Speaking of acceleration….
2nd grade teacher comes up to me the other day. “Rain, what did you do with J during your reading time?”
Well, I taught him. He was one of those who had already mastered the 1st grade reading expectations before he walked in the door on the first day of school, so I pushed him and the other high kids I was blessed to have hard. We read Pearl S. Buck’s “The Big Wave,” we wrote and responded, we worked hard. I excused him and the others from doing the rote work because I knew that they knew how to do it and neither of us could see the point in doing something just for the sake of doing it. Besides, if they were over reading their novels I could focus more on the other kids who really did need that sort of review.
The thing was, and I thought it even as I was doing it, I knew that the 2nd grade teachers wouldn’t push them the same way I would. They teach to the middle; everybody does everything that everybody else does, and that’s just the way it is. I’m trying to work with them on things like Accelerated Math and giving them packets that I know are on the same level as the kids were, but it’s slow going.
Anyhow, J’s parents are concerned that he’s not being challenged. They should be. The trick is that they were interested in having him skip 2nd grade at the end of last year, and I don’t think it’s a good idea. He’s young and he’s short. Certainly those aren’t great reasons, but they’re the reality.
What I wish we had at my school was a floating hi-cap teacher who could work with these kids 1-on-1. Let’s say I send J up to 3rd grade and it shows that he doesn’t quite understand adverbs yet. He could get it with only a little bit of remediation and then be raring to go, but that doesn’t happen. Someone who could meet with small groups of kids and let them create and read and just go at their own pace….that would be cool.
Hey Washington Learns, how about it?
Well, I taught him. He was one of those who had already mastered the 1st grade reading expectations before he walked in the door on the first day of school, so I pushed him and the other high kids I was blessed to have hard. We read Pearl S. Buck’s “The Big Wave,” we wrote and responded, we worked hard. I excused him and the others from doing the rote work because I knew that they knew how to do it and neither of us could see the point in doing something just for the sake of doing it. Besides, if they were over reading their novels I could focus more on the other kids who really did need that sort of review.
The thing was, and I thought it even as I was doing it, I knew that the 2nd grade teachers wouldn’t push them the same way I would. They teach to the middle; everybody does everything that everybody else does, and that’s just the way it is. I’m trying to work with them on things like Accelerated Math and giving them packets that I know are on the same level as the kids were, but it’s slow going.
Anyhow, J’s parents are concerned that he’s not being challenged. They should be. The trick is that they were interested in having him skip 2nd grade at the end of last year, and I don’t think it’s a good idea. He’s young and he’s short. Certainly those aren’t great reasons, but they’re the reality.
What I wish we had at my school was a floating hi-cap teacher who could work with these kids 1-on-1. Let’s say I send J up to 3rd grade and it shows that he doesn’t quite understand adverbs yet. He could get it with only a little bit of remediation and then be raring to go, but that doesn’t happen. Someone who could meet with small groups of kids and let them create and read and just go at their own pace….that would be cool.
Hey Washington Learns, how about it?
posted by Ryan at 1:22 PM
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