So I send out an email to Trevor's teachers this morning. Please let me know if he's got lower than a B in your class, since he's fully capable of A's across the board.
Three teachers reponded. Only one mentions the actual grade at this time (C), but I'm sure the others wouldn't have gotten back to me if he had A's in their classes.
Drafting II is currently not going as well as hoped, since Trevor also has 3D Animation with that teacher, and he tends to do animation instead of Drafting. While that's all fine & good for fun, it's not okay when you are not getting the work done you need in the Drafting class. So he'll probably need to stay after school to catch up on the Drafting. I told the teacher if he continues to do Animation in Drafting class, we'll yank him from Animation. Oh well.
Math, I can understand. He's good at it, but it's not his favorite thing. He's missing 5 assignments. Most of the time he doesn't even realize he's supposed to turn things in, but the info is there if he bothers to look.
English is the one I can actually sympathize with. At 11th grade, its gotten closer to what I did in college/university. I always understood it fine, but for Trevor, his Asperger's gets in the way. Kids with autism are just really literal. There's no getting around that. Each little idiom has to be taught. He won't just pick it up and get it. Then there's the way he understands instructions: His teacher had them do 80 note cards of information for a 6-8 page essay. Trevor is sure that because he did all 80 cards, each of those needs to be somewhere in the essay - even if they don't fit the flow of the essay. I let him turn in the rough draft the way he interpreted it. The email I got back from his teacher suggests we do a little conference this week to help him understand what he's supposed to be doing with this. I don't know how much of this is being a teenager, having autism, or (dare I say it) poor teaching. I'll have to come up with my own conclusions after meeting with her.
So in lieu of strangling Trevor, his is on techno restriction. No TV, x-box or computer time at all until his grades are at least back to B's. He can do A's!!! In the meantime, if he's not doing homework, he's doing chores. If he manages to get those done, he can read at the kitchen table.
If he doesn't have A's & B's at the end of the semester, he's going to get to experience a job that is an option without a decent education. In walking distance there's an Elder Care Home. Maybe after a summer of cleaning up after old people who don't have bowel control, he'll be a little more motivated to do his job at school.
Grrr.
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2 comments:
Ok, eeuuwww! Just tell Trevor that I don't even like cleaning up after 3 yr olds that poop in their pants! If that is bad imagine a 180 lb person's pants. Blech!
It seems that all schooling is a lot further along than what we were used to at that age.
I keep telling Carl that I will help the kids with English and stuff like art and he can do all the math and science stuff!
That's not the half of it. To qualify for a scholarship - your grades are only a small piece. You have to also have volunteer hours, be part of different academic clubs, and play in band or sports. There is no "childhood" once you hit High School if you want to be successful!
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