Parent-teacher conference

We finally had ours with Mrs. McAdam, Rachel's teacher. Our previously scheduled conference had been canceled because of the snow, so it didn't matter that we were stuck in Orlando an extra day!

She showed us Rachel's progress, which had been good, and when I asked her if it was likely that Rachel would test into the school's gifted and talented program, she replied confidently, "Yes. I'd be really surprised if that didn't happen." So glad to hear that, because I think Rachel does best when she's surrounded by bright, inquisitive kids like she was last summer at the three-week Summer Laureates program in July. We have enrolled her again this year.

The kids in the class had to do a self-evaluation exercise, which was a fascinating glimpse into how Rachel views herself. The title was, "This is how I think I am doing." She was happy with herself in only one category: "I try my best on all of my work." (It was pictured as a smiley face). In categories such as, "I follow the teacher's directions, I listen when others are speaking, I am always a good friend to other students, and I am responsible and my teacher and classmates can count on me," she gave herself a middling grade (a neutral face) and gave herself a bad grade (frowny face) under "I am responsible and my teacher and classmates can count on me. (There was question mark there, so I'm not sure she understood the question.)

She also said that she wants more challenges in math (yay!); it's hard for her to get ideas in writing (which is not true, Drew and I know she has a wealth of ideas); word study is confusing (probably because Drew has suggested that some words should go in different categories than Mrs. McAdam says, although he always defers to what the teacher says. Mrs. McAdam said that Rachel should feel free to point out those differing interpretations to her); science is "boring, I love history" (um, yikes, guess we need to go on more science trips on the weekends?). She gave herself happy faces in reading and social studies and one unhappy face in word study.

She got 100 percent on her most recent quiz. Mrs. McAdam noted that Rachel is very self-critical, something that Drew and I need to work on with her before it becomes all-consuming. A typical example: All the kids had to write "New Year's Resolutions" under pictures of themselves that were displayed in the hallway outside of their classroom. The kids said things like, "Read more to my brother," "Watch less TV," etc. Rachel? She said, "Work harder." Sheesh.