Saw an analogy posted on this site a while back. Was about a duck (and several other animals) who weren’t allowed to use their strengths to compete - ex: the duck couldn’t swim but was forced to run; the antelope couldn’t run but had fly, etc. In the end, no one did well. It was so great and I wish I had copied it at the time but of course I didn’t. Does anyone remember it or is anyone familiar with it? Could you post it or do you know the source? It clearly showed the benefits of letting/encouraging people to work through their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses.
?cute rots the mind?
I’m afraid I don’t agree regarding the point of the analogy - it has nothing to do with”everybody doing their own thing”. I believe the context in which I saw it was concerned with using a person’s strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses. In any event, I am still interested in getting the full text - not debating the analysis of the content. Does anyone out there have it?
Thanks
Re: Looking for analogy re: "the duck who wasn't allowed to
I think students should both develop their strengths [i]and[/i] work to remediate their weaknesses. Neither should be neglected. Developing their strengths will give them confidence that there are things they’re good at, and at the same time allow them to develop talents and aptitudes that will serve them well in the future. Remediating their weaknesses will permit them to get better in the areas that hold them back, such as reading, writing, social skills, coordination, etc.
Kathy G.
Re: Looking for analogy re: "the duck who wasn't allowed to
gig- i see the link just fine, but try a search on “School for Animals” or the “animal school” and you should find it
And try...
the Linda Silverman gifted site — also www.dyslexia.com. I have seen the one about the cheetah there — not sure if it’s the one you’re looking for but it says basically the same thing — that they did not value the cheetah for his strengths and in fact ignored his talents while trying to make him something he is not…very cool analogy and good for misfit kids!
IMO, these things ARE very important — our attitude to our children’s difficulties is essential since they will get much negative info from the world at large. Sometimes something to feed ‘the big picture’ of our general philosophy is as important as all the remediations, meds, etc, etc — ‘food for the soul’ is what keeps us slogging in the trenches…
I’ve seen this before, and yes, it is cute — too cute. The message is that if we just let everyone do their own thing then everything will be perfect. It can actually be counterproductive, an excuse to avoid teaching because everyone is so wonderful just as they are. Sorry, I’ve been exposed to a lot of weirdness in my time. To quote Garfield/Nermal, cute rots the mind.