Most teachers DON'T know what to do with HG+ kiddos, from what I've seen. They are RARE and I have to keep reminding myself of this as I shepherd my DC through their school experience. I do believe, though, that MOST teachers have good intentions
Can't agree more!! This is exactly our experience. When the kids were younger we used to get frustrated, but less and less over time. You figure out pretty soon what the teachers are equipped with and what their obligations are. Most of the time the teachers don't know just how much enrichment my kids need; and even if they do, they don't have the resources to provide it anyways. I wouldn't go and try to educate the teacher unless the teacher is very inexperienced. The teachers in our district all have pretty intensive professional development. It's truly a matter of who they are and what their priorities are. We are usually on good terms with the teachers which helps to make the kids happy at school. We are also very involved in the school community and take volunteering very seriously so it's safe to say that the teachers and the principal do listen to us. But our suggestions are usually about how to improve the school for all kids instead of my kids--I just don't think it's realistic to expect the latter from the teachers. When the school asks for parent feedback on classroom placement, we usually ask for flexible teachers instead of rigorous teachers. A rigorous standard geared toward average or above-average kids is a major time sucker.
