This teacher also claimed that because my DD had not turned in any homework, she really didn't know if my DD understood the material and had concerns that my DD might not. I suggested that my DD stay after school to work one-on-one with the teacher until the teacher was satisfied
. The teacher then said this was not necessary, she knew that my DD clearly got the material but that wasn't enough, she needed to get with the program. AAAAHHHHHHHRRRGGGHHHHH
The teacher made it clear that she felt the other children were being harmed in some way by seeing that your DD didn't have to work to handle the material much better than they do. Perhaps she is right, and this is just one more reason that kids who need to work at a 'higher than age predicted' level need to be placed in classrooms where kids who are at the same 'ready to learn' level are already sitting. My guess is that you would have had to actually change buildings to find these kids - and that that is exactly what you did.
Do I think that 10th grade students are still too young to maturely understand that 'everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and it's ok to have different strengths and weaknesses than the person sitting next to you as long as you keep working to develop yourself?'
I wouldn't be suprised if 10th grade students are too young for this - but I hope not by very much.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
If my mom were alive, perhaps I could ask her. I had a math teacher say that very thing to my mother and me (yes, I was actually PRESENT, so I
know what was said) at a tenth grade conference. "Well, I just don't
like Howler much. <shrug> What can you do, right?"
No, I'm not kidding. (My mother was a career public school teaher in another district. She was speechless, since she had, until that moment, really thought that
I was "the problem" in that class. She asked 'what the problem was' in the class that I seemed to be flirting with a D grade even though I knew the material well); well,
he told her. Points for honesty, I suppose. At least my mom apologized to me-- which was a first, and one of the only times.
Kind of sucked that he was the only instructor that taught math beyond trig at my high school, but my mother did at least find a way to get me OUT of having to take another class from him-- ever. He was a total tool.
So I'm not sure that's any better than the passive-aggressive nastiness, fwiw. LOL.
ETA: Huh...
10th grade Curiouser and curiouser.
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I agree entirely that this alone is a good reason for ability grouping, too. I can definitely appreciate that it is pretty demoralizing to have to work really really hard and sit next to someone who is obviously bored and still acing the class.
