Thursday, October 30, 2014
Gifted Myth #1 Debunked
For the next 10 weeks I would like us to focus on this gifted article, going through each myth one week at a time. The link to the full article is: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/14/ten-myths-about-gifted-students-and-programs-for-gifted/
However, this week we will concentrate only on Myth 1:
Myth No. 1: Intelligence is inherited and does not change. Gifted students, therefore, do not need any special services.
All of us do inherit certain traits, intelligences and talents. But these need to be developed and nurtured throughout life for them to grow and reach their full potential. A beautiful flower inherits certain traits. But if it is not watered and fed and if it does not get the right amount of sunlight, it does not develop as it could. The same is true for gifted children.
My response:
I have heard this statement so many times, and in reflection, if I am 100% honest, I have left these children out during my teaching as well. It simply is easy to do. I can remember one student in particular who I knew already had a deep understanding of my curriculum and I encouraged her to be my TA instead of taking my class, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to challenge her the way that she deserved. (She was the best TA that I have ever had by the way.) But was I helping her by not giving her special services? Was I allowing her to grow and blossom in technology like she could have? No. In fact, I would say that she was left behind, because the students in my class received instruction while she was filing, running errands, making copies, etc. Had I taken the time (of which I didn’t think I had) to allow her to reach her full potential, she could have excelled in this area, rather than be just like one of the rest of the kids at the end of the year. Through careful reflection of my failure of this student, two years later I had another student that passed my pre-test with no sweat. I actually called a meeting with his parents and him to go over what I could do to help him soar. We built a plan together that he was in charge of using the models in the book “ Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom” and he did amazing things. He used his time each day to expand on his current knowledge and to add more to his learning than I could ever think of doing. He set his curriculum, outcomes, and goals, he and I just met once a week to discuss his progress. There were times that he asked to join the other students in class because he liked what we were working on and wanted to see how he would do. He always surpassed my expectations. Simply put, I focused more on the learning that was going on rather than the curriculum that I had to cover and he exceeded what I would have done if I had hunkered down and created curriculum for him that I MUST cover.
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ReplyDeleteMyth No. 1: Intelligence is inherited and does not change. Gifted students, therefore, do not need any special services.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, reading this myth brings back a painful rage as a mother and is part of my reason for being where I am today. Yes, intelligence is inherited… the gifted brain is genetic, but without learning, experience, discovery, and support, the child may never achieve their true abilities.
For those of you who don’t know, I have 2 girls in their early 20’s (adults in training). They both struggled deeply with K-12 school, came home complaining and crying about their frustrations. At that time, I was working in the computer industry and had no clue what to do to assist them. When Bailey came around, I rebooted my life and went back to school to be a teacher.
I had no clue my children were different.
I finally woke up when Bailey was in her first couple weeks of Kindergarten. Four year old Bailey was welcomed to kindergarten with open arms after passing her early entrance exam with glowing colors. She entered kindergarten with a third grade reading level and performing second grade mathematical concepts. She was placed in a general education classroom where the teacher was primarily focused on Bailey’s ability to socialize with other children. The teacher expressed concern that she preferred to talk to adults rather than socialize with her peers. She often played alone at recess and was known to act out in class. The teacher insisted on teaching Bailey her ABC’s, shapes, colors, and the numbers 1 through 5. Not surprisingly, sheer boredom triggered Bailey’s acting out in class; her situation was difficult in that she was being forced to work 2 years beneath her mastery level, placed with children who didn’t understand her, and pushed away by teachers who thought she was a trouble maker. Bailey was a prime example of how gifted children are neglected in general education classrooms.
Since that moment I have devoted my life to advocating gifted children. (I had already messed up 2, might as well try to save the 3rd right?)
As a teacher, I have met some of the most amazing children! I absolutely love the quirky souls! Every single one of them needs our assistance and accommodations (both high, low, depth, and sometimes something completely different from the norm). I offer the children multi-leveled curriculum and I challenge them every chance I get… Not sure what they need? Ask them, they know exactly what they need and want. : -) They want to be challenged… they want boundaries… and they want to ‘earn’ their achievements. They want to feel good about their achievements and themselves. They want your respect.
Do gifted children need special services? Absolutely… Yes… not only in the classroom but through pull out/or special services too. They need to understand why they do the crazy things they do and what is really happening in their heads. They need to know ‘it is OK’… and we understand and accept them for who they are.
Example: A couple of my students where logging a mass amount of time with the assistant principal… over the past couple weeks my class has been learning about ‘Gifted’, their ‘Quirks’, and how to handle anxiety. I am proud to say that our discussions have been profound, in-depth, and very personal… since then, I have not had a single child in the assistant principal’s office.
They accept themselves and each other much better now. They have a better understanding and have built better relationships with themselves and each other. They needed information. They needed facts.
On a side note… gifted children need to be challenged. A little frustration is good at a young age. The sooner they learn to overcome a challenge, the sooner they learn to survive, achieve, and overcome anxieties. This is a small thing that can help decrease the very large percentage of gifted suicides.
Hope this helps,
Michelle
Michelle: I cannot agree with your last statement more. One of the areas that I believe we fail gifted students is not challenging them sooner, For the most part, things do come easier to them, and then when it gets difficult, they do not know how to persevere. We should be setting them up for success and allowing them to struggle early and often so that they can learn how to overcome and conquer in a good and healthy environment. Thank you for your post!
DeleteI need to echo much of what you have all said, especially in regards to feeling like I am failing our students at times. Last year, when we started working with the gifted 5th Grade cohort, it took me quite some time to find my footing with them. Working through/with their quirkiness turned out to be the key! This year’s gifted 5th is very different and again, it has taken quite some time to get to find my footing with them, and figure out what makes each of them (as individuals) tick.
ReplyDeleteI have a niece who is gifted and where she excels in knowledge and understanding, she lacks in people skills. Big time – to the point that oftentimes, she is kind of a jerk! Our whole family works with her to remind her to use manners and acknowledge others, but it is tiresome. For me, the fatigue comes from the constant redirection, both in the classroom and with my niece.
The keywords for me are “certain traits, intelligences, and talents.” The gifted child expects to know everything. Most of my students put that extra pressure on themselves to “know everything.” If there is something they do not know, or missed because their brains are processing at lightning speed, they really beat themselves up over it. We have discussions in our class about how we might make “silly” mistakes because our brains think fast. I explain to my students that they may know how to solve math problems with ease, but may have to work harder to write stories.
ReplyDeleteIn my students, I have observed that some groan when they are presented with certain activities. I know that my little one who is an extremely high reader does not care to work on any math work, even when given a choice. This student is good at math, but she does not have the propensity to work on math independently.
Growing up, I felt this way as well. I was extremely versed in language arts, and though I could complete math, the process in which I solved problems was different from how everyone seemed to solve it. I did not wish to hone in on my math skills because my intelligence was verbal/linguistic. Though I could “do” many things, I had a knack for writing and technology.
Lindsey, I went through the same feeling first quarter that I was “failing” as a teacher for my kiddos. This quarter, I have learned some skills that I can use to help facilitate student learning. They may take a bit of time in the beginning, but allow the students to choose how and what they want to learn. Some gifted students have talents that cannot be expressed in the school setting. Therefore, they might be bored or not as thrilled because their talents and intelligences lie elsewhere. I think that it was a good idea to sit down with the students and work through difficulties. It shows the students that you care about their education, and you have taken “extra time” to continue building a relationship with those students. Whether it is asynchronous development or boredom, when you show you care, things will start to move along. I have experienced that myself, so I understand a bit of the feeling.
Michelle, I think that we in education have a more growing awareness of what it means to be gifted. My mom did not want me to be tested for giftedness because she felt it was in my best interest. Honestly, the school that I went to only had pull out gifted education for the students who were gifted in math. I am not gifted in math, though my mom said she thought I was a bright child. Though my mom did not pursue special education for me, she loved me, and respected me quirks and all. I was placed in a class called “Developmental Kindergarten.” I asked my mom I was mentally slow, she said that they told her “She is the brightest child we have had in a long time, she aced the test, but she is extremely shy.” They wanted to develop my social skills. I say that helped with some aspects of schooling, such as the maturity level compared to others, but I was an emotional wreck!
Myth No. 1: Intelligence is inherited and does not change. Gifted students, therefore, do not need any special services.
ReplyDeleteI think there are two issues with myth one. First is the assumption that all intelligence is inherited. While there is a great deal of research on intelligence and whether it is inherited or cultivated within the environment, the fact still remains that students who demonstrate higher abilities to learn and retain skills and knowledge, require a more diverse and rigorous opportunity to support their cognitive growth. I personally feel that the push to meet the individual needs and academic growth of all children is a very important philosophical shift in how we approach the education of our children.
Having said this, I do feel that children of high cognitive intelligence should be placed under special education services, not because I feel teachers are not doing their best to meet the individual needs of these students, but because we assume that highly gifted children do not need the extra support necessary for them to reach their fullest potential.
My son's placement in the gifted program in Payson came about by accident. He was diagnosed in the 2nd grade with ADHD and by the time he reached the 6th grade he was done. He found school boring and of little value. In the 6th grade I was working in the Special Services department and realized that my son might be gifted. When he was tested for a discrepancy between his ability and his academic learning we discovered he was in fact gifted. At that point the special services department said there was nothing more they could do. There were no laws on the books to protect his educational rights.
If there were laws in place that protected the rights of gifted children, in the same way that laws protect the learning rights of disabled students, my son might have taken a more traditional path to academic success.
As a gifted student myself I do not believe that intelligence stays the same as children grow and change. I know that my intelligence has changed as I have gotten older.
ReplyDeleteI think that sometimes people want to put gifted children into a box and leave them there but we cannot do that. We have to adapt and change how we teach them because they adapt and change as they grow. We cannot ignore that they will be changing. As I teach gifted kids, for 2 years now, I notice that the same kiddo seems to be totally different student at the end of the school year because he or she has grown. I don't think we can say they will be the same.
Reading both Marlene’s and Michelle’s comments, I found a similar feeling from both- failure. I also noticed how both of you mentioned what you did so the “failure” feeling did not happen again to another child.
ReplyDeleteI found this enlightening as I am currently feeling like a teacher who is “failing” some of the gifted students by not taking that extra time (who knows from where!) to create a rigorous curriculum for them.
I have had open communications with some of those students and families and have started working on making those necessary changes.
However, this is the dilemma I am running into with a few. Is their behavior in class due to their boredom with the curriculum or are they working through asynchronous development? I would be happy to allow this one specific student to run with a project or allow him to dive deeper, however he can barely sit down and write his name on a paper. Thoughts? Comments?
Thanks, friends. Have a great day!
Lindsey