Artifact #1: I attended the Metro Atlanta Gifted Symposium on Saturday, February 1st, 2020. I was impressed with the opening speaker, Dr. Sally Krisel. Her talk reflected the foundation of gifted student understanding as it spent a long time outlining the unique characteristics of gifted students. Not only was that a good reminder, but her creative comics and focus on differentiation and equity was a plus. My favorite session of the morning by far was called Depth and Complexity by Bridget Taylor. The whole session was about the Depth and Complexity Framework developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan. It was because of this session that I chose to research this model and develop a lesson to teach teachers about it (see link). The Kaplan Depth & Complexity model really fits with the cross cutting concepts of the National Next Generation Science Standards and is a great way to challenge and connect across topics for gifted students. Through this seminar I was introduced to the website (www.byrdseed.com) . After the conference when I was telling our 6th grade gifted resource director about the seminar she said she has been wanting to convince other 6th grade teachers to try this framework. We are now in the process of planning a pilot of its use in science.
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Metro Atlanta Gifted Consortium
Gifted Symposium 2020 Artifact #2:
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Reflection: Advocacy for Gifted Learners
Advocacy for all learners (including gifted) is vital not just in my classroom, but also across the school, the district, the state and even Nationally. I am beginning this process by explicitly educating my 6th grade parents on how to advocate for their own children so that they are heard. During curriculum night I touch on this in my presentation and I provide a handout for families that outlines things such as...
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Tip sheet on Classroom Advocacy from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
Try this at home:
Daily 2:1: Make it habit that daily (at dinner, at bedtime, or in car) everyone say TWO interesting things they learned today and ONE social thing that happened. |
Reflection: How can schools most effectively meet the needs of high ability learners?
In researching the question “How can schools most effectively meet the needs of high ability learners”, I am struck by the difficulty of meeting the needs of gifted students across the board. Students struggle, teachers struggle, administrators struggle, and parents struggle (see article) to meet the needs within the current system we call school in the United States. There are arguments for vertical (acceleration) models of gifted learning and there are arguments for horizontal (extension) gifted learning (see article); I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
First, I totally agree with those that argue that too many teachers call additional games/worksheets/extra activities as enrichment. As a result, we need to provide better training and support for teachers of gifted students in whatever model their system accommodates at the moment. This training should be expanded in teacher preparation programs and continue into professional development opportunities. We also need to give teachers smaller class sizes that allow them to build personal, 1:1 relationships with their gifted students so they can better implement gifted learning opportunities. Academics & Social/Emotional
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Second, we should be thinking outside the box and providing multiple gifted services models within individual school systems. There should be both acceleration and cluster modeling (group horizontally) for gifted services. Students who have mastered grade level content should move along the continuum of standards to keep learning, but I also believe that they should not do so in isolation. We should be clustering students so that there are social and collaborative opportunities to learn with and from each other, in a safe learning environment. This is the problem with so many acceleration options- gifted student does not feel safe to be who they are and learn in their own way. By placing these students with other of similar ability/learning styles (clustering) then a more safe environment can be established.
Peer reviewed scientific reports like the 2004 report “A Nation Deceived” have shown that there is no statistically significant negative emotional consequence of acceleration to gifted students. However, like all scientific studies there are limitations. The biggest limitation is that the data is self-reported and therefore, potentially, affirmingly biased. The social emotional well-being of gifted students is just as important as their academic engagement and success. I strongly agree with this quote from the New York Times article 'Against Accelerating the Gifted Child': “Academic success is about so much more than intellectual ability. Middle school, in particular, provides an education in social dynamics, organization and self-discovery. Pushing students into that fray when they are not chronologically or emotionally prepared for it is something we should approach with great caution. If we are to teach the whole child, and to honor our students’ emotional and intellectual development, we need to give them the gift of time. Time to develop, time to grow up, time to feel secure in themselves and their achievements. |
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