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Wow! Looks like a lesson from the TEDx message on influence of societal norms suggests we should find and focus on gifted ed success stories... help create the "everyone's doing it" phenomenon ... and/or the "these successful schools are doing it" examples with nuts-and-bolts how-to.
In applying that lesson from this TEDx talk, might a collection of gifted teacher/school/program success stories be the start of a new advocacy thread which parents could tap into and leverage as needed?
I honestly don't think there is a right or wrong personality for advocating for our children. I do think there are better approaches than others - and using your own unique personality is so important because it makes your words genuine and authentic.
Using the right communication tools is a different thing - consensus building, removing emotion, etc. that are mentioned here are personality agnostic for the most part.
For me, the most important piece is believing that you have the right, responsibility, and power to advocate. Schools are built on general rules; we spend our lives pushing for exceptions not for the sake of the exception...
Great wisdom!
Originally Posted by ABQMom
... because it evens the playing field.
Leveling the playing field (in a relative way, with respect to other students) may be the aim of accommodations for 2e and practices of "equity" which may provide an advantage similar to a golf handicap for some students.
That being said, for the most part gifted advocacy may be simply to meet the individual differing academic needs of an underserved minority of students, including clustering with true peers (not necessarily age-mates), so these students are not damaged and left behind by benign neglect of the educational system.
Looks like a lesson from the TEDx message on influence of societal norms suggests we should find and focus on gifted ed success stories... help create the "everyone's doing it" phenomenon ... and/or the "these successful schools are doing it" examples with nuts-and-bolts how-to.
In applying that lesson from this TEDx talk, might a collection of gifted teacher/school/program success stories be the start of a new advocacy thread which parents could tap into and leverage as needed?
In fact... I'm not sure we both came together to solve the same problem. DW and I went into those meetings seeking a solution for a more appropriate education for our daughter. I assumed they were there for the same thing, which is why I always let them know that, while we always came with a proposed solution, I was open to any alternatives they might propose, so long as they addressed the problem at hand. Our proposals were rejected, and no alternatives were forthcoming. As time went by, it became apparent that they believed that they had already provided the most appropriate education for my daughter, so the only problem they had come to solve was... complaining parents.
Looking back on my post, it seems that the problem wasn't so much one of personality, but of recognizing and accepting that the school had placed upon us an unreasonable burden of proof to demonstrate how the classroom environment they had chosen for DD was, as we said, toxic. Since the ways she presented at home and at school were entirely contradictory, that was not a burden we could fulfill through conversation.
Eventually, we got the right solution (at least it seems like it, so far) by bypassing them altogether.
Yes, this above.
Having been around public education for about 31 years now (my wife is a MS / HS teacher) I can say that in my eyes, public education, generally speaking (there are always exceptions thankfully) has to be the most sugar coated, honey dripping, red tape wrapped organization I've dealt with in my 52 years of life.
I cannot possibly imagine a for profit company working in such a manner, so poorly tuned to their customers needs and desires, so slow to respond, and so dismissive of facts, logic, and evidence.
I finally came to the conclusion that it would simply take far too long to make any meaningful change, time that we didn't have as during that time my child's education was wasting away. Luckily, there were a couple of very good teachers to temper a generally ignorant pool of them, I mean ignorant in the best of ways actually, nobody had ever taught them, unfortunately for most of them it still didn't sink in when they were taught.
In the end, after a great deal of wasted time, I came to the conclusion that we need to do everything within our own power to present opportunities for growth outside of public school while still attempting to educate and affect change within the school district itself, not just for the sake of our own children but for the sake of those to come.
In the end, after a great deal of wasted time, I came to the conclusion that we need to do everything within our own power to present opportunities for growth outside of public school while still attempting to educate and affect change within the school district itself, not just for the sake of our own children but for the sake of those to come.
...I came to the conclusion that we need to do everything within our own power to present opportunities for growth outside of public school while still attempting to educate and affect change within the school district itself, not just for the sake of our own children but for the sake of those to come.
Ditto.
Aint't that the truth!
One of the reasons that I am pleased that I showed our school district the IOWA Acceleration Scale is not just because they agreed to accelerate just my DD based on her metrics but because the board also voted to use the scale to measure future requests.
Hopefully, future parents of bright kids in the district will not to have to have to go through what felt to us at the time like every Station of The Cross just to get their kids the differentiation that they need.
So, I'm wondering if teachers already think they're providing appropriate education (which is clearly NOTappropriate), and we're doing all the work afterschool; is school merely a daycare? Or for social reasons?
I'm really questioning the appropriateness of brick and mortar school for my ds.
Melessa, I used to get the impression they thought I was a bad person for doing EPGY after school. Because I was depriving them of half an hour of bike riding time in favor of education, and they were depriving them of SIX HOURS of bike riding time in favor of learning to be patient and sit quietly without anything to do.
Not that patience and quiet sitting aren't good skills, I just question if they're so valuable they need 180 days a year devoted to them.
There is no doubt in my mind that when the law says you must provide free and appropriate education for a child they really mean free or appropriate.
There is no doubt in my mind that when the law says you must provide free and appropriate education for a child they really mean free or appropriate.
The federal law describing FAPE only applies to children with disabilities. They have a legally protected right to a free and appropriate education. Apparently, they're the only ones.
Some states have legislation on the books establishing FAPE for all exceptionalities, including gifted. Mine is one of those. We fought for three years because the education was not appropriate. It's not free, either. We had to pony up a $10 materials fee on day one.
Some states have legislation on the books establishing FAPE for all exceptionalities, including gifted. Mine is one of those. We fought for three years because the education was not appropriate. It's not free, either. We had to pony up a $10 materials fee on day one.
We are aware of public schools being "tuition free" however charging hundreds of dollars in registration fees, materials fees, lab fees, supplies fees, photocopying fees, activity fees (for field trips)... plus $200 or so for participation in gifted programming... not to mention the extracurricular fees which are often padded to include money designated for a school fund which provides scholarships to selected students in their senior year. Students are also expected to supply toilet paper and copier paper for school use, and Kleenex or other facial tissue for classroom use.
