You've received great information and advice above. I'll just add a few thoughts and resources.
You may wish to reflect on whether the sarcasm and/or how it was handled may have affected the tone of the meeting. How the sarcasm was handled by you during the meeting may role model the manner in which you may wish to have teachers address sarcasm.
Ms. AG stated that the guidance counselor is strict about kids advocating for themselves.
Some thoughts on this:
- You may wish to coach your daughters about their self-advocacy efforts.
- In order to do this, you may need to be aware of:
--- state laws,
--- school policies,
--- the school's desired process for self-advocacy (
for example - does a student request an appointment to speak with someone? ... come to school early to speak with guidance counselor? ... with teacher? Does student use e-mail to contact? Does student speak up in class?),
--- what type of "projects" students are allowed to ask for (
for example - whether these projects replace regular work, are in addition to regular work, and whether these projects are graded),
--- and what is occurring in your daughters' classes (
for example, you may wish to explain to your daughters the importance of them keeping you updated on daily events, and ask clarifying question when they share their day with you).
To help parents teach their children effective self-advocacy skills, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development offers free resources including:
- Article:
Preparing Your Gifted Child to Leave Your Nest (excellent list of resources, including The Power of Speaking Up)
- YouTube video:
Davidson Discussions - Self-Advocacyteachers follow a differentiation model in which they test the kids and divide the class into thirds - kids who need help, middle level kids, and finally kids working ahead. She said the school does not tell the parents in what level the kids are placed. She suggested that if DD finds the work too easy that DD would have to go to the teacher and ask for projects... Is that how most classes are divided?
Kids can be very astute and realize what group each student is placed in. I would ask a clarifying question about "
kids who need help": in this context, does this mean academic help and/or IEP/504?
One source of information about grouping students is found in this
article from the Davidson Database.
Ms. AG informed me that this middle school is all about creating the "well rounded student" vs. the middle schools which are AG focused. Finally, she mentioned something about how she thought this school would be a good fit for older DD, and we would have to see how DD10 does throughout the year... hoping we made the right school choice.
Was
this information shared with you when you made your school selection? Did you receive
any input from this individual when making your school selection? Do you have another option, a Plan B, if this school is not a good fit for one of your daughters?
Summer may be a great time to prepare your children for positive self-advocacy experiences.
