Parent Teacher Conference Time

Today it was time for the fall parent teacher conference. I had taken the time to sit down one-on-one with her teacher about a month ago to give her the heads up about Ella's, for lack of better words, learning style. Ella is smart. Very smart. This we know. However, she has so much in her brain that I sometimes worry she won't be able to demonstrate her intelligence in traditional ways.

So her teacher, about 2 minutes into the conference says, "I have never had a student quite like Ella." At first I was concerned, by the end I understood exactly what she was trying to say to me. Ella was the only kid she has taught who knew during the standard 2nd grade science experiment that the magnet wouldn't stick to a penny. As her teacher put it, "That's the point of the experiment, they all think the penny will stick." Ella had explained, "A penny is copper and a metal needs iron to stick to a magnet, sort of like a meteorite." Yes, this so comes from her dad.

BUT she needs to work on her focus! REALLY needs to work on it. When the teacher looks at you, points to her head and says "if we could get whats in here on paper, WOW" I take it as a compliment, but also a challenge! I just don't want her to be one of those crazy smart people with zero attention span, but I'll take it over dumb as a post and very focused! I am just glad her teacher gets her and is fascinated instead of annoyed. She kept saying, "I am trying to figure her out." I was thinking....good luck with that!

Last week they had standardized testing. Basically, intelligence testing using spatial relations, games and problems that do not require verbal or written skills. I like that her teacher is interested enough in how her brain works to have watched her closely during the testing. She paid particular attention to some of the tougher, trickier questions and saw that Ella was marking them correctly. We are both very curious to see what her test scores indicate. Her lack of focus could do her in, but she came home everyday of the three day testing saying it was easy stuff.

The thing I love most about her is she explains/expresses her intelligence so nonchalantly. Never does she say it with even the slightest indication that she thinks you are a total idiot for not knowing what she knows. She is not a know it all. She just knows stuff. A LOT OF STUFF.

Her teacher also indicated that Ella is her little fact sharer. She routinely shares random facts with her teacher to which her teacher typically responds, "How do you know that? Did you see it on TV or read it in a book?" Ella usually says she doesn't know how she knows she just knows. Again, further evidence in my book for reincarnation!

Today she was line leader so she decided to tell the teacher a joke. Where do sheep like to go for vacation? The Baaaaa-hamas. When asked where she heard that joke, she said, "In my brain!"

I am so pleased with her teacher. Ella is one of those kids that a teacher can make or break. Well not really, cause she's not breakable ... but you know what I mean. A teacher who sees beyond the "did she finish the assignment" and really gets, or tries to anyway, what makes her tick. LOVE her.