teacher vent

[Anonymous]

I have been a teacher in FCPS for many years and this whole AAP fixation frustrates me. I have taught second grade and have administered the CogAt rest many times. I have also done several years of GBRS which are always a pain. I know first hand those students who get test prepped and score high on the test, yet I give them low GBRS because their level and quality of work is not AAP worthy. And yet those students keep making it into AAP classes. Why! Aren't we doing them a disservice. They may have scored high but if they can barely keep up in second grade, turn in work on time or perform to higher standards then grade level, why are we allowing these students to get in, especially through appeals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a teacher in FCPS for many years and this whole AAP fixation frustrates me. I have taught second grade and have administered the CogAt rest many times. I have also done several years of GBRS which are always a pain. I know first hand those students who get test prepped and score high on the test, yet I give them low GBRS because their level and quality of work is not AAP worthy. And yet those students keep making it into AAP classes. Why! Aren't we doing them a disservice. They may have scored high but if they can barely keep up in second grade, turn in work on time or perform to higher standards then grade level, why are we allowing these students to get in, especially through appeals?

Maybe you need to retire.

[Anonymous]

Do you actually have evidence that these kids you resent getting in do poorly or suffer in AAP?

[Anonymous]

Somehow this posts sounds like it is made up by a parent and not by a teacher.

When I taught back in the day, with less than a month left to summer this post would be the absolute last thing from my mind.


The fcps teachers I know aren't really worked up about this kind of thig in the summer either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you actually have evidence that these kids you resent getting in do poorly or suffer in AAP?

+1... from the mother of a kid who didn't seem like a great student, had messy work and often didn't complete assignments on time... but scored high enough to get in first round and his AAP teacher thought he was a "perfect fit" for the program. Sometimes gen. ed. teachers don't see the potential and actual ability that the admission tests and AAP teachers do! We know of other boys who were kind of lack-luster/screw up/ADHD-type of kids who are also doing well in AAP (even though their gen. ed. teachers didn't think too much of them). The girls, on the other hand, seem to be more the prototypical "good students" (from gen. ed), but many have struggled with the AAP math, despite being high-flyers in language arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somehow this posts sounds like it is made up by a parent and not by a teacher.

When I taught back in the day, with less than a month left to summer this post would be the absolute last thing from my mind.


The fcps teachers I know aren't really worked up about this kind of thig in the summer either.

Agreed. Obvious troll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a teacher in FCPS for many years and this whole AAP fixation frustrates me. I have taught second grade and have administered the CogAt rest many times. I have also done several years of GBRS which are always a pain. I know first hand those students who get test prepped and score high on the test, yet I give them low GBRS because their level and quality of work is not AAP worthy. And yet those students keep making it into AAP classes. Why! Aren't we doing them a disservice. They may have scored high but if they can barely keep up in second grade, turn in work on time or perform to higher standards then grade level, why are we allowing these students to get in, especially through appeals?

I doubt you are a teacher if you don't know the difference between then and than.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a teacher in FCPS for many years and this whole AAP fixation frustrates me. I have taught second grade and have administered the CogAt rest many times. I have also done several years of GBRS which are always a pain. I know first hand those students who get test prepped and score high on the test, yet I give them low GBRS because their level and quality of work is not AAP worthy. And yet those students keep making it into AAP classes. Why! Aren't we doing them a disservice. They may have scored high but if they can barely keep up in second grade, turn in work on time or perform to higher standards then grade level, why are we allowing these students to get in, especially through appeals?

Maybe it is because you are the ultra-structured teacher who requires everything to be perfect, and miss the potential of the truly brilliant kids. If you were old enough, I bet you were my second grade teacher, who never noticed that the first three answers on my HW were correct...then I did not care. So, you questioned if I was retarded. (This was 1971). You recommended holding me back. My parents sent me for an evaluation, which showed that I was 1) immature, and 2) a genius. (IQ is about 150).

Oh, and I was held back AND placed in a gifted classroom (not FCPS).

[Anonymous]

My child got absolutely zero tutoring at home. He is in pre-k and didn't want to do it so I didn't force him. His teacher thinks he is behind in everything. She wanted parent teacher conference because he just scribbled on paper instead of drawing real things. She was the problem child in her eyes.

Finally he got interested in learning. I gave him 30 minutes tutoring for about 2 days/week the past month and he is 180 degrees different. He sits down, writes his name, gets the colors inside, can read certain things, etc. It took 1.5 months for this change to happen.

Really, what is important is the potential. Classroom teachers often don't see this. You should give every child the chance to achieve the potential within, not be the judge. The process is the judge, not you.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher, and those characteristics are often indicative of a gifted child (or twice exceptional). I hate the unhealthy focus parents have on getting their kids into AAP at all costs, and I despise test prepping, but classroom performance/behavior often doesn't correlate with intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:classroom performance/behavior often doesn't correlate with intelligence.

+1000

Profiles of the Gifted and Talented:

http://www.sisd.net/cms/lib/TX01001452/Centricity/Domain/4446/6%20Profiles%20of%20the%20Gifted%20and%20Talented.pdf

http://www.aps.edu/aps/gifted/profilechart.html

[Anonymous]

Another parent who had a second grade teacher tell DD she was not good enough in math for AAP (seriously, who tells an 8 year old she will fail). And whose DD got in without prepping. Sure enough, she's 2e (inattentive ADHD and performance anxiety) but still got a pass advanced 6th grade math SOL 4s in math in 5th grade. But it did take us 2 years of nightly math tears to undo a teacher telling her she could not succeed and get her confidence back. So yeah, teacher like you suck.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. So many grammatical errors in the OP. I really hope you're not a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another parent who had a second grade teacher tell DD she was not good enough in math for AAP (seriously, who tells an 8 year old she will fail). And whose DD got in without prepping. Sure enough, she's 2e (inattentive ADHD and performance anxiety) but still got a pass advanced 6th grade math SOL 4s in math in 5th grade. But it did take us 2 years of nightly math tears to undo a teacher telling her she could not succeed and get her confidence back. So yeah, teacher like you suck.

Agree, my DD also was told by 2nd grade teacher that she will not succeed in AAP and gave her low GBRS however, with AAP resource teacher's recommendation, started AAP in 4th grade and now at TJ, doing very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somehow this posts sounds like it is made up by a parent and not by a teacher.

When I taught back in the day, with less than a month left to summer this post would be the absolute last thing from my mind.


The fcps teachers I know aren't really worked up about this kind of thig in the summer either.

I disagree. This sounds very much like what my son's 2nd grade teacher was telling me last year. She said the other 2nd grade teachers felt the same way (this is at a center). I'd hate to be in their shoes, with pushy parents constantly breathing down their necks about AAP.