Personal Injury Law

What happens when students are shown up at show-and-tell

By Megan Roth

Signs are popping up everywhere. Fliers are coming in the mail telling you what you need and where to get it. And some stores are even kind enough to send out coupons. Yes, it's true - it's back to school for the youngsters. This means elementary schools are going to be bustling with students eager to catch up and tell all about their summer adventures. And what better way to do it than the infamous show-and-tell?!

Show-and-tell is an opportunity for students to have fun, learn, and share their stories (many of which are elaborated, but we won't go there.) Generally, the event allows a student to share his/her experiences and present other students their perceptions to other students; thus, enabling them to play the role of 'teacher' for a short period. This develops a student's ability to stand in front of a group - an experience which can be incredibly daunting and intimidating but can actually serve as a means of reinforcing that student's confidence.

But what happens when show-and-tell goes bad? What are the negative implications such a seemingly positive activity can carry, and how can we avoid them?

As mentioned earlier, show-and-tell can serve to build a student's confidence. Similarly, it can break it. In the event that a child is involved in one of the many show-and-tell horror stories, they may become embarrassed and shy because they fear another awkward situation. It's okay for a child to demonstrate tendencies of shyness, but when it reaches an extreme it can have damaging, long-term effects.

It's important for parents to put forth an effort in order to make sure such an incident does not occur. Many show-and-tells are regularly scheduled events and students take turns presenting to the class. However, for really BIG show-and-tells (such as the monumental Back to School share session), parents should plan ahead and prepare something for their children to share with peers. There are a variety of easy and cheap projects that can be completed which will make your child shine. Flip-books, posters, and even just pictures are a good way of making sure your child is prepared for show-and-tell.

I recently posted an article on school science fairs in which I danced around the fact that we don't want our children to flop; I'm not sure about you, but I remember being embarrassed in front of my class during the fourth grade. Granted, I bounced back and ended up far from shy, but I will say it definitely wasn't a good feeling at the time. I was mortified and would never wish those feelings upon another student.unless he was comparable to O'Doyle (then maybe).

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 14, 2008 (boomark / email).