1. As the Principal of school, I feel embarrassed that the events organized by Colin have occurred in my school under my supervision. I feel that I need to pick and choose my battles with certain students, which is why the bake sale, and tissue pranks were cleaned up, and did not have any consequences. However When the safety of other students is put into risk I must act upon it, hiding the JK class in the storage closet, and plugging the styrofoam in the school buses was too far on Colin's end.
1.1. The first step in my plan is , I am obligated to support Colin's teacher, and assist in creating a plan of action that will benefit Colin in and outside of the classroom. Along with the support of the classroom Teacher, once Colin has been identified with the exceptionality of giftedness the school is required to provide a gifted program. This program will allow for Colin to work with other students who are at his developmental level, which in result will hopefully challenge him, and put an end to the pranks.
1.1.1. I believe that a series of meetings have to be conducted involving multiple parties. The first meeting I would like to have is with the school board support staff, myself, and the classroom teacher. In this meeting we will come up with some strategies and expectations for Colin. The second meeting will involve myself, the classroom teacher, and the Colin's parent (s). In this meeting we will outline the expectations for Colin that we developed in the first meeting. This meeting will allow for Colin's parent (s), to provide their input of the expectations, as well as add any expectations that they have for Colin themselves.
1.1.1.1. Finally we will add Colin into our meeting with his parent (s). By having Colin present we are allowing for him to be on the same page as everyone who supports him. Colin will see the expectations that we have for him and will be aware of the support that he has. We would like to introduce the idea of the gifted program to Colin in this meeting with the hope that he understands that we are trying to meet his needs, and challenge him academically. Also in terms of discipline in this meeting we will be discussing all of Colin's pranks including the beginning pranks that were brushed off. The hope is that Colin's parent(s) are aware of all his actions.
2. As a parent I would be embarrassed by my son's behaviour. I would believe that because my son is performing pranks and seeking attention that both Teacher and Principle would be led to believe that I as a parent am not giving my son attention at home and is consistently not being supervised especially after the condom prank.
2.1. After hearing of all the pranks my son has performed I am now concerned that he is not properly being supervised at school. How was he able to be behind 2 school buses without being seen. Also how was my son able to convince a whole kindergarten class to enter a janitor's closet. Why was the closet open and accessible to the students and my son, and where is the teacher for the kindergarten class. Is the supervision at this school not important. Is this why my son is able to act out?
2.1.1. After discovering my son is gifted I am proud and hope this gives him an edge with his education if channeled properly. I have discovered his love for Renaissance art since being with his new educational assistant. I would like to my son to continue to pursue this passions for Renaissance since it has stopped him form performing more pranks. I have discovered resources for teachers and administration for dealing with a gifted child to help continue to simulate him. Resources for Educators | National Association for Gifted Children http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources-educators
2.1.1.1. As 2nd grade is coming to and end I am discovering a summer camps for gifted children to continue to simulate Colin for the summer. I believe that if we can learn together to foster his giftedness throughout the summer going into grade 3 we can see a exceptional positive change.
3. Teacher Presepctive
3.1. As a teacher, I am beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by Colin. He is really clever, but it takes a lot of energy and effort to maintain his attention all throughout the lesson, particularly as I still need to pay attention to the rest of the class. I feel like I've had a bit of a breakthrough though now that I've discovered that he shares my passion for Renaissance art. Finally I feel like I have a direction I can take him! However, I'm also really nervous now that if I can't continue to challenge him, he'll simply return to his old behaviours. I feel like there is a lot of pressure on me because of this.
3.1.1. The first step I am going to take is to find out more about his interest in Renaissance art. If I want to continue to encourage and challenge him , I need to discover what interests him. Therefore I need to investigate this new passion of his further. What is it he finds so fascinating about Renaissance art? Would he find other aspects of the Renaissance, like history and philosophy equally interesting or is it only the art side that intrigues him? If so, are there other art styles and genres that would appeal to him as well? Might he also be interested in things like creative writing, drama or sculpting? These are all important questions to ask.
3.1.1.1. While it is important for me to find out new ways to challenge and engage Colin, I don't want him to feel like this is merely a distraction. I need to actually find work that challenges and intrigues him. If he only sees it as busywork with no real purpose, then he will simply become bored and unmotivated. And if he feels like he's merely being kept busy, he might begin to feel neglected and start to act out again.
3.1.1.1.1. Another step I want to take to help challenge Colin is to get him into some kind of program with other gifted children. Not only might they help spur each other on to reach for greater heights, but it would also be encouraging for him to meet other students that might share similar interests. Furthermore, this kind of program could also give Colin the chance to go on field trips. He could visit museums or art galleries thus developing his current interests and possibly even finding other passions. In addition, working more with other students might help his collaboration skills and instill a sense of responsibility in him. Colin is a clever student and I hope that with these measures, I can not only keep him engaged, but help him reach new heights he never would have imagined before.
4. Principal Perspective
5. Student Perspective
5.1. I understand the things we talk about in class and I can get my work done if I feel like doing it. I am usually bored and find pranks are fun. I like it because it makes people laugh. Nothing bad happens when I act this way.
5.1.1. All of sudden, I started to get in trouble for my pranks and no one was laughing. I don't really understand why this happened. I still get attention for my pranks, except now I get in trouble. Everyone went from laughing to being mad at me.
5.1.2. The other day in class, we worked on project focused on Renaissance art. We made paintings called murals. I had a different view from everyone else but the teacher seemed to really like it. I didn't really have time to think about doing any pranks that day. I think the Renaissance is really interesting and want to find out more about it.
5.1.2.1. My principal, teacher, and parents have talked to me about being this thing called "gifted". They told me that it makes me different but in a good way. They explained that this might be why I liked puling pranks so much. We talked about my mural project and how much I enjoyed working on it. Everyone is really proud of my work and it makes me feel good. We are going to look into other things that I find interesting so that I don't get bored. I like doing different projects, I get sick of working on just paper and pencil activities.