“My child is acting up because he’s bored. He’s so bright.”
“I’ve been teaching for 13 years, and I would say in that time I’ve had maybe one or two children who were truly bored and I immediately got different material for them,” says teacher Thea LaRocca, who has taught 3rd through 5th grades in Raleigh, N.C. “I didn’t need the parent to tell me.”
LaRocca says she understands that parents naturally want to think the best of their child, but she suggests that they try to be honest with themselves and think about why their child is acting up, then ask the teacher for strategies to deal with it. “If you truly think your kid is bright, ask for more work,” she says.
And how sad that she has had some 250+ children in her class and only one or two have been gifted? AND why would you simply solve the problem by giving them more work instead of different work?
What do you think? Would you want this type of teacher for your child?
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Nope. Wouldn't want this teacher for myself back when, for my son, or as a colleague. Uh uh.
ReplyDeleteBored gifted kids who are forced into the typical classroom box DO misbehave, especially boys. The ones who do behave (like you and I did) are often just sitting there letting the lifeblood drain out of them.
Oh my heavens! I just read that article, and the whole thing made my teacher-head spin. Most of it was just so wrong. I left a super-long comment there.
ReplyDeleteCheryl: Now that we know this...how do we change the mindset of those out there that think like the teacher in the article?
ReplyDeleteMarlene, I wish I knew. Although I've often thought that when districts send us to staff development re. gifted ed., they should have some adults who were "gifted kids" stand up and talk about what school was like for them, and how it could be better (or what was good about it). I don't often hear of teachers who are as far out there as the woman in that article, but I hear colleagues say that parents want their kids in GATE for the "label." Makes my blood boil.
ReplyDeleteCheryl:
ReplyDeleteI actually had a teacher say something like that to me at our last staff devlopment meeting. She said that the only reason we have gifted is for parents to feel better about themselves through their children. I don't know about you, but my most 'gifted' kid is the one I worry about the most. Socially he was awful, until he found a group of kids that he could relate to. I still worry about his self-esteem, his perfectionist tendencies and so on. They have no idea the amount of pressure that some gifted kids put on themselves!
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