Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 167 guests, and 10 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    parentologyco, Smartlady60, petercgeelan, eterpstra, Valib90
    11,410 Registered Users
    March
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Page 1 of 2 1 2
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    B
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    B
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    The afternoon after we had the meeting with his school counselor (about other things) DS15 mentions that he now has a "different" sub for his English teacher who is on maternity leave. We wrote up a 504 for DS this fall and his English class is the one most affected. This is NOT good, DS's private psychologist thinks it's not good. I never thought he first teacher was that great of a fit for DS but she wasn't bad and seemed to be accommodating. The class doesn't meet DS's needs but unless we want to walk away from this school it's all we have and he must take 4 years of English. It seems like the 'first' sub was following the teachers lessons plans and I'm think DS liked her better. This new substitute who started last week he doesn't like, partly because she gives a LOT more homework and much of it is busywork.

    DS is now on his 3rd teacher of the year, with a change likely again before the end of the year. Moving classes would require messing up his other classes that are at this time settled. His counselor says they don't know when his "teacher" is coming back.

    ARGG.. I'm just frustrated and wanted to vent. DS froze and couldn't write a creative essay piece last night. Not sure what i can really do except maybe request a parent-teacher conference. The counselor is going to meet with this sub this afternoon and go over DS (other other students) 504's. It's just irritating, and the counselors help to 'hand selecting' his teachers is now down another class. So far only the spanish & math teachers seems to be a good fit. The counselor is being very helpful in other ways, and is trying to work with these subs. But I'm frustrated anyway.

    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    B
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    B
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    Update.. Counselor got back to me. She updated the long term sub and thinks she understand the accommodations. Will give DS till Monday to finish last nights freakout. BUT this teacher had a vacation already planned before she took this job. So the SUB has a SUB next week... ARGGGGG.

    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 314
    N
    ndw Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    N
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 314
    OMG....it is enough to make you want to run screaming from the house!

    No solution but lots of hugs. One year I lost track of the number of teachers DD had. Suffice to say no learning was done. At least it wasn't in High School.

    What is the worst part of creative writing for your DS. Coming up with a topic....writing the first sentence.....too big a task?

    I don't know what challenge your DS has but is there anyway you can scaffold for him? My DD actually did that for a class mate who was struggling. She used PowerPoint slides. One slide for the heading and a new slide for each paragraph. She broke down the tasks into headings at the top of each slide and asked for a number of points for the heading. Then they pulled it all together into a document but it got rid of the horror of the blank page and where to start.

    Inspirations mind mapping app is another option. Sometimes it is all about finding somewhere to start.

    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    B
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    B
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    It's hard to explain. Offically DS is labeled with expressive word LD and anxiety. They kind of feed off each other once he can't start he gets anxious. When he's anxious he can't get anything done.. It spirals into a meltdown of sorts. DS can write very well if he know what he wants to say. The practice SAT he took this week he did very well on the writing and language part. wink (not the essay) It's getting started that is a problem. He often just has no idea's and no clue what to say.

    He was working with a writing tutor but she left and I've dropped the ball on getting a new one. One of his accomdations at school is that for in class writing he gets extra time but is supposed to spend that extra time in the pre-plan stage.

    The other frustration is he was in honors gifted classes until last year but was dropped into regular because of the essay writing issues. So except for the writing blockage, he is totally bored in the class.

    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 314
    N
    ndw Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    N
    Joined: Nov 2013
    Posts: 314
    Getting started is a common problem.....with creative writing you can sometimes start at the end or the middle and work backwards or outwards from there. Blank page syndrome is very anxiety producing. Even professional writers struggle as you can see here.

    http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/wblockquotes.htm

    Perfectionism and the anxiety that you will write badly affects lots of people.
    Organising thoughts is another issue.

    Mind mapping on scrap paper....free associating ideas and actually putting something on paper can be a catalyst to starting. Allowing a terrible draft so that he just writes a page even if its horrible can be another way to start.

    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    B
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    B
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    Originally Posted by ndw
    Getting started is a common problem.....with creative writing you can sometimes start at the end or the middle and work backwards or outwards from there. Blank page syndrome is very anxiety producing. Even professional writers struggle as you can see here.

    http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/wblockquotes.htm

    Perfectionism and the anxiety that you will write badly affects lots of people.
    Organising thoughts is another issue.

    Mind mapping on scrap paper....free associating ideas and actually putting something on paper can be a catalyst to starting. Allowing a terrible draft so that he just writes a page even if its horrible can be another way to start.
    He has been told all this numerous times. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. This is why he has the 504 and we had a tutor working with him. When he falls apart like this in the evening we have had the best luck giving it a rest and try again fresh on another day. He has accommodations written into his 504 to allow work like this late.

    Joined: Mar 2014
    Posts: 313
    N
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    N
    Joined: Mar 2014
    Posts: 313
    So,sorry to hear this. (My kindergarten teacher was out sick so much, and we had so many subs, that the only way I knew that my assigned teacher was in class was she was the only one who didn't introduce herself.)

    We were pleasantly surprised when our counselor offered DS a change of English class and teacher for 2nd semester. Things are soooo much better...so far. Of course it meant other changes and crises, but the dust seems to have settled on that score. I wish your son could change. Perhaps a return to the tutor, for consistency's sake.

    My son used mind maps in middle school and thought they were ridiculous, so he resists any others graphical organizers, and any help from me. But he would probably take it from a tutor.

    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    B
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    B
    Joined: Mar 2013
    Posts: 1,489
    The tutor that I spend a long time trying to set up in September, ended up getting a full time job offer and couldn't keep working with him this quarter. I was going to look for someone new in January but things got busy and it looked like the situation was going well. I probably should go back to looking for someone.

    The only way to change this English teacher would be to mess up the other classes. That didn't work so well for us last year when he was forced to move English classes. The first sub my DS liked better than the original teacher. The problem with last nights assignment was he was supposed to add a 'ending' to a short story. DS think the story had a good ending even though it's a sad one and doesn't see why it needs any embellishment.

    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    I
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    I
    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    Originally Posted by ndw
    Mind mapping on scrap paper....free associating ideas and actually putting something on paper can be a catalyst to starting. Allowing a terrible draft so that he just writes a page even if its horrible can be another way to start.
    Yes, producing a "sloppy copy" draft can be a great strategy to overcome writer's block.

    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    I
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    I
    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    Originally Posted by bluemagic
    tutor
    Yes, having someone to talk through the process with can be helpful. Eventually students may learn to have this conversation internally, for example discussing the pros and cons of different possible word choice as they write.

    Quote
    DS think the story had a good ending even though it's a sad one and doesn't see why it needs any embellishment.
    Possibly great authors would agree with him. Some courses may try to promote a different writing style and it can be a challenge to write in the prescribed manner or for a particular audience.

    Page 1 of 2 1 2

    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Testing with accommodations
    by aeh - 03/27/24 01:58 PM
    Quotations that resonate with gifted people
    by indigo - 03/27/24 12:38 PM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    California Tries to Close the Gap in Math
    by thx1138 - 03/22/24 03:43 AM
    Gifted kids in Illinois. Recommendations?
    by indigo - 03/20/24 05:41 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5