Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Teacher assignment

So the teacher assignment came in the mail yesterday. My DS8 goes to a gifted magnet school (which was a whole saga getting him there in the first place). There are 5 teachers per grade and there was one open spot for this year. He of course got assigned to the "new" teacher. Some may recall that I had a meeting with the VP, teacher and school psychologist last year about DS's behavior. One of the things I mentioned in the meeting is that I would like his next teacher to be someone who has experience and patience to work with him. Any of the other 4 teachers I would have be OK with because they have been at the school for many years and have taught gifted kids many years.

Now, the fun part. I of course Googled this teacher and saw her LinkedIn profile (don't judge me LOL). I can see that she has many years as a teacher broken up by a couple non-teaching jobs. She is coming back to teaching this year after working elsewhere for a few years. So I don't really know anything about her at all except this information. It doesn't appear she has extensive gifted experience (new teachers are required to be certified in gifted within 2 years of being hired if they aren't already). My son is such an outlier and I'm afraid she may not have the experience to be a good match.

Do I sit tight and see what happens? Do I email and request someone else while not being able to admit that I snooped online (or that I did?). I don't know what to do here. I feel like I'm helicoptering. Maybe I should just chill LOL

Well, if you have a good relationship now with the VP, you could call as a followup to the conversations last year and ask him/her to tell you how they see the new teacher being a good fit, etc. in a very non-threatening way...

I wouldn't rush to judgement. Sometimes the brand-new teachers are the ones who are the most open to new ideas and putting in extra efforts. The system will crush their spirits later.

Can you arrange a meeting with the teacher before school starts to feel out her approach and attitude?

Dude - That is a good perspective.

aquinas - Well, we will get to meet her at the meet and greet next week. There won't be much opportunity to talk I'm sure but maybe I can feel her out a bit. I can casually ask some questions.

The new teacher may be great. The fact that after your meeting with him an explaining your sons needs he picked the one teacher out of five that didn't meet your criteria is not so good.

I wouldn't necessarily discount the possibility that this new teacher is, indeed, a good fit. It's possible that out of all 5 teachers, she/he *is* the teacher the principal sincerely believes will be most patient with your ds and understanding of his unique needs.

You really can't gauge things like patience with young children, or innate ability to relate to young children, or kindness and willingness to meet students where they are at and challenge them to go further by looking at a resume post on LinkedIn - you have to get to know the teacher in person, and you're going to have to most likely experience her in the classroom. Other than having parental anecdotes re experiences with the other teachers who are at the school, do you really have more info to know which of the other teachers would work well for your ds? Aren't you, for the most part, in the same situation with each teacher? This one just might seem a little more scarier or problematic because she's new to the school.

Best wishes,

polarbear