Parent Override Forms

This morning, I observed my teacher's Geometry CP class for an hour and a half. I got to school early and was talking to my teacher when one of his Algebra II Honors students came in to get extra help working on problems. He told me that the student's parents filled out an override form to get him into the honors class, but that he really should not be in that class because he is very behind and struggles a lot. It takes him much longer to work on problems, so even though he comes to school 20 minutes early, they are only able to go over one problem. He told me that it will only end up hurting the student in the end, which is really sad to me. The student seems so willing to work hard to catch up, but he is so far behind that he may not be able to be at the ability level of his peers while in this class. For that reason, this topic of conversation was really interesting to me.

Talking to my teacher about that really made me think. I'm sure that at some point in my teaching career I will have a student placed in one of my honors classes because parents signed an override form. As a result, the student will probably be a bit behind the other students and will struggle a little bit more. I will have to make decisions about how that student's understanding affects the pace of the class--especially if all of the students understand things. Like my mentor teacher, I will be willing to help students who come into school early by working on problems and talking about concepts with them, but that required effort on the part of the students. What do I do if the student cannot come to school early or stay late? I would be willing to work with the student during lunch if that was possible. One thing that I have learned in my math methods class is the importance of creating activities that challenge students of all ability levels. I think that will be a key factor in helping that student succeed, but I am not sure how to go about creating activities like that. Thus, I will try to consult many other teachers and look at technology resources for guidance. I really want to help all of my students succeed and plan to do everything I can to help students to learn.