficulties there were others whose
behaviour marked them as SEN when in fact they were highly intelligent. Their
lack of engagement with the average classroom content and insular or
confrontational attitude masked their talent.
At the very start of my teaching career, an
introductory lesson on Of Mice & Men
to my SEN class brought a gifted student – let’s call her Andria - to my
attention. Andria exhibited many of the traits identified with the gifted:
- Curiosity – endless questions
- Ignoring the teacher’s brief for assignments – going off piste
and doing her own thing
- Advanced vocabulary – she regularly used 3 or 4 syllable words
in appropriate context
- Lack of engagement with her peers – often got involved in
conversations with support staff and myself while appearing to ignore
fellow students
- Strong emotions – Andria often voiced her opinion on topics in
a loud and seemingly abrasive manner
- Outside the box thinking
When I first understood this was the case
with Andria, I confess to feeling intimidated. Andria’s breadth of knowledge on
certain subjects was superior to mine. Her general knowledge and vocabulary was
outstanding. She understood my subtle jokes which often went over the heads of
some support staff and she was certainly not shy about telling me when she
thought I had supplied the class with incorrect facts.
To teach Andria I had to take a different
approach to the one I was using with the rest of my class. The first thing I
did was give her a solo assignment on the Social & Historical background of
the novel. Admittedly, I did this at the time as a way to keep her busy at the classroom
computer so I could get the rest of the class settled.
10 minutes into the lesson, a quick glance
over her shoulder told me she had the matter well in hand. So I decided to add
some parameters to see if she could cope with them. I stipulated her research
had to be on a Powerpoint presentation of 10 - 15 slides, include images and be
in language her other classmates could easily understand. Then I also demanded
a bibliography. Chewing on a thumb nail I waited for her reaction. After asking
what a bibliography was and listening to my explanation, she then simply got on
with the task.
Andria was engaged all lesson. I kept tabs
on her and made suggestions as the Powerpoint developed. Looking over her
printed slides later that day I realised I was out of my depth. So I headed for
the library. Very old school – I know. This was in the days before the internet
and search engines were at their peak. An hour later I was very deflated. I
didn’t possibly have the skills to teach this child. Everything I read
indicated she was in a class of her own.
It took a train and bus commute home to
still my doubts. I reminded myself I got into teaching to facilitate, not to
quit as soon as I hit my first hurdle. I also called my mother – she was the
font of all wisdom. The first thing she told me was that I had to shelve my own
intellectual insecurities and focus on Andria and her needs solely. I had to
engage with my self-doubt and admit it was likely Andria would ask me questions
I couldn’t answer. I would have to tackle this issue and deal with it. I would
have to be resourceful in my approach.
Thus Andria led me on a journey of
discovery where I began to understand that the gifted can be as neglected as
those with learning difficulties. I resolved that this would never ever be the
case in my classroom. Andria left my class after the next round of assessment.
She moved to a top set. The next academic year the government introduced Mixed
Ability teaching. Many more like Andria passed through my classroom before I
gave up full time teaching.
I suspect Andria and the other gifted
students I met during my teaching career are the reason gifted children often
creep into my writing. They feature in both my SciFi novels and in my debut
novel Six Dead Men, one of the dead men is a remarkable but
ignored artist and another is linguistically gifted but excluded from school
because of behaviour deemed aggressive and anti-social.
Palindrome is due for release on 27th July. To celebrate, Six Dead Men is currently available
FREE exclusively through Instafreebie
for e-readers.
Rae
Stoltenkamp
Fantasy, science fiction and magical realism author
www.raestoltenkamp.com
Fantasy, science fiction and magical realism author
www.raestoltenkamp.com
RAE
STOLTENKAMP was born in South Africa and came to
England in 1987 to visit family. She liked the weather so much she stayed. After
a writing holiday in Greece she had an epiphany and realised she should be
writing on a full time basis. It was probably heat stroke since she hadn’t had
sun in a while. She then studied writing at City Lit with the poet Caroline
Natzler and is now a self-published writer, blogger and English tutor
living in South London. Rae currently works for a local charity (Young Women’s
Hub) teaching English and also runs creative writing workshops and after
school clubs with www.inkhead.co.uk.
Her published work includes poetry in Prole, Fantasy for children, Science Fiction for young
adults and Magic Realism for adults. As well as her writing, Rae has a passion
for Lindy Hop and Argentine Tango. When she’s not chained to her desk and
laptop, you can often see her tripping the light fantastic with her dancing
friends.
Additional books by Rae Stoltenkamp
include: Where Rainbows Hide, Six Degrees and When Rainbows Cry.
Visit Rae’s website: https://raestoltenkamp.com/
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