Pigerick Saga

[jonsan]

About a week ago, my wife and I attended a conference with my eight year-old son's Target teacher. Target is a one day a week class for the smart kids, theoretically. The teacher, Mrs. Robinson, is leading a semester long unit on money, budgeting, and related subjects. Last week, the children were asked to write a rough draft of a limerick having

Comments

[jonsan]

She also "corrected" the Pigerick by capitalizing the first word of each line.

There once was a strict Target teacher
whose rules were so bad they might eatchya.
She thought darn was a curse
and abhors a free verse,
so she took up the Book as a preacher.

[raving_liberal]

That's a lovely limerick.

[princessenoire]

Good grief. She's quite the little idiot, isn't she?

*sorry, snuck over from the Mrs.'*

[jonsan]

Well, she seemed well intentioned based on what I saw during our conference. I think the art of teaching gifted children is not commonly understood, and perhaps avoided in our current school system. I admit, it has taken me a while to understand when Liam needs loving (but sometimes fierce) authority, and when he needs some extra freedom in order to thrive. She doesn't live with him, so I can appreciate the difficulty of her position.

On the other hand, the whole thing is just frustrating. Liam is being praised for things I think are largely unimportant and critiqued on minutiae that really don't need too be stressed at this point. Home schooling is becoming more and more attractive.

[princessenoire]

Oh I know what you mean. My son Gavin (8) is in a "gifted" class, where they're handed a packet of work and expected to just complete it. We are dealing with many of the same issues in his class. :/

[nilo]

I LOVE it!!!

But you know what? Even before I got to the teacher-sucktastic part of the post, I was thinking, "Pigs? This time of year?" Because, honestly, if one wants to talk about money now, pots o' gold are totally the way to go about it. But then, I always enjoy drunken leprechauns.

If I'd gotten a "darn" in a limerick like that, I would have roared with laughter too.

[jonsan]

You should move down here and become Liam's teacher. I surmise you two would get along quite well.

As a teacher, what would you do with a student who is a bit spacey, often wants to escape busy work or things he doesn't "get" right away, and can react with strong emotion to apparently benign stimulus, but is also genius smart and incredibly observant?

[nilo]

Honestly, that's all perfectly normal - for most kids; but especially so for really bright ones

[raving_liberal]

Oh wow, that would be such a fun unit!

[travellight]

I don't know that teacher, of course, but from following along in Morgan's LiveJournal, I believe she's too rigid to be teaching a class devoted to gifted kids.

[raving_liberal]

Gifted classes really aren't for gifted children any more. They're for high-normal intelligence high achievers, kids who are very good at working very hard and producing volumes of technically correct work. Liam's gifted teacher seems well-meaning, but she's obviously either been trained towards teaching high achievers or she's gotten so used to it over time that it's now how she teaches. I think back to my favorite gifted teacher, Gloria Navarro (who is now a principle of another Cobb school), and the difference couldn't be more striking. Mrs. Navarro knew how to teach truly gifted students. Mrs. Robinson, bless her heart, seems a little at a loss.

[2redpath5]

Thank you so much for posting this.
I can't express how much I love reading the things you are going through as a fully involved parent. I just treasure it.
Liam is so lucky to have you both!
How's the pregnancy coming along?

[jonsan]

Pregnancy is fine for me, though Morgan might have a bit more to say on that ;)

I just really don't want my son to be stifled or compressed. The challenges of this world are numerous and mighty, and really shouldn't become a major concern until some time well after eight years of life.