Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Do you think teachers will leave to pursue other endeavors?

Teachers will wait to see what happens. TJ is a great gig for a teacher. So they'll see what the new class looks like - chances are, it won't look too much different except for there'll be a few more kids in Geometry - and they'll probably hang in there.

I'm the PP to whom your question was directed. The answer, above, was not written by me. If I were still teaching at TJ, I would consider planning my exit strategy. I say this because I see this as being the beginning of the end. These changes will have a domino effect that will become apparent in 3-5 years, and it will no longer be the special place that students want to go the extra mile to attend.

I responded previously much earlier to the OP. If I were still teaching at TJ, I would be excited about the possibilities of the change in the admissions process. I found my students to be increasingly self-involved and one-dimensional as the years passed - more and more focused on college and less and less focused on high school. Increase in high-maintenance parenting, increase in grade-grubbing, decrease in genuine interest in the subject matter - not just in my class, but in my colleagues' as well.

I'd be excited that the decrease in emphasis on test prep and resume-stacking would result in a student population that is more genuinely curious and more directed toward enjoying the rigorous high school environment for its own sake. TJ parents won't want to hear this, but there really wasn't that much of a difference between my AP students there and at the local high school where I taught previously in terms of ability. The difference was that the TJ students were more focused on their grades and less focused on learning.

Are you pretending to be a former TJ teacher to spew anti-TJ and anti-Asian stereotypes? Sounds like you never taught at TJ since you do not say anything factually that would lend some credibility that you were in fact a teacher at TJ. Which white bio teacher was known to love watermelon? This was a well known fact at TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Do you think teachers will leave to pursue other endeavors?

Teachers will wait to see what happens. TJ is a great gig for a teacher. So they'll see what the new class looks like - chances are, it won't look too much different except for there'll be a few more kids in Geometry - and they'll probably hang in there.

I'm the PP to whom your question was directed. The answer, above, was not written by me. If I were still teaching at TJ, I would consider planning my exit strategy. I say this because I see this as being the beginning of the end. These changes will have a domino effect that will become apparent in 3-5 years, and it will no longer be the special place that students want to go the extra mile to attend.

I responded previously much earlier to the OP. If I were still teaching at TJ, I would be excited about the possibilities of the change in the admissions process. I found my students to be increasingly self-involved and one-dimensional as the years passed - more and more focused on college and less and less focused on high school. Increase in high-maintenance parenting, increase in grade-grubbing, decrease in genuine interest in the subject matter - not just in my class, but in my colleagues' as well.

I'd be excited that the decrease in emphasis on test prep and resume-stacking would result in a student population that is more genuinely curious and more directed toward enjoying the rigorous high school environment for its own sake. TJ parents won't want to hear this, but there really wasn't that much of a difference between my AP students there and at the local high school where I taught previously in terms of ability. The difference was that the TJ students were more focused on their grades and less focused on learning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Do you think teachers will leave to pursue other endeavors?

Teachers will wait to see what happens. TJ is a great gig for a teacher. So they'll see what the new class looks like - chances are, it won't look too much different except for there'll be a few more kids in Geometry - and they'll probably hang in there.

I'm the PP to whom your question was directed. The answer, above, was not written by me. If I were still teaching at TJ, I would consider planning my exit strategy. I say this because I see this as being the beginning of the end. These changes will have a domino effect that will become apparent in 3-5 years, and it will no longer be the special place that students want to go the extra mile to attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Do you think teachers will leave to pursue other endeavors?

Teachers will wait to see what happens. TJ is a great gig for a teacher. So they'll see what the new class looks like - chances are, it won't look too much different except for there'll be a few more kids in Geometry - and they'll probably hang in there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We understand that there are many people who think that there is a racial inequities at play, but the reality is that some families are just stronger in math than others.

A lot of Asians who live here work in science- whether it be government or tech. So do white people. But the difference isn’t the test per se.

It’s the culture of the home.

I wish people would just stop with this. It comes across as completely tone deaf to the idea that children have no say what families they are born into. Bright kids are born into many families in many places. Children don’t deserve to miss out on opportunities simply because of the parents they get at the birth lottery.

It is wrong too push one child in front of another because of the “culture of the home.”

Right. Fcps should stop pandering to blacks and stop discriminating against Asians.

Anonymous wrote:

We understand that there are many people who think that there is a racial inequities at play, but the reality is that some families are just stronger in math than others.

A lot of Asians who live here work in science- whether it be government or tech. So do white people. But the difference isn’t the test per se.

It’s the culture of the home.

I wish people would just stop with this. It comes across as completely tone deaf to the idea that children have no say what families they are born into. Bright kids are born into many families in many places. Children don’t deserve to miss out on opportunities simply because of the parents they get at the birth lottery.

It is wrong too push one child in front of another because of the “culture of the home.”

We understand that there are many people who think that there is a racial inequities at play, but the reality is that some families are just stronger in math than others.

A lot of Asians who live here work in science- whether it be government or tech. So do white people. But the difference isn’t the test per se.

It’s the culture of the home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Do you think teachers will leave to pursue other endeavors?

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

No, you weren't just assuming. TJ IS a school for gifted kids. It's written in black and white in the school's charter. It appears they think every child who has at least a 3.5 GPA is gifted, regardless of whether the kids took gen ed or aap classes, or whether their middle schools have grade inflation (many do). The issue is that some people don't want to believe that intellectual giftedness is real. They think it's just a made up thing to make parents feel special.

Anonymous wrote:I am a former TJ teacher. I was a bit shocked and disappointed to hear about the proposed change. I specifically wanted to work at TJ because I love working with gifted kids, which is what I thought TJ was all about, but maybe I just assumed that (?). Not to say the kids selected through the lottery won't be gifted, but it will be a mixed bag for sure, which will require more differentiation and probably less of an opportunity to go as in depth as I loved to do with my students. I do hope the powers that be at least figure out a way to identify the profoundly gifted kids who are interested in STEM, as I feel they would be the real losers in this plan.

Anonymous wrote:How does teaching at TJ differ from teaching at a base school? Would the teachers stay at a lottery TJ?