Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments AHHH! gifted director comment..i have to vent!

YES.


Look for your copy of procedural safeguards, and begin letter-writing your way through the complaint process.

I like this. I also would add that "learning to deal with boredom" is best applied to tasks with a beneficial result, such as cleaning one's room or sweeping the kitchen floor. What is the benefit of doing academic work that isn't even remotely challenging? I suspect that forcing a child to do mindless work is not good for brain development.

And of course, what we're really talking about in a situation like this may be rooted in, "I don't want to do extra work."

This whole child stuff is bogosity. IMHO, it's just another way for edumacators to focus on fluff instead of substance.

I love the Meg's response to the "whole child" stuff! The same principal who told us too bad and to wait also used that line. She made it sound like her school was so unique in doing that (trying to develop the whole child) and I see from these other comments that she is just following the We Will Not Accelerate party line.

Bogosity indeed!

i clearly I haven't faced this level of crazy yet (DS is just 5) but could someone explain how you could be "teaching the whole child" by IGNORING a rather large part of the whole child?

So if our DCs are pie charts - what percentage are they allocating to learning stuff they don't yet know, is it bigger than the "sit at desk" slice? I am still stunned by that - do we grade on how well one sits at desk? The idea of prioritizing sitting, standing, being quiet to the degree that learning is dismissed out of hand, just makes me crazy - and no one has said it to me yet!!!

Although, truthfully I do often think at dinner time as DS slides out of his chair for the 4000000 time, that perhaps a lesson on how to stay in it might be helpful LOL - but this is like saying I shouldn't give him dinner until he learns to do it perfectly!!

I wonder if this is ultimately an effort to deny asynchrony. Basically all kids develop at the same rate but are not equally good so Johnny needs more work on sitting while Jane needs confidence and Sam needs to improve in math. But Johnny is not "ahead" of Sam in math despite being able to do grade levels ahead?

DeHe

Honestly, and this is just one person's opinion, I'm not sure that people who say this kind of stuff have really thought anything through in any depth or even at all. My guess is that these statements could just be an excuse to ignore something while also avoiding having to deal with a difficult problem. They could be akin to that way of meaning "No" when saying "I'll keep your idea under advisement."



Val

Yes, I think it is just a platitude, albeit one that the speaker may actually subscribe to on some level.

Teachers are grossly underpaid and overworked-- no doubt. Schools are asked to expand their basic mission CONSTANTLY, and to be more and more inclusive in doing so.

It's not a surprise to me that drinking the Kool-Aid is a self-preservationist tactic among many school teachers and administrators as a result.

its probably just me but I would much rather hear - "I'll keep your idea under advisement." but I really mean no, rather than spouting stuff that if practiced is harmful IMO. And I bet the next platitude will be something about working up to your full potential - I always hated that one!

DeHe

Or maybe "the system" is made for people who need a system in order to function in society.

Yes. Since dd is at a girls school, I have started calling this the "Which American Girl Doll Are You?" syndrome.

I did. It resulted in homeschooling-LOL! Warning, rant:

My DD's 10th grade English teacher stated that my daughter needed to "learn a work ethic in order to survive in the real world, because after all in the real world you have to do boring work to keep your job".

This teacher informed me that it was her job to teach my DD this, since I was clearly was failing to do so. (This teacher actually twisted the rules in order to fail my DD so she could "teach" my DD and the rest of the class the importance of "work ethic")*

It resulted in Twilight-Zone sort of meeting with the Assistant Principal, the counselor and the teacher (who was so busy she could only stop in for a moment). The teacher turned red and was actually spitting. After she left, the other school officials nodded indicating that they agreed the teacher was out of line but said it would just be easier for everyone if we just accepted it and allowed the teacher to fail my DD, assuring me that my DD could breeze through the self-paced summer school make-up class in one day...so no harm done!

Ultimately it resulted in my withdrawing my daughter from school and homeschooling via community college classes.

*long story, but the ISD policy stated no more than 20% of the course grade could be based on homework and my DD made 100's on all in-class work and tests. My DD was also the only student in the class to score higher than 63% on the pre-AP practice exam (she scored 97%), this did not sit well with the teacher who stated that it was unfair and sent the wrong message to the "hard-working students" in her class. She then stated that "tests are really not a good measure of what students know".

This teacher also claimed that because my DD had not turned in any homework, she really didn't know if my DD understood the material and had concerns that my DD might not. I suggested that my DD stay after school to work one-on-one with the teacher until the teacher was satisfied . The teacher then said this was not necessary, she knew that my DD clearly got the material but that wasn't enough, she needed to get with the program. AAAAHHHHHHHRRRGGGHHHHH