Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion New User Introducing Myself

Hello!

I wanted to introduce myself. I am a public school elementary teacher who is also certified to teach GT. Sadly the district I work in has no GT program. The powers that be believe we don't have a large enough population of GT to warrant a program. We serve primarily low-income and ESL families. I've had students who live in cramped one room apartments with 8 other family members, parents are busy working two jobs, and they speak no English. However, the child scores in the top 94th percentile on the NWEA test. I've been trying to argue that the district needs a specialized GT program to meet our unique needs, but that's another rant.

I'm excited to join this community. As an educator, I feel that it is important for me to become more aware of the parent perspective. I hope to learn how to advocate more for my students and see issues from a family perspective.

Hello Saturday, and welcome to the group.

I agree with you that gifted students from all socioeconomic groups deserve a GT program. Thank you for your effort.

Aloha! I'm a middle school teacher who wants to do a graduate program in GATE, with absolutely no support from my district. I always think of my student who read so many Jane Austen novels in middle school that she began to resemble the characters. She lived in a school bus on Hawaiian Homestead land. They had access to running water, but no electricity. She's out of high school, serving as a religious volunteer now, but we're all hoping she goes to college soon.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Welcome, Saturday. As one who attended a lower income high school, I know of what you speak (my family was solidly middle class, and yet at that school we were incredibly rich by comparison). I personally saw kids get left behind or out of the process simply because their families did not have enough money, time and/or knowledge to advocate for them. It's heartening to know that there are still teachers out there trying to fill that void.