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velvetpageWell, day three is done, and I'm starting to get to know my kids.
First, there are the two unmedicated ADHD kids. They're really sweet. The ceiling is too low for them, but they're both lovable kids. One of them doesn't get much love at home, so I'm glad I like him. It makes it easier when he does starved-for-attention type things, to remember that I'm the only one giving him any. In any case, I'll be in dialogue with both parents in the near future: do you want an education for your kids, or a very high-priced babysitting service? Because they aren't learning very much when they spend the days bouncing off the clouds. There are alternatives to ritalin - consider them, please.
Then, there are the slightly sneaky ones - the two or three who will never write down a question or a title unless they know I'll be looking over their shoulder to make them do it right. At this stage of the year, I have to be very, very vigilant with these ones. If I let them get away with that now, they won't do a lick of work all year and will spend most of their time exercising their extremely curious and charismatic personalities on the other students.
Then there are the ones who are sweet and kind because they don't have the brains to be anything else. I have about five of these. Nice kids. Glad they're not mine - I want Elizabeth to be nice on purpose because she chooses to be that way, not nice because she's stupid. Still, these kids are vastly preferable to the smart asses I had last year. They made up most of my class.
Then there's the one bright but bored kid. He's driving me halfway to distraction already. He bounces off the walls, not because he can't control himself but because he chooses not to. I'm looking forward to giving him a couple of notes in his agenda, along the lines of, "DDD's marks will improve when he starts listening to instructions and working up to his potential." If the parents are anywhere near as smart as their son, they'll figure that out and give him some food for thought, hopefully in the form of fewer video games for a while.
Last are the really nice, smart girls - the ones who take it upon themselves to turn an Interview with a Classmate into a dramatic presentation. The ones who listed Harry Potter books as their all-time favourites, and remembered that one of the spelling words ("Heir") had been written on the wall in Chamber of Secrets. I love these girls already. They like me, too - they're looking forward to the wealth of plays in French that I've told them we're doing. Forget published units - we're doing drama all year round, in French!
I think it's going to be a good year.
First, there are the two unmedicated ADHD kids. They're really sweet. The ceiling is too low for them, but they're both lovable kids. One of them doesn't get much love at home, so I'm glad I like him. It makes it easier when he does starved-for-attention type things, to remember that I'm the only one giving him any. In any case, I'll be in dialogue with both parents in the near future: do you want an education for your kids, or a very high-priced babysitting service? Because they aren't learning very much when they spend the days bouncing off the clouds. There are alternatives to ritalin - consider them, please.
Then, there are the slightly sneaky ones - the two or three who will never write down a question or a title unless they know I'll be looking over their shoulder to make them do it right. At this stage of the year, I have to be very, very vigilant with these ones. If I let them get away with that now, they won't do a lick of work all year and will spend most of their time exercising their extremely curious and charismatic personalities on the other students.
Then there are the ones who are sweet and kind because they don't have the brains to be anything else. I have about five of these. Nice kids. Glad they're not mine - I want Elizabeth to be nice on purpose because she chooses to be that way, not nice because she's stupid. Still, these kids are vastly preferable to the smart asses I had last year. They made up most of my class.
Then there's the one bright but bored kid. He's driving me halfway to distraction already. He bounces off the walls, not because he can't control himself but because he chooses not to. I'm looking forward to giving him a couple of notes in his agenda, along the lines of, "DDD's marks will improve when he starts listening to instructions and working up to his potential." If the parents are anywhere near as smart as their son, they'll figure that out and give him some food for thought, hopefully in the form of fewer video games for a while.
Last are the really nice, smart girls - the ones who take it upon themselves to turn an Interview with a Classmate into a dramatic presentation. The ones who listed Harry Potter books as their all-time favourites, and remembered that one of the spelling words ("Heir") had been written on the wall in Chamber of Secrets. I love these girls already. They like me, too - they're looking forward to the wealth of plays in French that I've told them we're doing. Forget published units - we're doing drama all year round, in French!
I think it's going to be a good year.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-10 02:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-09-10 01:18 pm (UTC)I doubt the American systems are substantively different. The same reading level applies, the same basic vocabulary, the same basic skills - it's the subject-specific stuff that's different. And special ed research crosses the border constantly - most of the studies I read are done in the U.S. However, if you know any American teachers on LJ, I'd love to get their comments on the differences. That could be a really intriguing dialogue.