Wait... What?

This morning I got to meet Dermot's teacher finally. He has to be there early all week because he is "classroom helper". He gets to set up the calendar and tell the students what the current temperature is. Because of his assignment, he has to be at school 15 minutes early. I took advantage of the empty school to meet his teacher.

Even better, I only teach one class today. I was home by 3:00 after doing some grocery shopping on the home. The phone rings around 3:30, and I assumed it was Ethan. Behold! It was Dermot's new second grade teacher. She was calling me to tell me that she had had a talk with Dermot's principal about Dermot's academic background. She told me that she knows things are too easy for him now, especially in math, but that she's working on it. She said that there's going to be a meeting on Wednesday when the gifted teacher is at Dermot's school to talk about what they can do for him. She asked me to be patient. Even better, she told me that she pulled Dermot aside today and she told him that she knew the work was too easy for him, but that he needs to be patient and she'll work on something for him.

I told her that when he came home on Friday, he asked me if I had told the teacher he was smart, because he was really irritated that the math they were doing was simple addition and subtraction. I told her that I told him that he was going to have to deal with it for a while. I reminded him that she needs to figure out where 21 different kids are. Plus, the beginning of school is always review because some kids really do forget stuff over the summer. I told him to not worry about the academic component for know and to just enjoy being around his friends. I told his new teacher that and she repeatedly thanked me for helping her out and being on her side.

I've never been against Dermot's teachers. I just always want a little bit more than they are giving. I am very aware that teachers have one of the toughest jobs on the planet. I am a huge believer in parents and teachers creating a team to work out the best outcomes for kids. In the long run fighting with a teacher is just going to hurt a student regardless of how it might make a parent feel.

I did have to remind the teacher that Dermot needs advanced work in spelling too, not just math. His school keeps forgetting that. I told her that I had test scores that I had sent to the principal, but apparently, he didn't pass them on to her. I, of course, have made a copy for her. She's the one directly working with Dermot. She's the one who needs all of the information that I can give to her.

His spelling words this week were plan, am, etc. I told Ethan that we need to demand that no spelling words be allowed to be one syllable unless they are really difficult or irregular (like weird). I'm kidding. I'm not that invasive. The teacher can figure things out on her own. She told me the spelling would take a few weeks too. Dermot seems to give teachers the benefit of the doubt when they talk to him one on one give their perspective. So hopefully the teacher's chat today, and my reinforcement of it at home will keep him happy for the few weeks it takes to get things up and running. We'll see. I am delighted, however, that she was lovely enough to make the phone call today. She certainly did not need to. I am hoping this is a sign of a great year.