And the stories do not all have a happy ending. Many of you know the story about my son, who is now 24. He had a right temporal brain tumor, which was successfully removed. He was second in his class, an honor student with 2 part time jobs, manager of the football team, band member, good citizen of his school. He didn't want to give up his standing, and insisted on going right back to school, probably a little too early.
He was on quite a cocktail of anti-seizure, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressants, and pain meds. The school held an IEP/504 meeting where I was told my son was on drugs (no kidding, they all implied that he was on illicit drugs!) and was falling asleep in class (duh, he had a doctor's note explaining it would happen.) They yanked him out of regular classes, sending him to the alternative school. He completed a 15 hour class in a half day, and aced the exit exam. Their solution, make him do word associations for the rest of the term. We asked could he start another class, and they wouldn't hear it (something about seat time) I asked what about just letting him take the other class for enrichment, no way. Plus, they had no one who could teach him advanced calculus II, or French. Long story short, they dropped him from the rolls without telling us. He went to school one day, and they said "What are you doing here, you're not enrolled any longer." so my son is an involuntary drop out. We looked into filing a law suit, but I was advised against it since I worked for the school system. He lost all respect for education, thinks it's a waste, won't get his GED or Adult HS Diploma, forget going to college. So I have a 24 yr old with a 180 IQ who sits at home all day playing Warcraft. Tell me about falling through the cracks, my son was swallowed. Joy/NC/4 How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org ----- Original Message ---- From: Renee <[email protected]> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 5:40:26 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] ***SPAM*** Re: Do we really need to teach explicitstrategies? Wow. Here we are.... teachers.... discussing our own children trying to survive school. Think about that. Renee On Jun 14, 2009, at 1:56 PM, Ljackson wrote: > Some people lack a grand scheme of anything., IMO. His old 4/5 teacher, now > the math coach and among the coolest people I know, called him to tell him he > knew all along that there was something really special about the way his > brain worked. Had lots of examples of brilliant, successful artists and > musicians with similar issues, and painted the picture in glowing and > positive terms--how thinking outside the boz is what makes him who he is and > puts him a unique position to succeed in very non-traditional ways. One look > at my son, with his bleach-tipped hair dipping over one eye and his funky > clothing choice tells me he was right, but hearing it from a teacher he > (we!!) adored made all the difference in the world. And Isaac wants to be > an artist/photographer/teacher, so he can use his understanding of how to > understand differently to tremendous creative advantage--if he can survive > high school. ;-=) > > > Lori Jackson > > > ----- Original message ----- > From: Renee <[email protected]> > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group > <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009 12:59 PM > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] ***SPAM*** Re: Do we really need to teach > explicitstrategies? > >> And I also have an adult son, 32, a professional musician with a very >> high IQ, whose spelling and handwriting are just about the most >> atrocious I have ever seen. Spelling is sooooo unimportant in the grand >> scheme of things. >> >> Renee >> >> On Jun 14, 2009, at 10:41 AM, Jan Sanders wrote: >> >>> Wow Lori, I want to respond, but don't know what to say. It truly is >>> our >>> personal experiences that lead us to understanding -in reading and >>> life. >>> >>> My oldest son (29) who has a very high IQ, can not spell correctly to >>> save >>> his life, and it is difficult to read his writing. >> >> >> "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that >> matter." >> ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> [email protected] >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > "Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive." ~ Robert Pirsig _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
