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Bright and Quirky Summit: The importance of parents weighing in on student instruction

February 24, 2020 2:50 PM | Anonymous

Invaluable information will be dispensed at the Bright and Quirky Summit! From the lens of a teacher, I hope that you are open to strategies presented at the Summit on how to work with your child’s teachers and administrators.  My aim is to show you the positive results of collaboration between parents and staff.

I believe that parents are the best source of information about their children and that is particularly important when it comes to bright and quirky or 2e children.  In my former District, gifted resource teachers viewed parents as our partners in instruction and that helped us understand unique student learning, create opportunities for deep engagement, and give students a sense of control over learning opportunities. 

A few quick examples: 

  • 1.     Helping with a processing question:  Alec always got the correct answer in algebra, but the way he wrote out his work never made sense; Alec became irritated when asked to explain how he arrived at his answer.   So I brought in Alec’s dad who figured out that Alec was writing out solutions to algebraic problems vertically.   I thought Alec, a transfer student, had been too shy to report his unique method.  His father thought Alec might have been testing me.  Either way, nothing else interfered with Alec's mastery of algebra. 
  • 2.      Deepening engagement:  Jacob’s parents told me that he had an interest in international affairs.  When it came time to begin the second grade unit on Presidents, I convinced the second grade team to extend learning to the international realm:  Jacob studied Nelson Mandela while the rest of the second grade studied U.S. Presidents.  Jacob’s report was so excellent that it landed on television (McNeil-Lehrer).
  • 3.      Giving the student control and recognition:  Sam, a student with ADHD, shined as a resident expert. In class, Sam whizzed through reading material and loved going to the library to learn more about topics related to our unit.  During the last five minutes of every class, Sam presented as an expert.   Making students resident experts was one of the most valuable tools in my arsenal.  Similarly, a mother of a student on the spectrum, Mike, taught me how to set up a Lego robotics program, and that was the beginning of our decision to run special programs at lunch, like Lego Robotics, Creative Writing, and Music Composition.  Mike ran the Robotics team and was very respected by his peers. The Social-Emotional benefits arising from these opportunities were enormous.

As these examples indicate, parent involvement can foster positive interaction between parents and teachers.  I am certain the Summit will give you more details on developing student strengths, and it will also cover other critical issues, notably how protect a student from being marginalized because of learning deficits.   Enjoy the Summit, and in the spirit of learning, I leave you with one of the best articles on 2e I’ve ever read (below):

*  Winebrenner, S. (2003). Teaching strategies for teaching twice exceptional students, Intervention and School Clinic, 38 (3), pp. 131-137.


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The Chicago Gifted Community Center (CGCC) is a member-driven 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by parents to support the intellectual and emotional growth of gifted children and their families. 

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