Dude wrote:

Margy,

I must challenge this statement:

"Contray to the uninformed opinion of other posters teachers really do study
how
minds work."

I was with you all the way until I got to this one. Either your positive
attitude, or an unusually positive series of coincidences has shaded your
judgement on the interest in childrens' minds held by many teachers today.
I am not uninformed. A close personal friend of mine is a public school
teacher, and I attended several public and private schools. Unlike many
people, I have a good memory of what transpired.

Actually I'm probably influenced by my district and make some assumptions based
on that. New teachers will have studied about the brain and how kids learn (or
they should have). My district and my administration offer a number of
in-service opportunities to keep up to date. I probably study it more as I'm a
special ed teacher.

.

I suppose that your experience with such a gifted child has led you to have
better teachers.

Can't quite parse this sentence. I would say dealing with cognitively impaired
students makes better teachers as you have to try so many things to get the
information to sink in.

Teaching the bright kids takes more energy and talent than
many of today's teachers have.

Nah, dealing with the bright kids parents takes the energy. The kids can be
lots of fun.

Margy