DD had the kind of teacher that Val has described. Luckily, this was also a person that not only taught at the GT middle school level, but also taught AP coursework at the high school, and served as 'lead/master/mentor' for other teachers in that subject.

This meant that within the system's faults, such as they happened to be, she actually had quite a decent experience in that subject during those secondary years.

OTOH, this story does not have an especially happy ending, I'm sorry to say, since the school board apparently butted heads with this teacher and terminated the person abruptly during DD's junior year of high school. sighhhh

The upshot is this-- DD had three types of teachers in high school (she was 3y accelerated, and placed with a "GT" cohort in that grade placement, which was academically almost appropriate):

1. The "I was a gifted child" teacher who... was (at most) moderately gifted, and didn't care to encounter someone at higher LOG. DD had a couple of real stinkers here, and they HATED truly gifted children, and it showed. They liked hardworking students. Not smart ones. And especially not too-smart-for-their-own-good ones, or those who were creative or playful. (Well. That pretty much eliminates 95% of the gifted children I have known, right there-- most of them enjoy themselves enormously when engaged, and at your expense when not.)

2. The "whatever" type. Do the work, leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. This was most of DD's teachers. Ho-hum, but proficient with the curriculum, such as it was. A sort of don't-ask-don't-tell arrangement, really.

3. The awesomesauce-with-hot-fudge-on-top teachers mentioned above. DD had a couple of these, and one additional teacher who 'got' what she was and just... enjoyed her for who she is. She has a wicked sense of humor, and when you keep her engaged she works pretty hard, as long as you are FAIR to her. It's just not that hard, really.

I'd say that most of the AP courses she took varied between the second and third types. She never encountered a "good" GT-oriented teacher in a non-honors or non-AP course-- they tended to be the first type. They were rigid and just plain nasty sometimes. One teacher in particular, DD and her (all GT) posse basically harassed the poor teacher relentlessly, once they realized that she loathed them and could care less whether or not they learned anything. The teacher retaliated in grading, I am sorry to note-- and it's not the last time I saw this happen, either. I've even seen it happen in college. (Not to DD, but to her boyfriend, who ran afoul of an adjunct instructor in an online course after a testy exchange with another student who was, quite frankly, being woefully ignorant). DD got an A out of this instructor, and he did not. Given that their course performance was nearly identical and completed largely side-by-side, this was pure personality conflict.

Happened to me a couple of times, too.

That's the thing about GT students-- they don't grow out of that keenly tuned sense for an instructor who is just phoning it in, and they resent it, as often as not-- and are very capable of meting out punishment accordingly. Sometimes no matter the cost to themselves, as noted above. Scorched earth is no problem at some point, when the situation simply offends your basic sense of decency and all that is right in the world. grin blush


IME, it's actually MORE important to get higher LOG teachers into teaching GT kids at the high school level, since the gap between what HG+ adolescents and MG adults can do is very narrow indeed (and in some cases definitely does not favor the adult charged with educating a classroom including them)-- but administrators seldom see it that way. Apparently.




Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.