Is American Education Neglecting Gifted Children?

I was given this article by our special services director who is an incredible advocate for the gifted children in our school district.

In summary it states what we already know...gifted children in American are not only neglected and underserved, but we are actually causing gifted children to often take steps back in their academics.

The impact of this neglect is being felt now, according tot he report, with "continued underperformance on international benchmarks, particularly in math, science, and engineering, and in the shortage of qualified workers able to enter professions that require advanced skills."

Please if you are truly an advocate of gifted education, become a member of your local gifted advocacy group...or start a chapter! Our voice needs to be heard.

If you are in Arizona, consider being a part of AAGT. Their website is www.arizonagifted.org.

I am told that in order to get most of our staff on board with gifted education I have to be patient and kill them with kindness. Do I see improvements in our districts gifted education...yes...but it is nowhere where it should be. How do I keep being kind, when I see children with extraordinary potential not getting the education that they deserve?

This article was retrieved from: http://thejournal.com/articles/2009/11/16/is-american-education-neglecting-gifted-children.aspx on November 19, 2009

How Much Time Should We Spend Helping Gifted Kids?

You have all been to the meetings...you know the ones...the ones where the focus is the students who are not performing. How many hours a day do you think that we spend on non-performing kids versus kids who have the ability to perform beyond expectations? I know in my classroom, I am guilty of doing this too. It is easier to not have to worry about them and know that they will be fine.....BUT is it right?

But I am wondering...how do we help those that can do, while still helping those that can't or won't do the work?

We spend 80% of our resources on those that won't or can't do and 20% on the rest of the population. My question for you is......is this fair?

There are some that say that if kiddo's get it, why are we worried about it? But I am thinking...if these students are challenged to perform to the best of their ability, how will their education look at the end of 13 years? Compared to one who just goes with the status quo and does the minimum necessary to please the teacher; what does their education look like at the end of 13 years?

Please share your ideas, concerns and venting as appropriate:

REALLY???

Found this statement at:  http://ow.ly/CxPShttp://ow.ly/CxPS

“My child is acting up because he’s bored. He’s so bright.”


“I’ve been teaching for 13 years, and I would say in that time I’ve had maybe one or two children who were truly bored and I immediately got different material for them,” says teacher Thea LaRocca, who has taught 3rd through 5th grades in Raleigh, N.C. “I didn’t need the parent to tell me.”

LaRocca says she understands that parents naturally want to think the best of their child, but she suggests that they try to be honest with themselves and think about why their child is acting up, then ask the teacher for strategies to deal with it. “If you truly think your kid is bright, ask for more work,” she says.

Are you kidding me?  In all of her 13 years, only one or two children were truly bored?  How does she know if they bored or not? I know that when I was in grade school I sat on the verge of tears most days because I was bored...I had already read every book I could get my hands on.  BUT, I was told to sit and behave like a good girl.  I did exactly as I was told and hated every minute of it. Thank God for my 4th grade teacher, who saw this and set me on to a different track, reading higher level books and letting me create crazy wild contraptions to show off what I had learned from what I had read. 

And how sad that she has had some 250+ children in her class and only one or two have been gifted? AND why would you simply solve the problem by giving them more work instead of different work? 

What do you think?  Would you want this type of teacher for your child?

AAGT 36th Annual Conference

This is always a great conference.  I learn more at these three days of classes than I did when was in college.  A must for anyone who teaches or has gifted kiddo's.

Come learn & share!

Education Reform

Can I say "I've had it!" Okay, I got that off of my chest...let's see if I can piece this post together now!

Is the cookie cutter education that our children are receiving good enough? Are we meeting our children's needs? I was looking at the brochures/catalogs from Arizona Connections Academy & Arizona Virtual Academy today. (Just happened to be frustrated about my daughter's education, or lack there of.)If these schools are doing what they claim to be doing, we have to reform our schools or we are going to be shut down.

According to their literature, every student receives an individualized plan (not to be confused with an IEP), in which they work one on one with an education coach to plan their highschool AND post secondary careers. You know what came to mind...of course they offer more and do more for their "customers", they are in it for profit! AND profit they are making!

In Arizona the average student is worth approximately $6,000. If the parents knew that they could take their $6,000 and use it as bargaining power to force a better education for their child, maybe....just maybe the schools would treat us like the customers we are instead of the numbers they believe that we are.

Students can take German, Japanese, Sign Language, in addition to their gifted classes. They can work at their own pace, independent of other students. AND their parents have a real time report of how they are doing at any given moment.

So my question to you is...can this be replicated in the public school system? Why or why not?

Differentiation Works!

Differentiation is the buzzward of the week it seems. But what is it? Everyone seems to have a different definition. I was talking with a co-worker today, and I was shocked to find out that some teachers believe that differentiation means a different lesson plan for each student. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Differentiation is simply put, a different way to meet student needs based on their unique ability level and needs.

Most teachers are already doing this. They may have a student who needs visual or auditory re-enforcement. This is a differentiation technique. The difference now is that administration wants us to document what we have done on a regular basis to show how we differentiated for the students.

Can you share your ideas on differentiation and how we must document it?

Should Gifted Kids Always Take the Hardest Classes?

I pose this question to you and I truly do not have an answer myself. I'm looking for help with forming my opinion. Should kids always take more difficult classes just because they are gifted?

For example, I have a student who is 99th percentile quantitatively. He asked me today if he could be dropped down to the regular math class. Not because he didn't understand the concepts, not because he could not keep up, but because he really just didn't want to work that hard.

Is that okay? Should we allow them to do that? What do you think? I have wondered that myself for my own children.

Book Reviews

An idea that I have seen and hope to implement next year is having students write book reviews for books that they have read. The twist is that we would video tape the review and add special effects. Students would then be able to access the review via the school server and be able to add their star rating of the book. Can you see this working in your classroom or school? Do you have any ideas that could help improve this idea?

Differentiation

I am reading an article on Ability Grouping & Gifted Children from Duke. In it the article states that most teachers do not differentiate content for gifted learners. Do you agree with that statement? How about in your own classroom?

If you would like to read the article it can be found at http://www.dukegiftedletter.com/articles/vol1no2_rb.html

TRACKING, GROUPING, CLUSTERING, COMPACTING, DIFFERENTIATION

With all of these terms thrown around, I would like to know--what do teachers really think that they mean? How are they used in your school? What do you think is best practice? In the perfect world how would you set up a school or district?

The Gifted Readers Bill of Rights

I came across this and thought it was very eye opening. I went to a conference where the author was the key note speaker...she is probably the funniest gifted advocate that I have ever met! Let me know what you think.

The Gifted Reader’s Bill of Rights

The right to read at a pace & level appropriate to readiness without regard to grade placement.

The right to discuss interpretations, issues and insights with intellectual peers.

The right to reread many books and not finish every book.

The right to use reading to explore new and challenging information & grow intellectually.

The right for time to pursue a self-selected topic in depth through reading & writing.

The right to encounter & apply increasingly advanced vocabulary, word study & concepts.

The right to guidance rather than dictation of what is good literature & how to find the best.

The right to read several books at the same time.

The right to discuss but not have to defend reading choice & taste.

The right to be excused from material already learned.

Kingor, Bertie. (2002). Austin: Professional Associates Publishing

Using Trade Books for Reading

On page 97, the author states that students should be able to bring in trade books to read for reading time. Can this be incorporated into the reading plan? If you use a system like Accelerated Reader that tests and keeps track of the books the students read teachers may not want to allow students to read books that are not AR. Do you think that this is appropriate?

Self Choice

One of the strategies for working with gifted students mentioned in the book is self choice: Having the students come up with their own ideas for projects or activities.

Would you feel comfortable doing this in the classroom?

If so, how would you integrate it into your lessons?

Reading for Gifted Readers

On page 90 the author states "The reading program that is most appropriate for all students and essential for gifted students is one that allows them to read, discuss, analyze and write about literature that challenges them, while being excused from practicing skills they have already mastered."

While I wholeheartedly agree with this, how do we put this into place with AR being the tool that is most widly used in schools? While I agree that AR is a great tool to use for those students who are below grade level readers, I believe that it becomes punitive for students who are reading above grade level, gifted or not. Why should an 8th grade student who reads at a 12th grade level have to read more than everyone else? How about having them delve deeper into the book and use higher level thinking skills instead of rote memorization for AR tests?

Social Emotional Needs

An area that is not really covered in the text is the social emotional needs of the gifted student. In MY opinion, this is the area that we as educators usually look over the most. Statistics show that suicide, depression, drug & alcohol use and drop out rates are higher in the "gifted" arena than in any other area per capita.

1. Do you agree with these statistics? Why or Why not.

2. How can we as educators meet the social emotional needs of the gifted students?

3. Is the school that you are teaching in trying to meet the social emotional needs of gifted students? If so how.

Compacting & Differentiation in Content Areas

Chapter 4 gives great strategies about compacting curriculum & differentiation. I think both of these buzz words are going around right now. My question for you is do you personally use any compacting or differentiation in your current classroom and can you give us examples of what they are and how you use them?

Bragging

In our text, the author states in the "Working Conditions For Alternate Activities, #6: Never brag about your opportunities to work on the alternate activities." While I agree about this to some extent, I want to pose the question to open a discussion and please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Don't we brag about everything to do with sports? If our team beats the other team, we make an announcement to the entire school. If we win the championship, we buy banners and post them for all to see with the child's name & player #. You hear teachers and other students congratulating the team members in the halls etc. When is it okay to brag about being super smart?

Allowing Students to Learn at a Faster Pace

The author makes the statement "gifted students should be allowed to move through it at a faster pace than the rest of the class." Do you believe this to be true for most highly intelligent & gifted students? If so, what percentage of students do you believe are allowed the opportunity to learn at their own pace and continue learning in America? And what do you feel about this?

School Reform

Here is an interest link about school reform:
http://blip.tv/file/88216

James

On page 41, the author discusses a scenario with James. James was a great kid who didn't make any trouble at school, but his parents were going to pull him out to home school him because he was not getting what they felt he needed at school. Come to find out, James started his "real work" once he got home. He was writing a textbook about Human Anatomy and Physiology. The teacher compacted his curriculum and allowed for him to work on his "real work" at school. Can you see this working in your classroom? Do you think you have any kids that would qualify or benefit from this type of compacting?

Article

I came across this article and was hoping that you would read it and post what you think. I am not going to say anything either way until after a few posts to see what your opinion is without knowing what I think. http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3705/professor-encourages-students-to-pass-notes-during-class-via-twitter

Thanks!

Spelling/Vocabulary

I know that we don't concentrate on spelling at the middle level as much as in elementary, but I thought I would share how my 9 year old's teacher does their spelling. At the beginning of the year, the students take a pre-test on all of the words that they need to know by the end of the year. Then the students only test on the words that they missed on the pretest each week. When they finish their words for the year, then they get to pick their spelling words. For example, my daughter is choosing Greek vocabulary words and books of the Bible. She LOVES it!

So...for those of you who use key vocabulary terms, is this something you can incorporate? I don't know how it is done...so I am just throwing it out there.

AIMS & gifted

Given the fact that we are right in the middle of testing, I thought that this topic was appropriate! On page 32 the book states that "there are probably students in your class right now who could have taken any end of the year standardized test at the start of the year and scored at or above 95th percentile"

So.....
1. Do you agree with that statement, why or why not?
2. If you agree, what do you do with those kiddos that rightfully know the existing material (gifted or not)?
3. If you don't agree, would you be willing to test your students to find out if this statement is true?

Already Knowing the Information

On page one, the auther tells about a teacher who was happy when all of her top reading group got 'A''s on the end-of-unit-test. She realized that they may have already known the information before she was teaching it. So she decided to give the end of the chapter test prior to teaching the chapter and found that they all got 'A''s again.

We have all been there--bored to death in a class or a professional development and we already know the information being covered. How do we help these kiddos that come to class knowing the information. 1. How do we discover that they know it? 2. What do we do when they do know it? 3. How are we going to challenge them even further? and 4. What if they have holes in their learning, but they know most of it?

MOST DIFFICULT FIRST

The book discusses starting an assignment by have the students (not necessarily only the gifted students) the most difficult problems first. if they can prove that they understand the concept, then why have them do all of the work. While I agree with this strategy, do you agree with the suggestions of replacement activities such as 'do nothing'?

Who will learn the least this year?

The introduction of "Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom" by Susan Winebrenner states that the group that "will probably learn the least this year" will be most able children. Does this surprise you? If these were your own children would you think that is appropriate? Or would you want more for your children?

FIRST CHAPTER

Please post your thoughts on Chapter One here.

INTIMIDATION

Simple question: Do you feel intimidated by students that are truly smarter than you? AND can you see how other teachers may feel offended if a student is constantly making comments to make them feel insecure in their own intelligence?

We just started!

Okay -- Be truthful -- did I overwelm you with the technology portion? If so, don't panic, I will help you sift through it soon enough!

Thank you for coming -- feel free to share!