So very angry right now!!

kendalls_cave

To the OP. I am sorry for what happened to you as a family.

My own Dad died when I was 8 years old from an heart attack. I too saw it all happen. It had a huge impact on me. We had to move house and area, as the house came with his job. On my first day at my new school, i went up to my teacher and said "my dad's just died" The teacher was so shocked, that she told my mum, who told me i obviously didn't care about my dad if I could tell someone just like that. I did care, but couldn't bear anyone asking about him, so I told them first

As I got older and went to secondary school I too had to deal with the subjects been taught. It's tough, but you can't protect her from life. Stuff will remind your daughter, but it does get easier the more it's talked about

I still miss my dad, and when that advert came on TV recently about how to do CPR on an heart attack victim I cried, but crying and facing it is healing. HTH

Gingham_R

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

And would end up with other gifted kids becoming completely disenchanted with the whole learning process and looking for alternative ways to entertain themselves.

Like drawing cartoons at the back on the reasoning that nobody's interested in what they have to say now. Or working out ways to bother the teacher so they feel like somebody has noticed this stuff is soooooo boringly easy for once.

After all, from the point of view of a kid whose mind works at near lightspeed, what is the use of telling the kid next to them if they have difficulty in reading without using their index finger to follow the words? If nothing else, it would make the other kid feel bad about not knowing the answer or encourage them to rely on the gifted kid to do everything. Especially if the G&T kid has parents who insist that nobody likes a smartarze (because they don't have a clue how to deal with them either).

Not all G&T kids are the same. If you had been my teacher, I would have worked out some way to entertain myself/torture you for making me sit down and be quiet rather than bother you with questions and comments/sit with the psychokid who hates me for making them feel bad for knowing the answer to everything. Being effectively told that nobody is interested in my answer - which not letting me speak out in class would have done - would have created more of a monster than having an IQ in the stratosphere already had. Especially as I would far rather have been in music or art lessons every step of the way.

Would have also been unfair for the kid next to me in other ways, as I would have switched off and jumped to another subject or five in my head whilst they were still listening to what they were supposed to be doing. Or getting the warpspeed babble about the subjects, starting with the original point, but then going off on one so far that the confused look changes into the familiar complete blankness of the headscrewed victim of a G&T onslaught.


i would have pitied any kid made to sit and listen to me. The staff were fair game, though.

With respect, I work with high gifted children, have one myself and have an invitation to join Mensa myself. I think you misunderstood my point.

Gingham_R

If the work isn't 'boringly easy' the gifted child doesn't need to cause a commotion.

Gingham_R

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Not all G&T kids are the same. If you had been my teacher, I would have worked out some way to entertain myself/torture you for making me sit down and be quiet rather than bother you with questions and comments/sit with the psychokid who hates me for making them feel bad for knowing the answer to everything. Being effectively told that nobody is interested in my answer - which not letting me speak out in class would have done - would have created more of a monster than having an IQ in the stratosphere already had. Especially as I would far rather have been in music or art lessons every step of the way.

Why do you think I was suggesting that a high IQ kid should sit down and be quiet? Or not ask questions? That's the worst thing a teacher could do to a gifted child.

thegirlintheattic

Gingham_R wrote: »

I'm talking about my experience of dozens of schools as well as the specific needs in my son's school.

Teachers are STILL not trained in how asynchronous development, dual and twice exceptionalities (gifted with another learning difference eg dyslexia) and high giftedness affect their needs in the classroom. If teachers were more aware, they'd be able to see how damaging not meeting their needs is, to the individual child and to the class as a whole.

Again, not the teacher's fault. A much wider issue.

We are trained to deal with complex combinations of SEN including a mix of G&T and SpLD and these needs are meet - as far as possible within the constraints of the system. No one is ignorant of how damaging not meeting their needs are.

You will never get completely personalized learning in a mainstream class of 30 children, no matter how much we may want to provide it. Instead most teachers use a combination of teaching methods to engage and meet the needs of all learners, albeit at different times. What you are suggesting is to meet the needs of some learners (by using open questioning all the time) whilst denying the needs of others.

I also find your sweeping statement that SEN (including G&T) kids spend most of their days not learning appalling. This is certainly not the case in my classroom or in my school, nor in any other school I have been in. At the VERY LEAST the learning outcomes and objectives are differentiated so that whilst working on a similar task the students are working at their own target level and producing different work.

If the school's you work in ignore SEN (including G&T) then you need to address that issue in your school.

Gingham_R

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

We are trained to deal with complex combinations of SEN including a mix of G&T and SpLD and these needs are meet - as far as possible within the constraints of the system.

You will never get completely personalized learning in a mainstream class of 30 children, no matter how much we may want to provide it. Instead most teachers use a combination of teaching methods to engage and meet the needs of all learners, albeit at different times. What you are suggesting is to meet the needs of some learners (by using open questioning all the time) whilst denying the needs of others.

I also find your sweeping statement that SEN (including G&T) kids spend most of their days not learning appalling. This is certainly not the case in my classroom or in my school, nor in any other school I have been in. At the VERY LEAST the learning outcomes and objectives are differentiated so that whilst working on a similar task the students are working at their own target level and producing different work.

I'm sorry but there's just so much to say about this that I barely know where to start, not least to puzzle why on earth you think I suggest using open questioning all the time?!

I'm afraid that differentiation is useful but doesn't make up for the well documented fact that children are spending large portions of the day learning nothing or next to nothing, though I accept that perhaps in your school this isn't the case.

Gingham_R

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

If the school's you work in ignore SEN (including G&T) then you need to address that issue in your school.

First of all, that's not my job though I'd certainly raise it if it were the case, secondly, I'm not suggesting that teachers are ignoring special needs.

milliebear00001

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

And would end up with other gifted kids becoming completely disenchanted with the whole learning process and looking for alternative ways to entertain themselves.

Like drawing cartoons at the back on the reasoning that nobody's interested in what they have to say now. Or working out ways to bother the teacher so they feel like somebody has noticed this stuff is soooooo boringly easy for once.

After all, from the point of view of a kid whose mind works at near lightspeed, what is the use of telling the kid next to them if they have difficulty in reading without using their index finger to follow the words? If nothing else, it would make the other kid feel bad about not knowing the answer or encourage them to rely on the gifted kid to do everything. Especially if the G&T kid has parents who insist that nobody likes a smartarze (because they don't have a clue how to deal with them either).

Not all G&T kids are the same. If you had been my teacher, I would have worked out some way to entertain myself/torture you for making me sit down and be quiet rather than bother you with questions and comments/sit with the psychokid who hates me for making them feel bad for knowing the answer to everything. Being effectively told that nobody is interested in my answer - which not letting me speak out in class would have done - would have created more of a monster than having an IQ in the stratosphere already had. Especially as I would far rather have been in music or art lessons every step of the way.

Would have also been unfair for the kid next to me in other ways, as I would have switched off and jumped to another subject or five in my head whilst they were still listening to what they were supposed to be doing. Or getting the warpspeed babble about the subjects, starting with the original point, but then going off on one so far that the confused look changes into the familiar complete blankness of the headscrewed victim of a G&T onslaught.


i would have pitied any kid made to sit and listen to me. The staff were fair game, though.

I have a gifted child in my class who is just like this. Every other teacher he has had, has found him extremely disruptive. I LOVE him!

I can cater for him in lessons easily enough with lots of higher level, challenging problem solving stuff, but he is a nightmare at lunchtimes and breaktimes.

I give him what little extra time I can by giving up my assembly time PPA to give him (and another child) extra tuition using philosophy style, critical thinking questions. He LOVES these, and says mine is the first class he's ever been encouraged to ask questions in! In fact, his last teacher (another school) 'banned him' from asking questions! I can understand how that might have happened, even though I don't agree with it myself.

I think I am doing OK with this child, but am aware that he could benefit from so much more intervention from elsewhere. I also worry that I am missing others, and know there are parents who resent this sort of 'unequal' (as they see it) treatment.

Person_one

Gingham_R wrote: »

With respect, I work with high gifted children, have one myself and have an invitation to join Mensa myself. I think you misunderstood my point.

Oh, Mensa, well then...

Gingham_R

Person_one wrote: »

Oh, Mensa, well then...

That's rude.

I'm trying to explain that I feel you've misunderstood my understanding of giftedness.