Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion G&T teachers

I just received an email letter (describing herself/experience) from our 7 yo's teacher she will have next year in her self-contained 2/3 grade G&T class. (she was just hired) It sounds like she has no experience teaching a G&T class nor a degree or endorsement in G&T teaching. She says in the past four years she's been teaching, she has taught Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Then she says her most exciting educational moments have been with gifted and talented learners. As for education she just mentions a masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

To me it sounds as though she has no experience specifically teaching/working with G&T students, she has taught a different grade for the 4 years she has been teaching, and it appears she has no G&T endorsement nor degree.

I was really hoping for a good teacher this year that would 'get' my highly gifted dd and turn things around for her in regards to school. I know I should probably give her a chance, but I'm feeling far from hopeful.

Can you share what experience/credentials your child(ren)'s teacher have for G&T? Any positive stories to share?

ETA: I don't want to give the idea that I think she is a bad teacher. I just was really hoping for a teacher with more experience/education with G&T classes/students.

In our GT program, all of the teachers need to have a masters in GT education or a GT endorsement. I think that there might be some wiggle room that allows them to hire someone if they are willing to commit to getting a GT endorsement within a year. Yes, it's nice to have the credential that gives you some assurance that they have at least some training but it's no guarantee of anything once they get in the classroom. One of the fully certified GT teachers (not one of my kids' teachers) was a total train wreck last year at our school. Her mid-year replacement was a young woman fresh out of school with no GT experience (long story). The replacement teacher provided a stable environment and got a lot of support from the other GT teachers. She salvaged the year for most of those kids.

I've now had three kids go through 2nd grade GT and I must say that it is one of the tougher grades for the broad range of social and emotional issues. A lot of asynchrony shines through at this age, i.e. kids who cry because they don't want be away from their parents, kids who have huge frustration because their bodies haven't caught up with their brains, kids who literally can't sit still because body and brain seem to be in constant motion. Second grade also seems to be a year when a lot of twice exceptionality gets identified. I could go on but you get the idea.

In your situation, I would be talking to the principal and asking what kind of support and training this teacher will be receiving. What kind of in-service training does your school district offer for GT teachers? Is she planning on getting her endorsement? Are there other GT teachers at the school that she can go to for guidance? Will the school psychologist be meeting with the teacher and/or the class to provide additional social/emotional support? If the principal knows what he/she is doing, they should have looked at putting some of these extra supports in place.

I'd say you have a chance to educate her--drop off a few good books about giftedness etc, even some lesson type books from like prufrock press or whatever... Even genius denied Or a blog, article, or website. A good teacher will have an open mind, will always want to be learning, and at least peak into them. Different grades might be good bc she won't be stick on one level yet, perhaps? Good luck!

Truthfully, the very best teachers my DD has ever had haven't had any particular professional background-- they are gifted themselves, and the ones that have been best for her have been HG+ people.

I'd bear that in mind. You can't "train" a person to see the world through that lens of personal experience.

You could give her this link: http://learn.uci.edu/oo/getOCWPage.php?course=OC0111006&lesson=1&topic=1&page=1

I was going to say exactly what HowlerKarma said. I, too, worry when there is no background in GT, but I've also seen teachers with education in GT who are terrible primarily b/c they've bought into the idea that gifted is about high achievement and is a much broader thing than it is. The teachers who are highly intelligent themselves are the ones who I've found to be the best at teaching and understanding gifted kids (especially HG kids) regardless of their educational background.

OTOH, there is no easy way to figure out how intelligent this teacher is right now without some time to interact. I can tell you that the teachers who've turned out to really not get it did tip their hands pretty quickly. For instance, they were completely unimpressed with 99.9th scores on IQ and otherwise and didn't seem realize that this was uncommon or the degree to which that differed from, say 95th percentile on a group test. They also didn't realize the distinction btwn group tests and IQ tests.

I'd be with the others who suggested sharing resources like the Davidson Educators Guild right away and in a nonthreatening manner. I'd also consider setting up some time early in the year to share your dd's test scores and discuss her needs. The reaction you get in that discussion might give you a clue as to how teachable this teacher is.

That sounds like a fine credential to me. That she says "exciting" not "best" seems like she sees "it" and is energized and will be self-motivated to learn as much as she can.

Our G&T coordinator said that she hadn't encountered a kid like DS and loves the way his mind works. In trying to figure out how best to accomodate him for next year, she did her own research about acceleration and discovered how much mythology there is in schools about it.

There is no substitute for passion.

This really rings true for me. I don't think gifted education is something you can fully teach unless you're gifted yourself. In order to properly teach something, you must have direct experience.

That she seems excited about being with the G&T kids would speak a lot louder to me than all the credentials in the world! Perhaps it means she even requested the position in a bid to actively work with G&T kids all the time. And the fact that she introduced herself to you also speaks volumes to me - she has opened communication channels. AFAIK It's a lot more than traditional teachers do.

I hope that the enthusiasm she seems to have will carry her and her students through this next year with everything you need

Actually our school requires all teachers to send out a welcome letter to students each summer introducing themselves.