In like 8th grade (our middle schools were 7-9) they offered our \u201cgifted\u201d class in history, English, and science variants
You\u2019d think I took history but while I\u2019d had an amhist interest already I still identified STEM
But they combined the classes with some of our \u201cLifeSkills\u201d classes (basically Downs kids etc. who couldn\u2019t hack even the most non-college stream but had it together enough not to get sent off and rubber-room minded at the Intermediate Unit
from a logistical standpoint (an 8- and a 4-person class in the same room!) this made sense but from a pedagogical standpoint what
from a legal standpoint might\u2019ve checked a box for mainstreaming, \u201cleast restrictive environment\u201d etc.
I think maybe once they tried having us lead them through a worksheet and what
Respected the aides attending them mostly for consistently being able to tell what they said on the first try. I inevitably had to ask for repetitions, if I couldn\u2019t get it in 4 I\u2019d assume they were talking about WrestleMania; quite often I was right and if not they\u2019d usually be perfectly willing to talk about WrestleMania instead anyway
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