I wouldn't recommend using this language ("a wacko") to describe a student
in a professional forum. As for the situation, I have had studemnts in
class who appeared to have social and/or psychiatric difficulties. In no
case did anything untoward result. I'd caution about letting such an
attitude towadr the student affect any behavior toward him, whether grading
or singling him out in class. Self-fulfilling prophecies abound.
I have also always preferred the direct approach to students. If I have
concerns about a student's reaction to exams and grades and class
situations, I invite the student to discuss it with me (in the office
preferably but if you're really concerned for safety meet on campus outside
or somewhere public that still provides a private discussion). Suggest not
that you're "afraid," but only that he seems very bright but also
"intense," and that you're concerned that in his drive for grades he may be
missing some of the relevant learning experiences in class. I've noticed
that being forthright often works wonders even with "dangerous" people (and
I've worked in prisons and forensic settings, so I can say this with some
experience).
Sure, there may be something psychiatric, chacterological, or narcotic
involved with this student, and if you feel comfortable suggesting your
university counseling center, do so... but in this case, you're a teacher
and might simply talk with him about being a better learner, with an
emphasis on his talents and intelligence, rather than on the image he conveys.
Shutting up now before I steal Louis' thunder ;-),
David W.
At 10:13 AM 10/28/99 -0400, Michael Sylvester wrote:
>
>I have a student in my class who I and the other students perceive as
>weird and wacko. His head is shaved as a skinhead,wears dark classes,
>sits alone in a corner from the other members of the class-seems to
>be the classic loner.
>He has a unique way of writing.Its all lines and dots,looks like morse
>code.I am unable to tell where the top or the bottom of the page is.
>I can not even tell where his name is on the page. I asked
>him not to write this way,but he
>insisted that's how he writes. So I have him read his answers to me when
>the test is over. I require that all his take home written assignments be
>typed .
>He is also very defensive about his answers ,but he is getting A's.
>He is extremely bright. I suspect that this guy is so paranoid
>and perfectionist that if he was to less than A in the course something
>may happen.
>Have you had cases like this and have advanced with caution because of
>your awareness of the warning signs?
>Comments invited.
>
>Michael Sylvester
>Daytona Beach
David Wasieleski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
912-333-5930
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski
"All my ideas are consistent; it is merely that
I cannot expound on all of them at the same time."
--Rousseau
