Our school is almost completely made up of split-grade classes this year, and parents are eagerly (?) anticipating the announcement of who their children’s teachers will be.
I know there can be a lot of anxiety (and some misconceptions) about how class placements are decided, which is why I tackled this topic for my most recent CHEX Daily TV segment. I also discussed, with hosts Caley Bedore and Mike Judson, why it’s important for parents to keep their teacher preferences to themselves. If you’re positive about your child’s teacher, class placement and school in general, your child will be too!
Thanks for your support, everyone!
As a parent of a child with Selective Mutism, the teacher is extremely important along with having friends that she already speaks to in the classroom. I have advocated for certain children to be with her/not with her and for particular teachers.
I'm more educated on SM then most of the teachers/administration/SLP at our school and feel that I have to advocate to ensure she isn't labelled as defiant or a trouble maker.
In these special circumstances, your requests are very reasonable. It's a much different story than parents of children without special needs who want to be able to choose the teacher they think gives less homework or takes better trips!
In my first two years teaching I taught French to a child with Selective Mutism, and it certainly does require knowledge and understanding on the part of the staff and students.
Thanks so much for commenting!
Thank you so much for your reply! How did you find the SM child did with French? Did it create more anxiety?
My 2 girls attend a FI school and she seems to be doing ok (we videotape for reading assessment) and when I/my husband speak to her in French she responds. We just worry that we might be hindering her learning by having her at a FI school. She does speak to most peers within ear shot of the teacher however rarely speaks to adults.
I was teaching Core French, and while I wasn't able to assess "Oral Communication", reading and writing were okay, and that particular subject didn't create any more anxiety than any other.
When learning a second language it's of course ideal to be able to speak it as much as possible, but your child's teacher would be best able to tell you whether Immersion is still a good choice given this unique situation.
I appreciate your explanations here. All the behind-the-scenes decisions are foreign to the rest of us, thanks for letting the lay-parent have a peek into your work.