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.