Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Danielle: Tears of Joy

One of the greatest privileges of my job is occasionally I am given the opportunity to change a parent’s perspective his/her child’s mind. One of the greatest misconceptions about giftedness is that a gifted child is a perfect child. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. A gifted mathematician might struggle to read and a talented musician might struggle to sit still in the classroom.

Most gifted children struggle with asynchronous development, which confuses parents and teachers alike. For example, a five-year-old child may read a book intended for eighth graders (well above age level) and ask her bewildered father for help tying her shoe (age appropriate) while sucking her thumb (below age level). Difficulty with social skills, overexcitabilities, extreme perfectionism, fear of failure and many other things can mask a student’s giftedness.  Uncovering that giftedness can change a child’s life–and the lives of their entire family.

Danielle: The Nature of Professional Development

How much of a teacher’s professional life should be spent in professional development? How about a coordinator? An administrator? What constitutes professional development? Taking a class, going to a conference, watching a webinar or attending a committee are certainly all activities that everyone in the education field will agree are professional development related, so long as the class, conference, webinar and/or committee are education related. 

What about less organized activities? Collaborative planning, data analysis of student work, book groups about education-related material and peer observations have all come to be recognized as professional development too. Over many decades, the nature of professional development has evolved to include much more than organized conferences and seminars, and rightly so.

Danielle: It’s About Growth

I started this week not really believing that I was going to make it. The quarter ended last Friday, so grades were due. I had two doctor’s appointments, one blog due, and a meeting with two high school departments on Thursday. I needed to be at the board meeting Monday night and the National Honor Society faculty council meeting Wednesday night. None of which would be a problem. Except that my department was being audited—on Thursday.

I love that word, audit. Just saying it strikes fear into the hearts and minds of everyone in hearing distance. It reminds me of the words “Final Exam” or “Dean’s Office.”

Our school has never really had a full time GT Coordinator, so I wanted to show everyone, myself included, just how amazing our program could be. The primary function of the audit, of course, is to determine whether or not the school is in compliance with state regulations. I don’t want to be just in compliance; I want our school to be a leader in gifted education.

Danielle: A Note from Mia, the Service Dog

I know that Mom, I mean, Danielle, is supposed to write all of these posts, but I felt the need to post on her behalf today, as she is very, very tired, and I am clearly very, very intelligent…

Mom seems to love this new job quite a bit. Me, I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting up at 8 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., and if Mom wakes up early I get an extra walk in the morning! It’s just all of these little kids – all of the time. They are so high pitched and excitable. Every time they see me they squeal as if it’s the very first time they’ve ever seen a dog – even if they’ve already met me! All day, every day, it’s “Oh, my gosh!  It’s a puppy! Look, it’s so CUUUUUUUTTTEEEEE!!!” Then they chase after me to pet me and grab my tail. I’m not even allowed to nip at them; not that I would because I’m the best dog ever.

Danielle: A High School Teacher’s Worst Nightmare?

I think it is very common for teachers to believe that it would be impossible for them to teach any grade other than the grade they teach. When I meet elementary school teachers, they tell me that they could never teach teenagers, I tell them I could never teach little kids, and then we both laugh and agree we could NEVER do middle school.

I’ve spent five years building my solid identity as a high school teacher, and four of those were as the teacher of primarily juniors and seniors. During my first year, I developed a firm belief that anyone under the age of 14 was perpetually sticky.

Danielle: Sweating the Small Stuff

I must confess that I have a touch of compulsive organization in me. I think it comes from my mother, bless her heart, who used to correct me at age 6 when I wrote out shopping lists that weren’t correctly ordered by aisle. I like to think of myself as being detail oriented, although others have called me everything from obsessive compulsive to a pain in the butt. I usually take it as a compliment, although I have gotten better over the years. I’ve learned that if the organization takes more time to do than it saves you later, it might be a step too far! What kinds of organization help you keep everything under control? Do you ever take it too far?

Danielle: You Catch More Flies with Honey…

How do you advocate effectively for your students without making enemies?

I knew going into this school year that I was in for a challenge. My school has never had a full time K-12 Gifted and Talented Coordinator. As a result, the needs of gifted students have never really been the top priority. Now that I’m here, there is someone who listens to every word in every meeting with the thought, “How will that affect a student who is gifted?” The answers aren’t always easy to hear, especially with a state audit coming down on a whole bunch of metro-area districts in the fall… including ours!

Danielle: I Want to Have My Cake, and Eat it, too.

It is so strange to be back at school for inservice week. On the surface, it would seem as though not much has changed. With little exception, the same faces are sitting in roughly the same places in the auditorium. We go through the same, "Welcome back, don't stand on desks, success is our only option, no personal e-mails, open door policy, blah blah" speeches. We sign in on the same sheets, have our pictures taken by the same photography studio, and spend what precious spare time we have setting up our rooms in the same hallways. This is my sixth inservice week at the same school. It shouldn't feel so awkward. It's just that this year is so... not the same.

Danielle: Summer Reading--It’s Not Just for Kids!

Knowing that I was starting a whole new position when I left school at the end of May, I had all these grand designs that I would do lots of planning and develop lots of ideas during summer break.  Reality set in a week later when I returned to start teaching summer school. I was teaching six different courses in a day—three at a time in the morning and three at a time in the afternoon. The resulting chaos isn’t relevant to this discussion, except (of course) for the honing of my differentiation skills (three courses in the same room will do that!), and the severe lack of planning for my new job as the K–12 gifted and talented coordinator my school. Sigh.

Meet CEC's New Bloggers for the 2012–13 School Year!

Charmelle, Danielle, Kaylie, Jerry, and John are special and gifted educators, and they're excited to share the ins and outs, the ups and downs of the coming school year.

Charmelle is an elementary special education teacher who is busy balancing work, graduate school, and family life with a 2-year-old.

Danielle was a high school mathematics teacher, but has now spent the summer excitedly preparing for her new role as a K–12 gifted and talented coordinator.

Jerry takes on special education as a second career—and he’s ready to tackle his first full year of teaching.

John, following in his mom’s footsteps, decided to become a teacher. After switching his major to special education, he’s never looked back.

Kaylie has found her calling as a middle school special education teacher and couldn’t be happier.

Stay tuned for another dynamic and inspiring year at Reality 101! They kick off their blogging next week--don't miss a post!