Parent Teacher Conferences

Last week report cards got sent home. And last week we also received an automated voice mail message from Tino's principal saying if we'd like to schedule a conference, call the school. This morning was a first for all four of Tino's teachers. His teachers have been teaching anywhere between 10 and 24 years. This is the first time his teachers have received a conference request for a student who is getting straight A's. I have a split personality. I know, hard to believe right? I have a difficult time drawing the line between the "teacher" part of me and the "worried mom" part of me. Whenever Cristian mentions he is concerned, I know that it is time for "worried mom" to take action. As we all assembled around the table, the facilitator of the conference said "Let me guess, you are here because Tino is getting straight A's and he is bored. You want to know what else we can do for him, right?" Wow, well, yeah that was the reason for the conference but I was going to make it a little more fluffy and not quite so to the point and direct.

Bottom line is there really isn't a lot they can do for Tino. Unfortunately, Tino is going to be the student that falls through the cracks not because he can't master grade level expectations . . . but because due to the lovely No Child Left Behind , the teachers are pretty much forced to dumb down the curriculum so that EVERYONE can be successful. (And those were not my words, they were the words of two of his teachers.) Teachers don't have time to focus on the students that are excelling and doing well. Differentiation? Yeah, right. I guess the one good thing that came from the meeting is they are going to move him into Algebra. That will at least give Tino more of a challenge in math and he will be getting high school credit at the same time.

Socially Tino's teachers report that he is doing just fine. And two of his four teachers HAD.NO.IDEA that he was 2 years younger than his peers. I have followed the recommendation given by Tino's elementary school principal a couple years ago when he didn't pass the Gifted testing. She said to get him involved in extracurricular activities. We have done that. In fact, we . . . I mean Tino is extracurricular activitied out. There is only one day per week that Tino doesn't participate in baseball, boy scouts, or barritone . . . and that is on Monday night when I have class.

Anyway, that's the update on Tino. And I am still waiting for someone to tell me how to get the pictures off my camera phone. Then I will be able to do a Halloween post.