Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Just when I thought school was going good

Awful long...sorry.
What I thought was going good: The gifted pullout(ETC, Extended Total Curriculum) has increased to 1 hour/day. The local Art Council is providing to all interested, Art instruction 1 day/week after school, for free. Despite the remark about not reading more than 1 book/day, GS figured out how to read as much as he wants without disrupting the teacher's system. He seems happy in his regular class. ETC is a bit boring right now.
Friday I emailed the ETC teacher to inquire about a math club & contests for the elementary. I'd emailed last spring and she said to get back with her this fall. She replied they had no resources for the math club, but she thought she might do some contest type stuff in ETC. Then she said GS9 told her he didn't want to be in ETC anymore. She asked his regular teacher how things are going, and she said he doesn't seem real motivated in her class.

So, this is what I replied:
I'm not sure what to think about the lack of motivation you're seeing.
I know he's not real enthused with ETC this semester, even though he loves reading. He did read Hatchet last year, along with 4-5 other Gary Paulson books. He's not real enthusiastic about rereading books. I think the only books he's chosen to reread were some in The Chronicles of Narnia series. We talked about ETC last night, and I told him I'd get it at the library and read it with him at night and have discussions. He'd rather talk about a book than write answers to questions in a study guide, so I thought that would help his enthusiasm.
As for Mrs. H class, I wasn't aware there was any problem there. Looking at the Progress Book online right now, he has 3 A+ & 3 A's, with the 3 A's just barely missing the A+ mark. He met all his AR goals by Monday. He's never had any homework that took over 5 minutes--I can't exactly call RAH & AR reading 'homework' since he reads for pleasure. From what he says, he really likes her so I can't see it being a personality conflict. Do you think it could be a lack of challenge in Mrs H's classroom? I've seen some changes in him this summer; he's gone from needing a lot of easy accomplishments & outside reassurance to needing more challenges.


That was the heart of the email, I added some pleasantries at the beginning & end, bolding added for this post. I emailed the reply too late for the ETC teacher to respond yesterday, so I was going to wait to post this until her reply. But I had time right now so I'll just add her reply to this thread when I get it. GS has made a few grumbles about things being really easy this year. I talked to him more about ETC and he's a bit stressed about the format. They work individually, read a chapter silently, fill out a study guide and vocabulary worksheet. That is NOT GS's method of learning. On top of that, despite the fact I asked them to test GS for reading ETC at the end of last year, they put it off for the beginning of this year when they tested all the kids eligible who were not already admitted. They separately test referrals for math and reading. So he started ETC 2 weeks late and he really hates being behind the other kids, so he's stressed about that.

We're 5 weeks into the new school year, his lowest subject average is 97, he has no intellectual peers in his regular classroom, and isn't allowed to discuss with them during ETC. If I let him out of ETC I don't know what he'll do for an additional hour in his regular classroom. He's got too much free time in there now, given the number of Captain Underpants and similar books he's read during class. Oh, and he's gone through 6 of the Murderous Math books already.

I'll wait on a reply from the ETC teacher, then I think I'll probably contact Mrs H, his regular classroom teacher.

It's too bad the kids aren't allowed to choose what they will read for ETC. Why not have them read and then write book reports or do oral reports for each other?

I can see why he'd want out of ETC. It sounds like it is not stimulating at all. Would they support an after-school math club, if you could find funding for it? I don't have any ideas to help you. Let us know what you hear.

What a shame! An hour a day seems like such a good opportunity for good stuff.

What would you like to see happening? What would you have happen if you could choose?

I would like to see more of a book club format for ETC this semester. There are 2 boys and 3 girls. Both boys are very verbal, very imaginative. I'm sure she could get some real good discussions going with those two. If the teacher wants to stick with a study guide, why not use that as the framework for the discussion? They could still do the vocabulary list, but maybe dig into word roots, word origins? Let the kids read the chapter outside of the class, and spend the hour in discussion. I'm not sure Hatchet was written about a specific area, but they could draw a map of a Canadian wilderness, maybe build a model, do some mapwork and estimate how long it would take to walk to find other people. There's a lot of hands-on activities they could do along with discussion.

That sounds very reasonable...and pretty standard for a GT pullout. So I wouldn't think it would be a hard sell. Is ETC this year significantly different from ETC last year?

Any idea why your described ETC class isn't happening? What's the story with the ETC teacher?

There are 3 elementaries in our district. 2 teachers are split between the schools. The first semester is for reading/language arts; the second semester is for math. Gifted services are provided beginning in 3rd grade.
I think kids who qualify on the Terra Nova in 2nd grade are admitted in 3rd grade with no other testing. GS didn't start to excell in school until the 3rd grade. By the time his 3rd grade teacher realized his ability they were already half way through the first semester, and she felt it was too late in the process to get him in the reading ETC last year. But she recommended him for testing for math for the second semester, so that's how he got in the math last year. But to get in the reading for this semester he had to wait for everyone to get coordinated to test any others recommended at the same time.
If they don't qualify on the Terra Nova, they use the ITBS. But they only give the section they're testing for at the time, either math or reading The way I understand it, too, they have to requalify on a nationally normed test every 2 years.

I was not overly impressed with this ETC teacher last year. I just don't think she's very good with elementary age kids, especially boys.

Please tell me why is G/T pullout ALWAYS about reading?
Those kids are great readers, why do more????

I remember a fun gifted pullout when I was in 6th grade. We studied archeology and the origins of writing. We wrote our own messages (using cuneiform letters to phonetically spell English words) on clay tablets. When the clay was dry, we buried the tablets and some other items for our time capsule on the school grounds I wonder if anyone has dug them up yet?

Dottie, I would basically agree with you.
Ohio accepts either IQ tests or achievement tests, here is their wording on it:
I figure our school, and most others, use the ITBS because it's much cheaper to administer and the qualifications to administer it is much easier to meet than to administer an IQ test. What I think is unfortunate is kids like my GS & his friend are getting bored to death with reading a book they both read last year, filling out a study guide without being allowed to discuss their own thoughts, doing vocabulary lists on words they know. Whether the kids in the class are gifted or high achievers, I don't see it as very stimulating or engaging. And the most unfortunate part is I think the gifted kids are getting bored to death but the high achievers are filling out the papers without a complaint.

I think this ETC teacher might be more comfortable with math than reading, but last year she had them measuring & recording the dimensions of their room when she ran out of planned math activities.