Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Meeting brand new teacher

I have a meeting with DS(7)'s teacher coming up. She is fresh out of University, graduated in the spring, and this is her first class ever (aside from Sunday School). She has been briefed on the fact that DS is very very bright, and that he does not perform to his capabilities. There are testing results on file documenting HG+.

I was thinking about bringing in something to help her understand HG+ and their needs. While she has a very good, small class, I know she has a lot on her plate with getting started, so I am looking for something brief but informative of the essential information. In the past, teachers have all agreed something was needed, come up with good ideas, but I have seen little evidence that anything has been followed through.

What article, or summary do you think would be a good item to bring into the meeting?

Maybe (hopefully!) she learned something @ University about GT? Perhaps you could start with a question about what aspects of GT was covered in school, etc.

I really like Sarah Robbins' blog/site (learned about it here) as it is written by a GT teacher and much seems to be written for teachers (despite the name of the site):
http://www.parentinggiftedkids.com/

When I sat with our son's most recent teacher, I never even used the 'G' word. I came at it entirely from the perspective of desiring appropriate challenge for him and describing some of the difficulties with accomplishing this is prior years.

The one article I did share (also learned about here) is "What a Child Doesn't Learn":
http://www.wku.edu/academy/?p=430

Definitely start out gently -- it's probably easy to overwhelm, meaning don't show up with the whole internet printed & bound in a folder for her reading pleasure.

Thanks Dandy, I really appreciate that. I will print those off and decide when I get there what to share. I agree, she needs something short and sweet. Meeting is tomorrow. Brevity isn't my strength, so I am trying to sum things up in my head before I go in.

Dandy

Thanks for the links. "What a child doesn't learn" is SOOOO right on! I am about to share it with everyone!

Hi Min,
I would encourage you to ask questions and listen and 'build relationship' at this stage. You can also drop of the artiles with a 'other teachers have told me that they found this really helpful in understanding my son' comment.

But - my question is - why would you expect this new teacher to be any better or different that what you have gotten in the past? Are you in communication with the school administration? It isn't fair to expect the current teacher to solve multigrade problems of long standing, although gaining her as an ally is important.

Remember the old joke about the definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Not that I'm implying that you are doing the same thing over and over, just be ready to move beyond what the classroom offers, ok?

Smiles,
Grimity

Thanks so much for posting this! It really gets to the heart of the matter.

Good points Grinity. I don't know that the teacher can do anything actually better than the others, but she is keen and has an uncomplicated, small class and it would be nice for her to have the tools she need to understand my son.

I had the meeting yesterday, and decided not to bring the articles in with me, but I read them carefully and used the 'what a child doesn't learn' to help me discuss a few things, in particular with the point about 'learning to learn' which is one of my concerns.

We brainstormed a little bit, and made sure to cover those things that are going well. What I especially liked was that she pulled my son aside before the meeting and had a good talk with him, asking questions and listening to answers. It really helped my son feel listened to.

The next step we agreed was to talk to the Principal about the possibility of subject acceleration & going to a different class. We both need to sit and learn about the process with this. I'm not actually optimistic, though. The Principal has a reputation for not wanting to rock the boat, even it is just a potential ripple.

Go Min!
I think taking the time to read an article and being purposeful about what you want to communicate is so much more effective and more human that the 'here - read this!' approach - but much scarier!

Sounds like a great meeting. it's fine not to be optimistic, better in someways, as long as you keep moving toward those goals.

Smiles,
Grinity

Thank you very much. I really lack confidence in this area.