Reply to Middle School Intensified vs Regular Subjects

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Reply to "Middle School Intensified vs Regular Subjects - Worth It?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a 6th grader so I haven’t fully experienced “intensified” classes, but we put our kid in all intensified classes along with pre-algebra. There are only so many ways to scramble schedules, so doing all intensified classes is a way to minimize exposure to problem behavior and get your kid placed in a homeroom where most of the other kids are also in all intensified classes. Since gifted services in APS are basically a joke, I looked at intensified classes as a way to screen my kid’s peer group somewhat. Intensified classes are open to all kids, but choosing them is a decent indicator that the parents are engaged with what is going on at school.

A friend whose son has some learning disabilities said that he used his homeroom time to goof off and watch YouTube on the school iPad and that it was common in his class. Friends whose older kids took all intensified classes said their kids used their homeroom time effectively and rarely brought homework home until 7th grade. [/quote]
Ha.  Those 90 minute periods are so long that kids get bored and start causing trouble, especially the smart but immature 6th grade boys.  They are bored and have lots of time on their hands.  Last year they came up with so many obnoxious things from games where everyone would drop something when the teacher said a certain word, to elaborate abuses of the bathroom pass, to hiding things of the teacher and others, to illicitly taking bad cell phone pictures of the teacher.  There was a new shtick nearly every day in the classes with the less engaging teachers.  And yes, this was in intensified classes.[/quote]

My son complained about a group of immature boys in one of his 9th grade intensified classes.  Apparently kids with involved parents and who tested well on the cogat in the 2nd grade can still be complete tools if there is a teacher who lacks classroom management skills.[/quote]

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