Reply to I'm an MCPS elementary school teacher...AMA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Okay, guys, please take the teacher compensation discussion to a different thread if you want to keep talking about it.  If we have one or more elementary school teachers here willing to give candid responses to our questions, I think we should keep this thread focused on that.[/quote]

OP here....
I'm still here and ready to give candid responses to questions!! Let me know.[/quote]

Thanks!

Is there any way to bring up wanting your kid to receive enrichment that is likely to be actually productive and helpful?  (Or should we assume that if they are not, it either means that either 1) the teacher wants to but can't due to other demands they're juggling; 2) the teacher doesn't think your kid needs enrichment and will likely be annoyed at you saying they do; or 3) the teacher doesn't really care about providing enrichment?  And that none of these things will likely be helped by hearing from you on it?)

If there is some potential benefit to the conversation, any suggestions on what to say and how?  Is this different for, say, kindergarten versus 2nd grade? Assume the kid is not a super-genius several years above grade-level, just an ordinary smart kid feeling bored and unchallenged by the regular curriculum.[/quote]

OP here...

This is a great question. I have a child myself in an MCPS school. I have not brought this up with the teacher yet bc of some of the same concerns you mentioned above. But my child definitely needs enrichment/challenge in math and in CKLA. I did tell the teacher that my child requested more challenge in math (words from my child, not me).

I think for most teachers and myself it's number 1.

All of the good teachers care about providing enrichment to your children, it's just a matter of we don't always have the time or resources bc we'd have to buy (from Teachers Pay Teachers website) or make all of the materials ourselves. Also...I personally don't consider true enrichment just giving kids worksheets. I consider true enrichment projects and other things. Those take a long time to create and prep and get materials for. I could easily print out more worksheets for your kids....but it's not meaningful enrichment. I'd have to do this on top of supporting kids who can barely read/comprehend basic texts and supporting on grade level kids too.

There is definitely a benefit to the conversation. If for no other reason than to just get a paper trail going of documented requests for it. I would share what your child says at home about school and why you think they need enrichment. Your child flying through their homework independently is not a sign of them needing enrichment. I would use concrete evidence of their MCAP scores, MAP scores, and report card grades. The most effective wording you could probably use is that you think your child needs to be pushed to reach their full potential and you'd like to know specifically what they're doing to push your child. We usually identify "cusp" kids and focus on them in data chats and how we can push them.

Enrichment will look different depending on what grade your child is in. I think it starts being more important in later elementary years.

Sadly....your best bet might be to provide enrichment to your child yourself at home or seek outside of school enrichment.

Let me know if you have more specific questions! I hope this helped.[/quote]

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