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?
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Boy that's tough. Of course in Social Studies I find that they usually don't know it or only have a vague idea about the subject. I can generally determine their knowledge level by asking a view key questions and then quickly move on to the next level. By asking these questions we have a quick review for those who aren't sure and then I can tell where I need to pick up in my lesson. Also, I have secondary activites for those who know the information thant generally revolves around deeper exploration of the subject, and higher critical level questions. These really work well with the gifted students because I phrase them open endedly where they can research the topic and give their own opinion. Webquest are a good tool for this because they give them a group of key sites to explore.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ted that with both social studies and language arts, while the gifted kids tend to have an idea of the topic discussed, most do not have the depth of knowledge needed to go beyond just the basics. One important fact I learned at the Parent Gifted Conference is that there are all levels of giftedness. A child who may have a verbal IQ of 140 is considered gifted, but to a student who has an IQ of 180 the student with the lower score may not appear to be that intelligent. As gifted teachers, we need to remember that there are truly very few gifted students who are considered exceptionally gifted.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I think most of the students we have in our gifted program today would thrive on accelerated curriculum. It can be very difficult to accelerate a curriculum when the majority of students in the class need the time to process and complete most activities and assignments.
Just to add a few more thoughts (LOL), I think having several assignments prepared to meet the individual needs of every student in the classroom is more easily said then done and it is even more difficult for new teachers. When you are just getting started, you have so few resources and the environment can be overwhelming. You are lucky if you have time to create one really, great activity that you feel will keep all students engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe talent in teaching inclusive classes with all ranges and abilities is to continually build up your reservoir of activities; so as the years pass you have activities you know work and the preparation time required to teach a lesson is more manageable. I know this is where I am in my instructional practices. Trying to find a balance between preparing lessons, grading papers, being engaged with the students at all times when they are in my classroom, and fulfilling the other duties and responsibilities that are required is a massive undertaking.
Ted: I like your strategies. On your secondary activities, are they replacement activities, inclusive activities or additional activities?
ReplyDeleteKristi: I just thought of something when reading your post. A lot of gifted kids come in with the attitude that they already know it and shouldn't have to prove it--do you think having a pre-test will actually help them as well as the teacher? For example as a teacher I get to know where the students holes are and concentrate on them. For the student, they get to understand that maybe they don't know everything. Most gifted kids are black and white and like this type of feedback. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteKristi: You were talking about IQ's and 180 vs. 140. That is absolutely true -- the profoundly gifted kid is totally different than just a gifted kid. And because of this so are their needs. One wouldn't think so, but the difference is actually exponentially different vs. the difference between 100 and 140.
ReplyDeleteIt is purely rotten when they assume they know everything already. I have one in my class right now and it breaks my heart. Maybe I should send him to you ..for only trouble lies in his future unless we get him interested in something bigger than himself!
ReplyDeleteThe testimonial of the teacher mentioned happened to me in my 2nd year of teaching. It was llike cold water tricklinng over me. I realized that concern for the objectives had now become a minor concern and that my thematic units must rise to a higher level. It was a great year and I have a video to celebrate that year.
Wanda: Sure send him over. Part of what we are doing is trying to meet their social emotional needs and if they have a big head, we need to help them out. It is a cruel world out there and they will eventually find someone smarter than them and it is crushing when they do. :)
ReplyDeleteMarlene: I think we should be assessing the students when they get to our class or before each logical section depending on the class and subject matter, Math and Social Studies would probably require very different assessment structuring. Keeping all students interested and learning will require changes from the classroom to the Federal Government in my opinion. How do we provide for each student and have an equatible grading system. I think the biggest obstacle to this is the grading system.
ReplyDeleteMichael: Well this is a fully loaded question and I don't know the answer to the grading system. I could be wrong, but I think that a lot of teachers do not agree with our inadequate grading system. The grading system may need an overhaul, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I do beleive that keeping students engaged requires that we move away from the traditional classroom. But I wonder...what about those kiddos who do learn best in a traditional environment? I think you may have opened pandora's box? :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I teach regular Mathematics at our school, I think that this is a easy question to answer. I have encountered a couple of students in my years that have come to class (at the beginning of the school year)already knowing the material. The Math department provides a beginning-of-the-year assessment to address this issue. If a student can pass this assessment - displaying knowledge of the planned curriculum, then they are immediately moved in to a more difficult math class.
ReplyDeleteIf a student is kept in my class (due to not exceeding on the math assessment) they may already know the material for a specific objective. In this case, I like to use them as helpers for other students. Often times, I do feel like they have holes in their knowledge of a topic and with math, it is not bad for them to get the extra practice. They tend to learn something they didn't know.
Marisa: I do think that we do an excellent job of placing our math kiddos. I just wish we could do that will all of the subjects. Can you think of any ways to do that with other subjects?
ReplyDeleteI also like the "checker" idea mentioned in the chapter. I have not used this constructively, like Marisa have done, yet, but am willing to give it a try and see what happens. like you said, more learning happens when you have to teach/check it.
ReplyDeleteMarisa: Thank you for your post. I kind of knew that was what happens in our math department, but your explanation made it clearer for me. How could we do this for language arts, science, and social studies? Does the math team work with the scheduling team to make sure students are place appropriately?
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to teach a language arts class where some readers are at a 12.9 reading level and others are at 2.1 (both of my LA classes are like this). My high performers are now done. We cannot move fast enough to keep them engaged because to do so would mean leaving the slower readers behind, and I have yet to find a single lesson that diversifies the material to such extremes that everyone is happy. If anyone has any ideas I am all ears.
I think that everyone would agree that this would be a good idea, but how do we accomplish it? I know you all will be shocked -- I have no idea :)
ReplyDeleteWell, unfortunately the math "levels" have been in place for years -- so it is not something that our school has put in place on its own. Therefore, I do not have the answers either. However, I will explain how we do things and maybe it will spark some ideas on your part.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of 5th grade, as placement test is given to students to determine their math knowledge. At the 6th grade level, there are two options; regular or advanced math. From there, teachers assess how students performed in their classes. If they struggled or maintained at the regular level, they go one to regular 7th grade math. Those that exceeded and showed great work ethic and those that were previously advanced (and did well) would go on to pre-algebra or advanced pre-algebra. Once again, the transition to 8th grade would mean that those regular math students that struggled or maintained would head into the regular 8th math class. Those that stood out or were in pre-algebra would go into algebra.
Now, at the beginning of the next school year, EVERY math class gives a pre-test that assesses knowledge of the forthcoming curriculum. If a student exceeds on that test, they may move up to the next level.
It is not perfect, but it seems to work out fairly well. There are very few students who get mis-placed each year.
Why this works is because we have different text books and curriculums for each level. While there is a state mandated curriculum for 6th, 7th and 8th grade, different classes focus on different levels of understanding.
It could work for other classes if you (other departments) could find a way to differentiate the curriculum for students of every level. I will say this though, scheduling will become a nightmare if all subjects adopted this method of placing students. We cannot logically offer all of these options in one school day.
Marisa: I love this idea...playing devil's advocate though, I have two thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Is this considered tracking (I personally don't like that word)?
2. What about those math kiddo's that are higher than advanced math in 6th grade, what do we do with them?
I'm wondering: Language Arts has an exit exam at the end of 8th grade, and if this is what it is used for at the high school level.
I would say that it is tracking...but that is what we do all the time w/special ed. and will be what we are doing when we create a gifted class.
ReplyDeleteKristi - for LA students can read a variety of books at their own level that pertains to the topic. They all don't have to read the same book. You can also have several book groups going where each group is reading a different book. There are generic questions/projects that can be used for any book that would let you assess the students' learning; "How would the story change if the main character was a boy instead of a girl?", "Write a new ending for the story. Make sure it is relevant to the storyline." "Explain how the story would change if the 'bad' character was actually the 'good' person." "Create a children's book on the story." Obviously there would be more details given to the students in each of the examples but you get the idea.
Ideally, each student would be allowed to learn at their own level w/the goal being to get them up to "grade level". Part of the problem w/the education system is that we expect children to know certain things at given times and yet we know that everyone learns at different paces and have different strengths/weaknesses. There is no easy answer...we happen to be a country that believes in educating the masses and yet we are compared to countries that educate the elite. We should have high expectations for our students/children but we shouldn't expect them to all be able to do everything the same at the same time.
Cindy: GREAT COMMENTS!! I love your ideas with Language Arts reading grouping. I have an interesting video that I'm going to post a link to that discusses changing the way that we look at education. Did anyone know that there is bukoo bucks out there for education reform?
ReplyDelete