Will doesn't really excel in school. It's not that he's not smart, he just doesn't apply himself as much as he should. He is easily distracted by girls and often gets into trouble because of his immaturity and inability to anticipate consequences. He goes to school, but seems to be more interested in picking up girls than academics. His grades are lower and he receives a lot of detentions.
Will was raised in situational poverty by his mom after his dad abandoned them. He later moved to live with his Aunt and Uncle Banks in Bel-Aire who were wealthy.
Will is interested in basketball and girls. He appears to need to stay active and is distracted easily. He isn't so much a homebody, but prefers to be out socializing with others. He also values his family and will do anything to help them out - especially Hilary and Ashley.
Will appears to be college ready since he received a high score on the SAT, higher than Carlton even. He was also offered a scholarship to Princeton, which he turned down. Will did attend college in season 4 with Carlton. When the series finished, Uncle Phil helped Will find an apartment so he could stay in California to finish school. However, along the way, like most college students, Will lost direction, almost dropped out to be a car salesman, dabbled in publishing and struggled to figure out what he wanted to do.
I love Will Smith and that show!
ReplyDeleteHe is a classic underachieving gifted student who was not challenged younger so is now not putting effort into academics. It is also classic gifted to not be able to make decisions when there are so many viable options of interest, such as choosing a major and career path.
If he were in your class, how might you challenge him, and what role could technology play in learning?
Good post!
Now that you have been at your placement a while, have you ran into any students that fit this profile? I know that I can think of a few kids like this in some of my classes. It's so disheartening to me to see students with so much potential just not even try. I have been trying to find ways to engage these types of students in class, any suggestions?
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