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?

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?

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?