From the teacher's perspective, I would have an ESE meeting about Mary, then follow the procedures necessary. I agree with encouraging the uncle to have Mary pit into a gifted program but since the movie focuses solely on how she does in mathematics, I can only assume that she is average in her other subjects. So since the uncle doesn’t agree with transferring her, I would have encouraged other routes such as different classes in the school or dual enrollment as seen in the end of the movie would have been the most beneficial and compromisable. Let it also be noted that staying professional with the families of the students and not having relations with them would also be best.

One aspect to take into consideration in specific to gifted children is their tendency to get bored due to the lack of a challenge from their schoolwork. In the movie, the teacher had prepared more difficult problems for Mary to do when she finished early to keep her engaged in the class. Keeping a gifted student engaged can be difficult because the concepts may be too mundane for them and not challenging them. Another would be anger. The anger Mary exhibits in the movie is the outlet for her frustrations with the school and classes. It should also be taken into consideration that some gifted students may feel isolated from others due to their abilities, it was even stated in the movie that Mary’s mother had a similar feeling.

There was much to take away from this movie.

The compromise in the dual enrollment between the school and the guardian was spectacular, as the Mary got the challenge she needed, but also Frank was able to let Mary continue to be in a regular social circle. It’s great that when gifted students get the appropriate level work for them, they are able to be challenged and really learn things instead of doing what would otherwise seem to be busy work for them. The early on realization that Mary is a gifted student is also great. Early diagnosis is important to make sure the education the student received is maximized to their fullest potential, if it was not realized then Mary may have just been deemed as a bright but troubled student.

Though I mentioned it was great that it was discovered Mary was a gifted student, the scenario in which this occurred wasn’t ideal. Singling out Mary in an attempt to assert authority was unnecessary and didn’t seem professional. The lack of procedure in how to deal with Mary was also troubling. Once the teacher believed that Mary was in fact gifted, she should have set up a ESE meeting in order to discuss what the following steps should be. Lastly, keeping professionalism between teacher and family is desirable to avoid trouble down the road.