Hi Adpugliese (and any other lurkers, particularly those who been teachers inside the school system)
Welcome ((big smile))
Thank you for accelerating the 4th grader to algebra! Speaking as a mom whos kid just got accelerated from first month of 5th grrade to prealgebra - that is a huge jump! My son is blinking and stumbling like a newborn kitten - very heartwarming to see!
Thanks for helping the 5th grader GS with additional SSA! (Was it a girl with good handwriting and good teacher reading ability? Was it an acting out boy?)
I would love to hear pages and pages from a "former teacher" perspective. Our last years teacher said that she worked SO hard to get one of her boys a single grade SSA in Math, and the Principal was convinsed, but the district put a stop to it at the last minute. Still, a different teacher in that grade allows parents to purchase EPGY MATH and use it in class, and my teacher's picture of inclass Math enrichment was commercial software that quized the times tables - which is good but isn't EPGY and didn't meet my child's needs.
What do you make of the the discrepancy between so many parents who say their child isn't challenged and your observations of their work level? Did you have any tricks to demonstrate to the parents that the child is at correct challenge level? (Sort of a teachers analog to the parents bringing in a video tape?)
One of the thinks I'm most curious about, is who other people - parents, teachers and administration think about the range of individuals in the catagory "Gifted."
If you (and any other lurking teachers or Admin) don't mind sharing what your mental images of this are - I'd really appreciate it! Since numbers don't mean much to the decision making adults, how do Teachers approach this question - yes they are gifted, but what signals does a teacher look for that her student's needs are being met? How far from average is this child?
Thanks in Advance,
Trinity
