Reply to Best 2nd and 3rd grade teachers at Louise Archer?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I taught first grade. One year I had the "perfect" class.  I said "jump" and the kids said "how high?"  It was a terrific group of kids-some smart, some middle and some not so smart.  However, they were ALL well behaved.  After years of struggling with discipline problems I thought I had all the answers.  We were able to accomplish so much because the kids were cooperative and respected each other as well as the teacher.
The next year, the principal had lots of requests for me because I had such a terrific class.  Guess what?  It was the class from Hell.  (Nice kids--but tons of issues.)  The principal also threw in some problem children because I "had such good control" of the classroom.  I'm sure all those parents who requested me regretted it.  I spent most of my time with a girl who was emotionally disturbed.  The psychologist thought it would be worse if she were put in a class of like children because she would follow their lead.........I had to keep her constantly by my side or she would hurt other kids.  I worked three times harder that year and probably accomplished less than 60% of what my class had done the year before.
Moral: be careful what you ask for--a lot of the effectiveness of a teacher depends on the make up of the class.  [/quote].

I LOVE this story.  We were in another state and ALL of the supermoms requested this one teacher who was supposed to be amazing.  My friends all told me I needed to ask for that teacher too. I was not a supermom, but I am a former teacher and daughter of a teacher. So I asked that they put my child in a class with the teacher that was best for his learning style, strentghs and weaknesses.

Guess what, my child was placed in the class with the most experienced teacher who also specialized in gifted instruction. The other students were amazingly well behaved, partly because she ran a tight ship and partly because they were well behaved kids. The parents were laid back, yet involved. Lots of differentiation for all, creative activities and projects.  It was a fabulous year.

The most requested teacher that all the supermoms had to have? She had a wild class. They funneled all the special needs and behavior issues into her class. There were six aides in there, to either help one specific child or monitor a couple of kids.  I don't think they accomplished nearly as much as my non-requested teacher did.  I am so glad I let the school use their judgement to place my child.

Ever since that experience, I always ask the school to place my children in the class that the current teacher believes has the best teaching style for them.  It has worked very well for us.[/quote]

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