Am I an Underachiever?

Are you an underachiever? I think I was drawn to this topic for two reasons. One reason is because of the studies I've been doing on gifted and talented students. The other is because I believe that some of my own kids, my sons, are underachievers. But, do I want to look closely, I mean really closely and ask, am I an underachiever? I'm sort of scared to ask. Naturally we all have times, moments maybe, that we are underachieving...a little bit. But, overall, could I do more, could I do what I do better? Is saying that "I'm just unorganized" really mean I'm too unmotivated(lazy?) to...organize what I should organize or take care of what needs to be taken care of? HHhmmm? I'm not sure I want to address this with myself yet!

Unmotivated and unconcerned...

What are we doing as a society that is making the kids be so entitled? The lack of motivation that I am observing is driving me crazy! It's not that all the kids are unmotivated, but those who are, don't, I mean REALLY, don't care about school or their grades or what their parents will learn when we have parent conferences! If they're on an IEP, they know they won't fail a grade. Pretty much if they're ELL, they won't fail a grade. So why should they put any effort into their school work? I need to find a way to encourage those who are unmotivated to have a goal. Maybe I need to work on goal setting for my class? I am going to work on that starting tomorrow. I am going to make a goal for them in writing. There will be two goals. One short term goal and one long term goal. I will start that tomorrow.