Gifted Education Matters! I prepared a slide show to educate fellow parents of gifted learners about what comprehensive gifted education across curricula should or could look like in DODEA schools and in order to encourage them to speak up for their children. Well...
I have collected some truly interesting and, most importantly, highly informational articles for those who either raise or teach gifted learners. You can treat them well only if you know exactly what it means to be gifted or twice exceptional.
http://99u.com/workbook/41195/more-important-than-having-a-high-iq-ice
Gifted Education for K-12 Students
The
10 most commonly asked questions about highly gifted children
Gifted
Children and Adults—Neglected Areas of Practice
2e Gifted
Twice-exceptionality
can be considered an endogenous problem for gifted persons, particularly the
more highly gifted. If a person has a vision, hearing, speech, or other
physical disorder, the emphasis by professionals is most often on the disorder,
with little emphasis given to enhancing their intellectual abilities. The
gifted components are most often overlooked even though they have significant
implications for the person’s educational and vocational success and
self-concept.
Bright Learners and Gifted Learners
Bright Learners
|
Gifted Learners
|
Knows
the answers
Is interested Is attentive Has good ideas Works hard Answers the questions Top group Listens with interest Learns with ease 6-8 repetitions Understands ideas Enjoys peers Grasps the meaning Completes assignments Is receptive Copies accurately Enjoys school Absorbs information Technician Good memorizer Enjoys straightforward, sequential presentation Is alert Is pleased with own learning |
Asks
the questions
Is highly curious Is mentally and physically involved Has wild, silly ideas Plays around, yet tests well Discusses in detail, elaborates Beyond the group Shows strong feelings and opinions Already knows 1-2 repetitions for mastery Constructs abstractions Prefers adults Draws inferences Initiates projects Is intense Creates a new design Enjoys learning Manipulates information Inventor Good guesser Thrives on complexity Is keenly observant Is highly self-critical by Janice Szabos |
The Bright Child vs. the Gifted Learner
The bright child...
|
The gifted learner...
|
Gifted Resources:
“Of
course, there is a place for math worksheets. After some instruction has
occurred, math worksheets can provide extended practice and support development
in fluency, provided the teacher is engaged with students as they work. Teachers who are effective at
grouping students can use math worksheets as a springboard for discussions,
discovery, and communication.
So
the next time you do a
search for curriculum materials, skip the worksheets. Instead, consider
resources that provide interactive experiences or consider sites that provide
students with challenging problems. These sites will more likely engage
students, foster discussion, and build a true understanding of the purpose and
joy of learning math.”
“There
are a few constants that should always apply when using a worksheet in class. The worksheet:
• Should never be longer than 1 page
• Should be between 5 and 15 questions
• Should be timed and all students should
start and stop at the same time
• Should be followed by an assessment that
holds students accountable
• Should be associated with a grade
• Should not look like a worksheet whenever
possible”
Figure
5. Gifted Differentiation Checklist (p.76)
1.
Acceleration
____
a. Fewer tasks assigned to master standards
____
b. Assessed earlier or prior to teaching
____
c. Clustered by higher order thinking skills
2.
Complexity
____
a. Used multiple higher level skills
____
b. Added more variables to study
____
c. Required multiple resources
3.
Depth
____
a. Studied a concept in multiple applications
____
b. Conducted original research
____
c. Developed a product
4.
Challenge
____
a. Advanced resources employed
____
b. Sophisticated content stimuli used
____
c. Cross-disciplinary applications made
____
d. Reasoning made explicit
5.
Creativity
____
a. Designed/constructed a model based on principles or criteria
____
b. Provided alternatives for tasks, products, and assessments
____
c. Emphasized oral and written communication to a real world audience
VanTassel-Baska, 1994. Reprinted with
permission. Center for Gifted Education College of William & Mary
Six
Ways to Meet Bright and Gifted Kids' Needs Without Much Extra Work
Online GATE Program:
Differentiated Curriculum https://youtu.be/Wv6A6gDbB1Y?list=PLoHJDQUgr8Xa0gmIUSEgRmsomjSK2fjw1
Gifted Education: Why Is
Differentiated Curriculum Needed
Gifted Education: Beyond the
Identification 14’’
Building the Parent Teacher
Connection
Identifying, Serving, and
Enfranchising Diverse Gifted Students (2-15-2012) (12’’min)
Tips & Strategies for
Effective Differentiation & Instruction.wmv
Effective Small Group
Differentiated Instruction
What is Active Learning?
Makerspaces
in the Gifted Classroom
Love
the Child, Not the Gift
A conversation with Sidney Moon
and Felicia Dixon Post published by Jonathan Wai Ph.D. on Mar 04, 2015
“There is considerable research
suggesting that gifted students can be harmed if they do not receive
appropriate educational interventions. This is especially true in elementary
school and among at risk populations… The harm can manifest as disturbances in
social and emotional development, such as behavior problems, depression,
loneliness, and alienation. It almost always manifests as lost academic
potential. Hence, the first reason to invest in gifted students is to ensure
that they are not harmed by their school experiences. We might call this a
moral imperative for investment in gifted students. A second reason to invest
in gifted students is to enable them to fulfill their potential. Gifted students by definition have unusual
capabilities, but those capabilities cannot be fully realized without a long
process of talent development. For gifted individuals, talent development is a
prerequisite for self-actualization. We might call this a humanitarian reason
to invest in gifted children. The third and final reason we propose for
investing in gifted students is because of the potential return that investment
might yield for society.”
“In our view, the Common Core has
both strengths and weaknesses for gifted students. On the plus side, the
standards are clear and rigorous. Even better, they tend to emphasize higher
level thinking and problem solving, the very things that we want gifted
students to experience in their academic lives. If they are used in a
diagnostic-prescriptive manner, they can facilitate acceleration of gifted
students who have already mastered grade level material. On the negative side,
the grade level standards tend to be too easy for academically gifted students,
so may lead to boredom and stagnation unless teachers and school districts make
provision to differentiate the standards for students of different ability
levels. A “one size fits all” approach to education is never effective for
gifted students, who, by definition, are outside normal ability ranges. To
address this issue, the National Association for Gifted Children has developed
a series of guidebooks to help teachers use the common core standards in ways
that will be helpful to gifted students. In addition, unintended consequences
of the development of the common core standards include a narrowing of the
curriculum to focus almost exclusively on Math and English/Language Arts and an
increased focusing on testing as the ultimate outcome of education. These
trends have reduced the amount of time gifted students are exposed to science,
social studies, and the arts and have limited the ability of creative teachers
to teach enrichment units that cover material that is not on the tests. Both
trends are negative for all students, but especially negative for the most
talented students.”
Gifted
Child Quarterly
Dorothy Sisk
Myth 13: The Regular Classroom Teacher
Can “Go It Alone”
Gifted Child Quarterly October
2009 53: 269-271, doi:10.1177/0016986209346939
“Differentiation has been around
since the early years of gifted education and was defined and delineated in the
Principles of Differentiation by a committee convened by Irving Sato, the
Director of the National and State Leadership Training Institute. The group
agreed that differentiation included what is taught (content), how it is taught
(process), and the outcome (product). Tomlinson (1999) described
differentiation as proactive, more qualitative than quantitative, and Sisk
(2009) summarized differentiation as changing the pace, level, or type of
instruction in response to the gifted student’s needs, learning styles, and
interests.”
“Westberg and Archambault (1997)
reported on observations in elementary schools across the country.
They found that when teachers had
advanced training and staff development, they were more willing to change their
traditional teaching. They emphasized the importance of teachers collaborating
with other teachers and concluded that when schools have strong, respected, and
innovative leaders, teachers’ ideas are valued and supported.”
“Shore, Cornell, Robinson, and
Ward (1991) reported that teachers who received training in the needs of gifted
students and appropriate teaching strategies tend to be more supportive of gifted
students and programs, and without special training teachers could be described
as apathetic and even hostile. Although this research indicates that
professional development can change teacher attitudes and behavior (…)”
“These skills point to the need
for the regular classroom teacher to have professional development to address
appropriate teaching techniques and the psychology of the gifted student, as
well as strong communication skills.”
“In summary, the myth of the
regular classroom teacher “going it alone” is still with us, along with the companion
myth of differentiation as the solution to be implemented by the regular
classroom teacher. Without professional
development and a willingness to address the individual needs of gifted
students in the curriculum within an “accountability” frenzied environment, it
becomes a real challenge for the regular classroom teacher to differentiate
using the suggested strategies. One solution would be to reexamine the idea of
the gifted specialist who in a collaborative mode could assist the regular
classroom teacher in assessing the gifted student’s interests, learning
preferences, and skill level and then help in the planning and development of
lessons with depth and complexity.”
Holly Hertberg-Davis
Myth 7: Differentiation in the Regular
Classroom Is Equivalent to Gifted Programs and Is Sufficient: Classroom
Teachers Have the Time, the Skill, and the Will to Differentiate Adequately
Gifted Child Quarterly October
2009 53: 251-253, doi:10.1177/0016986209346927
“Within the philosophy of
differentiation, gifted students are regarded as a diverse lot whose individual
talents and needs cannot be met with a single “gifted” curriculum. As such,
recommendations for differentiating learning experiences for gifted students
include principles of providing not only challenges generally considered
beneficial for gifted students (e.g., greater depth and complexity, adjusted
pace, greater independence) but also curricular and instructional modifications
geared toward individual student need.”
“Many teachers also seem
resistant to differentiation because they perceive it as highly time consuming.
It does take longer to plan
thoughtful differentiated units and lessons than to present a one-size-fits-all
curriculum. Of course, the amount of time it takes to plan differentiated
curriculum decreases over time as teachers become more accustomed to the
process, learn to plan efficiently, and develop a storehouse of differentiated
lessons and units from which to work.
But the initial planning is
off-putting to many teachers, causing them to write differentiation off as
unrealistic or to differentiate only for the students who they perceive need it
most.
Unfortunately, research indicates
that teachers in heterogeneous classrooms tend not to include gifted students
in the group of students they believe most need differentiation. Westberg,
Archambault, Dobyns, and Salvin (1993) found that little differentiation in the
instructional and curricular practices of teachers was provided for
high-ability learners in regular classrooms, an issue confirmed by Westberg and
Daoust (2004). When teachers do differentiate, they tend to focus their efforts
on the more struggling learners in the classroom, believing that gifted
students do not “need” differentiation (Brighton, Hertberg, Callahan,
Tomlinson, & Moon, 2005).”
“Additionally,
to differentiate curriculum in meaningful ways for all students, and in
particular for gifted learners, teachers need a deep understanding of the scope
and sequence, big ideas, resources, and unanswered questions of a discipline.
This is a particularly tall order for elementary school teachers, who are
responsible for content spanning numerous disciplines.”
“Differentiation
of instruction both within the regular classroom and within homogeneous
settings is critical to addressing the needs of all high ability learners,
including twice-exceptional students, underachievers, students from underserved
populations, and highly gifted students. Differentiation has been shown, even
in small doses, to have an impact on student achievement and attitudes toward
learning (Brighton et al., 2005). It has the potential to be a powerful tool
for fostering the talents of gifted students who are readily identifiable and
unlocking the talents of gifted students who are not.”
What
it Means to Teach Gifted Learners Well
By Carol Ann
Tomlinson, Ed.D, The University of Virginia
Some people suggest that gifted
education is just sort of "fluffy" or enriching-gravy on the
potatoes, perhaps, but not anything especially substantial or critical in the
way of mental fare. Others propose that all gifted education is what's good for
all students. Unfortunately, those two criticisms sometimes stem from observing
classrooms where gifted learners are taught inappropriately.
So what does it mean to teach a
highly able student well? Of course it will vary some with the age of the
child, the subject, the learning style of the student-and possibly even the
child's gend ccz,k nm er or culture.
Certainly appropriate instruction for such learners varies for a child who
comes to school rich with experiences vs. a child who is equally able but lacks
richness of experience. And it will vary with a child who has immense potential
vs. a peer with somewhat less capacity. Nonetheless, there are general
indicators of appropriate curriculum and instruction for highly able students
(in their areas of strength)-and general indicators of inappropriate curriculum
and instruction for such learners.
Good
Instruction for Gifted Learners
- Good
curriculum and instruction for gifted learners begins with good curriculum
and instruction. It's difficult, if not impossible, to develop the talent
of a highly able student with insipid curriculum and instruction. Like all
students, gifted learners need learning experiences that are rich. That
is, they need learning experiences that are organized by key concepts and
principles of a discipline rather than by facts. They need content that is
relevant to their lives, activities that cause them to process important
ideas at a high level, and products that cause them to grapple with
meaningful problems and pose defensible solutions. They need classrooms
that are respectful to them, provide both structure and choice, and help
them achieve more than they thought they could. These are needs shared by
all learners, not just those who are gifted. But good instruction for
gifted learners must begin there
- Good
teaching for gifted learners is paced in response to the student's
individual needs. Often, highly able students learn more quickly than
others their age. As a result, they typically need a more rapid
instructional pace than do many of their peers. Educators sometimes call
that "acceleration," which makes the pace sound risky. For many
gifted learners, however, it's the comfortable pace-like walking
"quickly" suits someone with very long legs. It's only
"fast" for someone with shorter legs. On the other hand, it's
often the case that advanced learners need a slower pace of instruction
than many other students their age, so they can achieve a depth or breadth
of understanding needed to satisfy a big appetite for knowing.
- Good
teaching for gifted learners happens at a higher "degree of
difficulty" than for many students their age. In the Olympics, the
most accomplished divers perform dives that have a higher "degree of
difficulty" than those performed by divers whose talents are not as
advanced. A greater degree of difficulty calls on more skills-more refined
skills-applied at a higher plane of sophistication. A high "degree of
difficulty" for gifted learners in their talent areas implies that
their content, processes and products should be more complex, more
abstract, more open-ended, more multifaceted than would be appropriate for
many peers. They should work with fuzzier problems, will often need less
teacher-imposed structure, and (in comparison to the norm) should have to
make greater leaps of insight and transfer than would be appropriate for
many their age. Gifted learners may also (but not always) be able to
function with a greater degree of independence than their peers.
- Good
teaching for gifted learners requires an understanding of "supported
risk." Highly able learners often make very good grades with relative
ease for along time in school. They see themselves (and often rightly so)
as expected to make "As," get right answers, and lead the way.
In other words, they succeed without "normal" encounters with
failure. Then, when a teacher presents a high-challenge task, the student
feels threatened. Not only has he or she likely not learned to study hard,
take risks and strive, but the student's image is threatened as well. A
good teacher of gifted students understands that dynamic, and thus
invites, cajoles and insists on risk-but in a way that supports success.
When a good gymnastics coach asks a talented young gymnast to learn a
risky new move, the coach ensures that the young person has the requisite
skills, then practices the move in harness for a time. Then
the coach "spots" for the young athlete. Effective teachers of
gifted learners do likewise.
Inappropriate Instruction for
Gifted Learners
- Instruction for gifted learners is
inappropriate when it asks them to do things they already know how to do, and then
to wait for others to learn how. Many advanced learners regularly complete
assignments calling on materials, ideas and skills they have already
mastered. Then they wait for peers to catch up, rather than being
pre-assessed and assigned more advanced materials, ideas and skills when
they demonstrate competency.
- Instruction for gifted learners is
inappropriate when it asks them to do "more of the same stuff
faster."
Reading more books that are too easy and doing more math problems that
have ceased being a challenge are killers of motivation and interest.
- Instruction for gifted learners
is inappropriate when it cuts them loose from peers and the teacher for
long periods of time. Asking a highly able student to sit at a desk
in the back of the room and move through the math book alone ignores a
child's need for affiliation, and overlooks the fact that a teacher should
be a crucial factor in all children's learning. It also violates the
importance of meaningful peer interaction in the learning process, as well
as in the process of social and emotional development.
- Instruction for gifted learners is
inappropriate when it is structured around "filling time." Highly
able students are often asked to go write a play, complete a puzzle, or do
classroom chores because they have completed required tasks that take
others longer. It would be difficult to defend such practices as a high-quality
use of educational time.
- Instruction
for gifted learners is inappropriate when they spend substantial time in
the role of tutor or "junior teacher." All students need to be
colleagues for one another, giving a hand or clarifying procedures
when needed. That's quite different from when advanced learners spend
chunks of time on a regular basis teaching what they already know to
students who are having difficulty. Some educators suggest that doesn't
harm highly able learners because their test scores remain high. That begs
the question of the extended learning these students might have garnered
had the same amount of time been spent in pursuit of well-planned new
ideas and skills.
- Instruction for gifted learners is
inappropriate when it is rooted in novel, "enriching" or
piecemeal learning experiences. If a child were a very talented
pianist, we would question the quality of her music teacher if the child
regularly made toy pianos, read stories about peculiar happenings in the
music world, and did word-search puzzles on the names of musicians.
Rather, we would expect the student to work directly with the theory and
performance of music in a variety of forms and at consistently escalating
levels of complexity. We would expect the young pianist to be learning how
a musician thinks and works, and to be developing a clear sense of
her own movement toward expert-level performance in piano. Completing
word-search puzzles, building musical instruments and reading about
oddities in the lives of composers may be novel, may be
"enriching,"(and certainly seems lacking in coherent scope and
sequence, and therefore sounds piecemeal). But those things will not
foster high-level talent development in music. The same hold true for
math, history, science, and so on.
It's
Actually Simple—In Theory
What it takes to teach gifted learners well is actually a little common
sense.
It begins with the premise that each child should come to school to stretch and
grow daily. It includes the expectation that the measure of progress and growth
is competition with oneself rather than competition against others. It resides
in the notion that educators understand key concepts, principles and skills of
subject domains, and present those in ways that cause highly able students to
wonder and grasp, and extend their reach. And it envisions schooling as an
escalator on which students continually progress, rather than a series of
stairs, with landings on which advanced learners consistently wait.
It's not so hard to articulate. It's fiendishly difficult to achieve in schools where standardization is the norm, and where teachers are supported in being recipe followers, rather than flexible and reflective artisans. In schools where responsive instruction is a carefully supported indicator of professional growth, the capacity to extend even the most capable mind is a benchmark of success.
It's not so hard to articulate. It's fiendishly difficult to achieve in schools where standardization is the norm, and where teachers are supported in being recipe followers, rather than flexible and reflective artisans. In schools where responsive instruction is a carefully supported indicator of professional growth, the capacity to extend even the most capable mind is a benchmark of success.
Useful resources from DODEA:
http://www.dodea.edu/newsroom/multimedia/MediaPlayer.cfm?videoID=686F9A05-CA5F-A645-C39B6348F99F68C1
The
Challenges and Realities of Inquiry-Based Learning
Fostering Visual-Spatial Ability in
Gifted Students
One
primary goal of Kids' Tech University (KTU) is to create the future workforce
in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by sparking kids'
interest in these fields. KTU's curriculum features three parts http://ktu.vbi.vt.edu/
All
Hands On Deck: Getting Kids Excited About STEM
Flipped
Classroom 2.0: Competency Learning With Videos
To
Break the Mold, Is Competency Learning the Key?
Can
TED Talks Really Work in a Classroom?
Drive
Higher-Order Thinking with RSA Animation
Cheating
in School: Learning vs. Mastery
10
Signs of a 21st Century Classroom
Technology
Integration
Collaborative
environment
Opportunities
for creative expression
Inquiry
based approach
Justification
for answers
Writing
for reflection
Use
of a problem solving methodology
Hands-on
learning
Teacher
as facilitator
Transparent
assessment
An
MIT Learning Program Challenges Many Ed-Tech Assumptions
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/an-mit-learning-program-challenges-many-ed-tech-assumptions/
What
the Heck Is Project-Based Learning?
Organizations,
schools, websites:
7
Learning Zones Every Classroom Must Have!
Challenging
Work Is Essential to Deep, Meaningful Learning
Pushing
students to go beyond what they think they can do is at the core of good
teaching.
Deeper
Learning helps students to build academic courage and perseverance. It teaches
them to think critically, solve complex problems, work collaboratively,
communicate effectively and more.
Report
Finds ‘Deeper Learning’ Model Improves Outcomes for All Students
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