AFunnyThingHappenedontheWay … THP/THP 2009 Spring.pdfF Friendshipscontribute...

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A www.nagc.org As a methods instructor for English teachers, I have become an expert juggler. Time is always at my heels, and the chal- lenge is to do justice to the methods of teaching reading, writing, speaking, language study, viewing, and listening in the context of English classrooms, all the while weaving and reinforcing concepts of diversity, equity, assessment, criti- cal thinking, scaffolding across grades, inter-disciplinary connections, and, of course, differentiation. As I attended a week-long course on differentiation presented by Dr. San- dra Kaplan of the University of Southern California, I eyed the wealth of information she had to offer on differentia- tion and then lost all my joy: how, how could I ever teach my students the importance of differentiating instruction for all children, not to mention the gifted populations in their classrooms, in the lecture and a half slot I had left on my syllabus? How could I inspire them in two hours to learn what Dr. Kaplan had taken a week to convince me, that dif- ferentiation is a day-by-day permeation of curriculum, not at all a simple add-on to challenge only a subset of children? Just when I was about to dash to the door—sure that a lit- tle knowledge had already become a dangerous thing—it struck me: if differentiation were intended to permeate curriculum, why was I trying to stick it into a discrete slot? What would happen if my entire semester was framed by Kaplan’s work? After much working, reworking, demolish- ing, building back up, and adding dimension to how I taught my methods class before, what has emerged is a conceptual framework for teaching the methods of teach- ing English that actually practices what it sometimes preaches in superficial chunks—in other words, I have begun to walk my talk when it comes to the power of dif- ferentiation. What follows is a blue- print of how you can do it, too, in any classroom from preschool to post-doc. Kaplan’s Framework and the Core Curriculum:The “Heart” and Prompts for Knowing It Like all good things, Kaplan’s model starts with the good stuff, the core curriculum or content to be mastered. I could- n’t agree more that content must reign supreme in any class- room. In my case, I could divide my curriculum into four parts—somewhat distinct but all intended to review and ex- pand concepts in previous units of study. Although my four parts—teaching reading, teaching writing, teaching gram- mar/language skills, and teaching research—are all related to one discipline, Kaplan notes that her framework works just as well when your content task is more broad—say history, science, etc. in an elementary classroom. To that core cur- riculum, I added the first layer of differentiation, which Ka- plan calls “depth and complexity.” Take my first unit, for example, on teaching reading (I’ll use this one for all my ex- amples). Since one trend in secondary school English seems to be the addition of young adult literature to the curricu- lum, I chose “trends in student reading interests” as a way to add depth and complexity to that unit of study. Don’t get me wrong: Kaplan offers a million ways and topics to use in order to add depth and complexity, and Kaplan’s chapter in Systems and Models (Renzulli, Gubbins, McMillen, Eckert, & Little, 2008) is a must-read to glean the myriad ways in which she combines facts of a discipline to the particulars of what is to be studied. Layer Two:“Think Like a Disciplinarian”—Differen- tiation goes Ethnographic After adding the first layer of differentiation to each of my four units of study, I then proceeded to a second layer, what Kaplan describes as “thinking like a disciplinarian.” It is this layer that seems to excite my gifted students most, although any parent or teacher who has been included in a discussion A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Class: TeachingTeachers How to Differentiate from Day One BY KELLY M. ROBERTS,MEREDITH COLLEGE IN THIS ISSUE From the Editor 2 Bridging the Divide 3 Project EXCITE 4 Arts: Minds in Motion 7 iMathination 8 Books, Books and More Books 13 Happily Ever After 14 Teaching Billy 15 Subject Matters 18 continued on page 10 Spring 2009 Kelly Morris Roberts, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of English and program coordinator for 6-9 and 9-12 English licensure for prospec- tive teachers at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC.

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As amethods instructor for English teachers, I have becomean expert juggler. Time is always at my heels, and the chal-lenge is to do justice to the methods of teaching reading,writing, speaking, language study, viewing, and listening inthe context of English classrooms, all the while weaving andreinforcing concepts of diversity, equity, assessment, criti-cal thinking, scaffolding across grades, inter-disciplinaryconnections, and, of course, differentiation. As I attended aweek-long course on differentiation presented by Dr. San-dra Kaplan of the University of Southern California, I eyedthe wealth of information she had to offer on differentia-tion and then lost all my joy: how, how could I ever teachmy students the importance of differentiating instructionfor all children, not to mention the gifted populations intheir classrooms, in the lecture and a half slot I had left onmy syllabus? How could I inspire them in two hours to learnwhat Dr. Kaplan had taken a week to convince me, that dif-ferentiation is a day-by-day permeation of curriculum, not atall a simple add-on to challenge only a subset of children?Just when I was about to dash to the door—sure that a lit-

tle knowledge had already become a dangerous thing—itstruck me: if differentiation were intended to permeatecurriculum, why was I trying to stick it into a discrete slot?What would happen if my entire semester was framed byKaplan’s work? After much working, reworking, demolish-ing, building back up, and adding dimension to how Itaught my methods class before, what has emerged is aconceptual framework for teaching the methods of teach-ing English that actually practices what it sometimespreaches in superficial chunks—in other words, I have

begun to walk mytalk when it comesto the power of dif-ferentiation. Whatfollows is a blue-print of how youcan do it, too, in

any classroom from preschool to post-doc.

Kaplan’s Framework and the Core Curriculum:The“Heart”and Prompts for Knowing ItLike all good things, Kaplan’s model starts with the good

stuff, the core curriculum or content to be mastered. I could-n’t agree more that content must reign supreme in any class-room. In my case, I could divide my curriculum into fourparts—somewhat distinct but all intended to review and ex-pand concepts in previous units of study. Although my fourparts—teaching reading, teaching writing, teaching gram-mar/language skills, and teaching research—are all related toone discipline, Kaplan notes that her framework works justas well when your content task is more broad—say history,science, etc. in an elementary classroom. To that core cur-riculum, I added the first layer of differentiation, which Ka-plan calls “depth and complexity.” Take my first unit, forexample, on teaching reading (I’ll use this one for all my ex-amples). Since one trend in secondary school English seemsto be the addition of young adult literature to the curricu-lum, I chose “trends in student reading interests” as a way toadd depth and complexity to that unit of study. Don’t get mewrong: Kaplan offers a million ways and topics to use inorder to add depth and complexity, and Kaplan’s chapter inSystems and Models (Renzulli, Gubbins, McMillen, Eckert, &Little, 2008) is a must-read to glean the myriad ways in whichshe combines facts of a discipline to the particulars of whatis to be studied.

LayerTwo:“Think Like aDisciplinarian”—Differen-tiation goes EthnographicAfter adding the first layer of differentiation to each of my

four units of study, I then proceeded to a second layer, whatKaplan describes as “thinking like a disciplinarian.” It is thislayer that seems to excite my gifted students most, althoughany parent or teacher who has been included in a discussion

A FunnyThing Happened on theWayClass: TeachingTeachers How toDifferentiate fromDay OneBY KELLY M.ROBERTS,MEREDITH COLLEGE

IN THIS ISSUEFrom the Editor 2

Bridging the Divide 3

Project EXCITE 4

Arts:Minds in Motion 7

iMathination 8

Books,Books andMore Books 13

Happily Ever After 14

Teaching Billy 15

Subject Matters 18

continued on page 10

Spring 2009

Kelly Morris Roberts, Ph.D., is anassistant professor of English andprogram coordinator for 6-9 and9-12 English licensure for prospec-tive teachers at Meredith Collegein Raleigh, NC.

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www.nagc.org

EDITORIALADVISORYBOARDSusannah Richards,ChairJennifer AtkinsonCelesteMarie EdwardsBeverly FinkKeri GuilbaultMarcia ImbeauJanice NovelloJudy SchultzKarenWestbergSusannahWood

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFJeffrey Danielian

ASSOCIATEEDITORElizabeth Fogarty

Teaching forHighPotential (THP)is published three times per yearas amembership benefit of theNational Association for GiftedChildren (NAGC),1707 L St.,NW.,Suite 550,Washington,DC,20036202.785.4268;[email protected] submission and editorialenquiries can bemade to JeffDanielian at [email protected].

For information on advertising inTHP,please contact Nicole Lukan [email protected].

The content found inTHParticlesfollows theNAGC Pre-K-Grade 12Gifted Program Standards and theNAGC-CECTeacher PreparationStandards.Visit theTHPwebpage formoredetails.

The statements and opinionsexpressed in the articles andcolumns appearing inTHP are thoseof the authors and columnists anddo not necessarily reflect the viewsof the association.NAGCdisclaimsany responsibility or liability for suchmaterial.© 2008

IImust admit that even as a seasoned teacher it is tempting to dust off the note-book from last year and print the same handouts and tests for my students. Inreality, the majority of the school year is simply that, a repeat of previous years.This is not to say that the material is irrelevant or the manner in which the in-formation conveyed is boring. I am simply saying that in general, it is sometimeseasier to do what we’ve always done.For me, this all began to change after I was exposed to the needs of gifted

and talented students. When I immersed myself in differing conceptions of gift-edness, focused on the variety of systems and models for program options anddelivery of instruction, and came to understand the social and emotional needsof gifted children, I began to look at the students sitting before me in terms ofinterests, abilities, and learning styles. I also restyled my curriculum to includemany forms of differentiation, namely tiered assignments, grouping, and com-pacting. I incorporated essential questions into the material and introduced mystudents to process skills. I began to integrate habits of mind, creativity training,and affective language into lessons. I became aware of issues like under-achievement, perfectionism, and gender differences. Projects revolved around

choice, evaluations became more individualized, andthe overall climate of the classroom, for both the stu-dents and the teacher became much more comfort-able.I encourage you to take time to re-work your existing

curriculum, infusing, little by little, many gifted edu-cation strategies and options into your curriculum.Start small, and work towards a longer unit plan. Youalready know your subject matter in depth, and likelyhave a wealth of supporting materials, but there is alsoa lot of new and emerging research and ideas out thereto freshen your repertoire. Attend a summer or fallconference. One workshop or class can make all the

difference. Access as many print resources as you can, keeping in mind all thetime that you do not need to start from scratch. Patience is the key, for thesechanges cannot take place overnight. Once you begin this shift in practice, youwill soon find that your classroom dynamic has changed, your lessons betterperceived, and your teaching more effective.In this issue, Derek Davis’ article shares a similar eye-opening experience from

the classroom. Kelly Roberts seeks to educate those looking for the tools, andMichelle Reed and others present evidence of what can happen when innova-tive practice is introduced into a program. The columnists present some inter-esting ideas too, from incorporating dance and drama into the curriculum, toseeking the roots of mathematics. You will notice a special column in this issue,Bridging the Divide. Written by Petra Gyles and others, it presents more practi-cal knowledge about friendship and competition based on research appearingin Gifted Child Quarterly.I hope that you will enjoy this issue. I have. Please feel free to contact me at

any time; I welcome your comments, suggestions, opinions, and ideas.

“Class,please take out your notebooks.”

FROM THE EDITOR

JEFF DANIELIAN, [email protected]

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FFriendships contribute to development of self-concept, per-ceptions of self-worth, and social skills such as perspective tak-ing, communication, and conflict resolution. Strong, healthyfriendships might guide children toward healthy psychosocialdevelopment (Bukowski, 2003; Kerns, 1996; Sullivan, 1953).The proportion of gifted children reported as introverted is

higher than in the general population (Cross, Neumeister, &Cassady, 2007). Among highly gifted children, Silverman (1993)reported this as large as 75%. Age peers may not readily relateto gifted children’s particular interests (Matthews & Foster,2005), and gifted children may have difficulty finding friendswith similar interests (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen,1993). An introverted disposition combined with unusual in-terests might result in bright children distancing themselvesfrom others and vice versa (Janos, Marwood, & Robinson,1985).The common wisdom is that gifted children prefer to work

alone in a quiet learning environment (e.g., Davis & Rimm,2004). However, the supporting research is actually quite var-ied, and the belief that gifted children always like to work alonemisses the more important question of why (French & Shore,2009). Gifted children have a stronger preference for workingalone when they do not feel supported by others, or feel takenadvantage of based on their abilities, such as repeatedly actingas a tutor for the other students without reciprocity (the “free-rider” effect) (French, 2007). There may be benefit to giftedstudents in learning situations grouped by ability, either sepa-rate classrooms or cluster-grouping, for they will find them-selves in a peer group with similar goals and motivation.Although gifted students may prefer grouping by ability for

academics, theymay prefer heterogeneous grouping for social-emotional reasons. Some gifted children base their self-conceptor self-esteem on being smarter than others (Adams-Byers,Whitsell, & Moon, 2004). If a child is used to performing at thetop of the class and is moved to a classroom of same-perfor-mance peers, he or she may no longer feel exceptional. Mixed-

ability groupingmeets the short-term needs of some bright chil-dren. Long-term, however, inflated self-concept based on com-parison to less able peers encourages other-referenced ratherthan task-oriented goal orientation.

Gifted Friendships andCompetitionIn other-referenced goal orientation, individuals compete to

outperform others. In task-referenced goal orientation, moti-vation addresses personal improvement—competing againstoneself (Schneider, Fonzi, Tani, & Tomada, 1997). Gifted stu-dents, generally, are more task-oriented than nongifted stu-dents, who aremore other-referenced in academic and athleticcontexts (Schapiro, Schneider, Shore, Margison, & Udvari, inpress).A pivotal theory by Sullivan (1953) warned that competition

could be harmful to friendships, except among young boys. Re-search focus has shifted to the nature of competition. Com-petitive goal orientation, where the end result is mostimportant, has also been found to be a variable (Schapiro et al.,in press), and so students with task-oriented competitive goals,where the process of self-improvement is the main focus, havefewer friendship conflicts than those “seeking a win.” In giftedfriendships, having task-oriented competitive goals is also re-lated to greater friendship stability, perhaps due to gifted chil-dren being more sensitive to potential negative consequencesfrom competition based onwinning and losing. For gifted girls,friendly competition, rather than absence of competition, pre-dicts friendship stability more than other positive qualities suchas feelings of closeness or security.Gifted children identify fewer positive qualities in their

friendships (companionship, help, security, and closeness) thannongifted children (Schapiro et al., in press). Perhaps friend-ships between bright children require a smaller number of pil-lars supporting the friendship. We are not exactly sure why thisis true but we are exploring the possibility that gifted childrenhave friends for specific purposes—a friend to make musicwith, a friend to hang out with. Other children may seekbroader support from all their friendships.Also, gifted childrenmay be less easily swayed (less “field-de-

pendent”) by the influences of others (Shore, Hymovitch, & La-joie, 1982). Other children have comparably more transient ormalleable interests and are more inclined to adopt each oth-ers’ interests or hobbies. Gifted children, however, are charac-terized by very intense interests (Clark, 2007), the commitmentto which may enable them to retain more of their uniquenessthroughout the course of a friendship.

Big Ships, Small Ships, Friendships, and Competition:Things to ConsiderBY PETRA D.T.GYLES & BRUCE M. SHORE,MCGILL UNIVERSITY & BARRY H. SCHNEIDER, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE:

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Editor’s Note: The research in Gifted Child Quarterly (GCQ)provides insight into many aspects of gifted learners butmay be two or three degrees of separation from classroompractice. Here, Petra Gyles and others focus on friendshipand competition in the classroom, summarized from aSpring 2009 GCQ article by Dr. Bruce M. Shore and othersentitled, Competitive Goal Orientations, Quality, and Sta-bility in Gifted and Other Adolescents’ Friendships: A Testof Sullivan’s Theory about the Harm Caused by Rivalry.

Putting Research Into Practice

continued on page 19

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MMuchof the current research and prac-tice that addresses the achievement gapbetween whites or Asians on one sideand African Americans or Hispanics onthe other focuses on “treatment” ratherthan “prevention.” The problem typi-cally is diagnosed as low-achievementand the usual solution is some form ofremediation. The Center for Talent De-velopment (CTD) at Northwestern Uni-versity, a university-based center thathas specialized in the talent develop-ment of gifted students since 1982, cre-ated Project EXCITE in 2001 as anintervention program for talented mi-nority students that is primarily pre-ventative. CTD’s model is a “wraparound” approach that supplementsthe school curriculum and instruction.

Project EXCITEProject EXCITE is a collaboration in-

volving CTD and the elementary andhigh school districts serving students inEvanston, Illinois. Evanston has aracially and socio-economically diversepopulation (45% white, 40% AfricanAmerican, 13% Hispanic). One of theaspects of the achievement gap inEvanston that has long been a concernis the regression or “dumbing down” ofbright African American and Hispanicstudents as they advance through theelementary and middle school grades.The result has been a significant under-representation of minority students inthe honors or AP courses at EvanstonTownship High School.Project EXCITE specifically focuses on

student achievement in mathematics

and science. Collaborating with ele-mentary, middle, and high school teach-ers and administrators, the CTDDirector utilizes her extensive experi-ence in gifted education as well as theexpertise of the participating educatorsfrom the Evanston schools to develop aunique and innovative program. ProjectEXCITE provides supplementary edu-cational experiences for a select groupof bright African American and Hispanicstudents that expose the students to avariety of high-achieving peer groups,that enhance and develop the “scholaridentity” of these students, and that doso over an extended period of time be-ginning at a relatively early grade. Theprogram is now in its ninth year.Project EXCITE classes and support

sessions are held after school, on Satur-days, and during the summer. Theclasses and sessions are designed to en-rich and support the mathematics andscience learning of these students intheir schools. Some of the classes andsessions include only Project EXCITEstudents, others include high achievingstudents from Chicago-area schools, andthere are classes that include studentsfrom other states and foreign countries.The Project EXCITE model is a sub-

ject of continuous research and evalua-tion. After the students in the firstProject EXCITE cohort completed theeighth grade, exit interviews were con-ducted with them and their parents.Not only did these interviews confirmthat the Project EXCITE model holdspromise as a uniquely preventative so-lution to the achievement gap, but the

interviews also provide valuable in-sights to educators working with giftedminority students.

Reflections About Being anUnder-RepresentedMinority inGifted EducationMinority students are drastically

under-represented in gifted education,and so it is not uncommon to findgifted classes where there is only oneAfrican American or Hispanic child inattendance. To counteract this isolation,Project EXCITE creates cohorts of 20-25minority students at each grade level.These students take classes togetherwhere they build the confidence thatenables them to be successful in thegifted classes where they are under-rep-resented. Many minority gifted learnershave specific needs, including the op-portunity to observe and bond withother minority gifted learners as a wayof building self-esteem and to developthe necessary academic skills to main-tain their high performance in order toexcel in the regular classroom and inthe gifted education programs.When students from Project EXCITE

were asked about the most difficultchallenge of the program, getting upearly on Saturday mornings was themost popularly reported response.This account casts doubts on researchthat finds that many minority studentsshun academic excellence due to thefear of being rejected by peers andstruggle with the issue of isolation or“fewness” when placed in gifted educa-tion classes.

Project EXCITE: Implications forEducators of GiftedMinority StudentsBY MICHELLE REED,GEORGE PETERNEL, PAULA OLSZEWSKI-KUBILIUS &SEON-YOUNG LEE, CENTER FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENT,NORTHWESTERNUNIVERSITY

Editor’s note: In order to connect current research with quality classroom prac-tice, each issue of THP contains an article complementary to one found in thepages of Gifted Child Quarterly (GCQ).In the following article, Michelle Reed and her co-authors describe a compre-

hensive intervention mathematics and science program for gifted minority students at Northwestern University. The arti-cle is based on Dr. Seon-Young Lee and other’s Spring 2009 Gifted Child Quarterly article, A Follow-Up With Students AfterSix Years of Participation in Project EXCITE. Their discussion and insight provide a wealth of ideas for educators faced withidentification and programming issues.

The authors are all at theCenter forTal-ent Development at NorthwesternUniversity in Evanston, IL. MichelleReed is the Coordinator of Project EX-CITE; George Peternel is the Center’sAssociate Director; Paula Olszewski-Kubilius is theCenterDirector andPro-fessor of Education; and Seon-YoungLee is Research Assistant Professor.

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When students and their parents wereasked about “belonging” in the giftedprogram, this is what they had to say:

“I felt I belonged there. Althoughsometimes I felt that other kidswanted me to fail.”

“The one thing that impacted himthe most was staying on campusfor three weeks. He was justthrilled to meets kids from all overthe world. You know, just interact-ing with kids from different na-tionalities.”

Academic SupportsOne of the main goals of Project EX-

CITE is for the students in the programto complete Algebra I before enteringhigh school, a placement that puts themon a track to complete Calculus by theend of high school. Some of the stu-dents had been placed in acceleratedmathematics classes as sixth, seventh oreighth graders and were not immedi-ately successful, raising the question ofwhether or not they were still “gifted.”In turn, some teachers and even someparents questioned the abilities of thestudents who experienced difficultiesand requested that they be removedfrom the accelerated courses. The as-sumption that a gifted student will nothave any difficult moments in his/heraccelerated mathematics classes is erro-neous, but nonetheless one that is hardto extinguish.We also found that parents whose

children have struggled with an accel-erated mathematics course but whowant their children to continue withthat course are sometimes embarrassedby their child’s performance and conse-quently don’t ask for help. On the otherhand, we found that when regular tu-toring was provided to our students inaccelerated classes, success in thesecourses dramatically increased. In fact,one parent suggested that one way tomake Project EXCITE more effectivewould be to add more study groupsand study sessions.Another parent reported, “Tutoring. I

think we would like to tutor him as longas possible. The help was very good. Italso gave an opportunity to [work] withpeople from other cultural back-grounds.”

“And the wonderful thing aboutProject EXCITE is that it offers thesupport outside of the program it-self, which was very helpful in thatif they see a child with a weaknessthey strengthen it. So that…it’s anunbroken chain.”

Providing regular support to giftedminority students as they matriculatethrough the school system is essential tomaintaining high achievement and en-sures their success ingifted education pro-grams. Project EXCITEoffers regular supportto students on an indi-vidual basis and in su-pervised group studysessions. Minority stu-dents from the schooldistrict who are not apart of Project EXCITEare also invited to par-ticipate in these ses-sions. In addition toreceiving help in areaswhere students are ex-periencing difficulties,students are encour-aged to look ahead intheir lessons. The in-structors who super-vise these sessionsoften pre-teach diffi-cult topics that the stu-dents will encounter infuture lessons.Study groups are an

important componentof the tutoring ses-sions. The minoritystudents who are inthe accelerated mathcourses are especially encouraged toform study groups. They are urged towork together to solve difficult prob-lems and study for exams. These stu-dents are taught organization skills andnote-taking and test-taking strategies. Inaddition, the teachers and parents arecontacted to monitor student progressin the accelerated classes on a regularbasis.

ExpectationsThe students who make up Project

EXCITE come from diverse back-grounds that include varying socioeco-

nomic status and language competen-cies. Thus our approach to meeting theneeds of our diverse learners must beflexible and open to the idea of change.However, the one thing that must re-main constant is what we expect fromthese students. High expectations resultin high performance of the students.They have been identified as gifted and“hitting a wall” does not invalidate theirstatus. Parents and teachers must takean ongoing interest in what the stu-

dents are doing in school and in ourprogram and expect the best from thesestudents at all times. The interviewsconfirmed that teacher interest in theirstudent’s participation in Project EX-CITE meant a great deal to our studentsand their parents.

“I think for middle school, the ex-pectation was greater. The princi-pal, Mr. Hood, at the school,definitely expected these studentsin the Project EXCITE program, todo well. And if they fell short of theexpectations, he would call the par-

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ents in and let us know that he did-n’t think they were living up to theirtrue potential. So that was veryhelpful, not only to have the sup-port of the Project EXCITE teachers,but also in the middle schools.”

Researchers report that many whiteand Asian parents have their childrentested for gifted programs before thechildren are old enough to enterkindergarten. In addition, once they

reach school age, many of these chil-dren participate in advanced coursesduring the summers and on Saturdays.In contrast, many minority parents havelimited access to these programs andtheir children do not participate ingifted programs for various reasons. Wehave found that participation in ProjectEXCITE has raised the expectation lev-els that our parents have for their chil-dren and positively impacted theparent-child relationships.

“The biggest influence was that theprogram keeps them more atten-tive and focused on school sub-jects. She was spending more time

studying. The more she learnedthe more interested she was in herschool subjects. I think that Proj-ect EXCITE gave her a clear andbetter perspective about school.”

“It has changed our relationship ina positive sense, in that I expectRichard to do well, because I knowthat he has the ability to do well.It’s not just an emerging ability atthis point; it’s an ability that has

been fostered by the Proj-ect EXCITE program.”

The Importance ofSupplemental Learn-ing ExperiencesProject EXCITE students

are provided with a six-yearseries of mathematics andscience enrichment opportu-nities that total over 400hours of supplemental edu-cational experiences. Thisprogram provides studentswith early exposure to chal-lenging topics in math andscience. In grades threethrough six, all lessons aredesigned to be both handson and stimulating to gainstudent interest and to en-courage high achievement.In grades 6–8 students re-ceive an introduction to APandHonors coursework. TheProject EXCITE students aresuccessful in these classesand report feeling more pre-pared for the advancedclasses where there would be

fewer minority students.

“The fact that we take classes thatwe are going to be doing next year,we are kind of ahead of everybodyelse is really helpful. We have a bet-ter understanding of the subjectareas than others.”

“Summer classes will tie into whatyou are going to do for the nextwhole year. You are seeing a full,whole year in three weeks, andthat is giving you a chance to seewhat it [subject area] will be likein school. After the Saturdayclasses, you’re probably like five or

six chapters ahead of the regularscience group in school.”

Exposure to Experiences thatElevate Student AspirationsBecause our families spend so many

hours on the Northwestern Universitycampus, Project EXCITE families tendto think about college more frequentlyand a lot earlier than the average par-ent. These families experienced earlyexposure and preparation for the col-lege admissions process. Most studentsspent at least one summer as a residenton campus. All students completed ad-missions essays and solicited letters ofrecommendation from teachers. Theydeveloped an understanding of theneed to develop positive relationshipswith teachers and some learned all toowell how negative classroom experi-ences from the past can have lingeringconsequences in future endeavors.Success in Project EXCITE boosts the

self-esteem of our students and hasgiven both the parents and the studentsa very bright outlook for the future.Parents reported that: “I think, just thethought of being in a gifted programand its association with Northwesternwas a great boost to his self-esteem. Itpulls from within him, that he has theability. And this project certainly nur-tured that ability to do best.”

“As he enters high school, I thinkthe expectation that he has forhimself, goes beyond just thenorm. The goal that he has set forhimself is higher. The bar has beenraised, through the Project EXCITEprogram. So it’s maintaining andachieving that goal, and evengoing beyond.”

ConclusionProject EXCITE positively impacts both

the academic and social development ofgifted minority students, and connectsthem to a world of high expectations andenhanced possibilities. The interviewswere not only a useful research tool, butalso revealed themes that are importantnot only for supplemental programs likeProject EXCITE, but also for daily in-struction in school classrooms. �

Referencehttp://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/excite/

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WWhatchilddoesn’twant to be good at something? Most youngand elementary aged children want to be noticed and notable.Art and music teachers can provide extra challenges for theirstudents, but how often do children have the chance to be rec-ognized for their talents in the performing arts? Howmany stu-dents even know they might be interested in, much lesstalented in, dance or drama?Most school districts do not employ dance and drama teach-

ers. Who then, is looking out for students with interest and po-tential talent in dance and drama? Some districts requirephysical education teachers to incorporate their state’s dancestandards in their lessons, usually in some form of creativemovement. These “movement arts” awaken kinesthetic aware-ness and allow interest and talent to surface.In modeling dance lessons for physical education teachers

for 1st and 2nd grades, I developed a lesson that I call “Oppo-site Dances.”

� The teacher says, “Now that we’ve brainstormed oppositewords (up–down, left–right, out–in, forward–backward), we’llcreate opposite postures to the rhythm of the music.” Theteacher demonstrates by rising up on the toes while the stu-dent demonstrator faces the teacher and bends the knees. Afterthat first movement they both return to the neutral position,standing straight. Then the teacher bends at the knees whilethe partner stands on tiptoes. This is repeated 3 or 4 times.

� Next the whole class follows the teacher but with oppositemovements. If the teacher bends forward, the class bends back-ward, and vice-versa. This is repeated 3 or 4 times.

� Finally students pair up and create several different oppo-site movements. One studentmightmake a shapewith arms onone side while the partner does the opposite shape on theother side. If one student moves an arm up, the partner movesthe opposite arm down. I choose music that is not too quickand fits a definite 3 or 4 beat measure or pattern. Music forCreative Dance CD’s (Chappelle, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000) arevery helpful in this regard.What about drama? How can we awaken and identify dra-

matic talent in regular classrooms? In a grant directed by Dr.Susan Baum (Baum, Emerick, Herman & Dixon, 1989) de-signed to identify and serve gifted-learning disabled students,I worked with special education teachers to identify dramaticinterest and talent through a series of drama activities that arerelated to literature. Here’s one example we used involvingkings and queens.

� In “King of this Land” one child becomes the king orqueen. The student says, “I am King (Queen) of this land” threetimes while changing his/her voice (louder, softer, quicker,slower, more forceful, more youthful, older, or accented). The

student stands in the middleof the circle or in the front ofthe classroom, makes eyecontact with as many peopleas possible, and assumesroyal postures and gestures.

� After saying the sentencethree times, another child ischosen to tap the first kingand say, “Excuse me. Theremust be some mistake. I amQueen of this land.”

� All students say, “Of course!” Then the new Queen states,“I am Queen of this land” two more times.After students learn the procedure for the creative character

exercise, the character can be changed to one related to thecurriculum. It could be a giant, fisherman, or any folktale ani-mal; it could also be a person from a novel or short story.From this activity, students create character voices, postures,

and gestures and begin to “see” the characters better as theyread. Teachers observe the students who pick up on nuances ofmood, tones of voices, and ways of moving. Students showwhat they understand about the essence of a character throughdramatic expression, and talents are noted. Teachers can use ajournal or checklist (Herman, 1991, p. 77) to keep track of out-standing contributions from students. These can then be dis-cussed during parent conferences or in a simple note home.Parents as well as students love to know that you notice theirchild’s strengths, and teachers can offer resources for parentsto explore opportunities outside of schoolStudents begin to awaken their kinesthetic abilities and use

their kinesthetic intelligence when involved in activities requir-ing physical attention, namelyDance andDrama. Teachers beginto recognize studentswho demonstrate exceptional interest andskill in these areas and who also demonstrate creativity by find-ingmanyways to represent concepts with their bodies.Why notinfuse some of these ideas into your classroom today? �

ReferencesBaum, S., Emerick, L., Herman,G., & Dixon, J. (1989). Identification, pro-grams and enrichment strategies for gifted learning disabled youth.Roeper Review 12(1), 48-53.

Chappelle, E. (1993, 1994, 1998, 2000).Music for creative dance:Contrast& continuum. (Vols. I, II, III, IV). Seattle,WA: Ravenna Ventures.

Herman,G. (1991). Identification activities in dramatic expression. In S.M.Baum,S.V.Owen,& J.Dixon (Eds.),Tobe gifted& learning disabled:Fromidentification to practical intervention strategies (pp.76-78).MansfieldCenter, CT: Creative Learning Press.

ARTS: MINDS IN MOTION

Finding and Developing Dance & Dramatic TalentBY GAIL N.HERMAN,GARRETT [email protected]

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FFor most students, their introduction to algebra is the be-ginning of their transition from concrete to abstract mathe-matical thought. Students who have done well in earlymathematics classes may find this shift difficult and may evenquestion their mathematical talents. It is important to sharewith students the historical development of mathematics sothat they know every concept now taught was the result ofstruggle, hard work, and debate. For example, the negativenumbers debate lasted more than 200 years. In 1843 Bussetattributed the failure of the teaching of mathematics inFrance to the admission of negative quantities. He felt com-pelled to declare that such mental aberrations could preventgifted minds from studying mathematics (Schubring, 2005,p. 571). Knowing that the entire mathematical communitystruggled with the concepts validates the struggles our stu-dents face. Yet all too often that information is not sharedwith students or teachers.The formula for finding roots to a quadratic equation

is one of the landmark Algebra 1 formulas. A

review of current Algebra 1 textbooks found the concept in-troduced somewhere after page 500, often simply as a state-ment of the formula with a few worked examples. Inpresenting it this way, students miss the richness of the math-ematical thought that preceded the formula. The Greeks,Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hindus all contributed to Alge-bra and it was the Arabic mathematician, al-Khwarizmi whosebook, al-Kitab al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr w’almuqabalaor The Compendious Book on Calculation by Competitionand Balancing, that introduced Algebra to the Europeancommunity when it was translated into Latin in 1140 as Liberalgebrae et alumcabala. The word algebra comes from theArabic al-jabr and the Latin algebrae.In the text al-Khwarizmi describes his solution for the prob-

lem x2 + 10x = 39 as follows:…a square and 10 roots are equal to 39 units…take one-

half of the roots just mentioned…multiplied by itself gives25, an amount which you add to 39 giving 64. Having takenthe square root of this, which is 8, subtract from it half theroots, 5 leaving 3. The number 3 represents one root of thissquare. (see http://turnbull.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Al-Khwarizmi.html for the complete description).The number of roots refers to the coefficient of the x term,

in this case 10. Symbolically, al-Khwarizmis’ paragraph re-duces to o r . This formula can be

traced back to the Babyloni-ans in 1700 B.C. (Allaire &Bradley, 2001).At this point some of your

students may claim this is all“algiberish” but notice thatthere is no formula used orequation written in al-Khwarizmi’s solution. The algebra thatis taught today did not exist, yet such problems were rou-tinely solved. Many of the solution methods were developedgeometrically. This is the history behind teaching today’s stu-dents to solve quadratic equations by completing the square.The term literally means “completing a square,” yet is ofteninterpreted as simply a technique to create an equation ofthe form x2 = y. By leaving out the historical piece, the beautyand elegance of the mathematics is reduced to a set of rulesto be memorized.In today’s classroom, to solve x2 + 10x = 39 by complet-

ing the square students would add to both sides of the

equation resulting in which simplifies

to (x+ 5)2 = 64 with x = 3 being the positive root (negativeroots were still a few centuries in the future).Using the geometric method, it might have been solved in

the following manner. Theequation x2 + 10x can be rep-resented by the shaded area inthe diagram. We know that areaof the shaded portion is 39. Thedimensions of each 5x rectangleare 5 and x giving us the sidesof the unshaded square of 5units. The sides of the newsquare are now (x+5) and itsarea is 39 + 25, or 64. We havecompleted the square and weknow the area is (x + 5)2 = 64. The London artist, MartinDace, has a brief webpage that illustrates the geometricmethod at http://www.dace.co.uk/al_khwarizmi.htm alongwith an elegant development of the formula we teach inschool.We need to return to the origin of mathematics and share

with our students the opportunity to explore the develop-ment of the discipline. This is not an easy task, as such op-portunities are not often provided to K-12 students. It is,

iMATH INATION

Back to our Roots: Exploring theDevelopment of MathematicsBY ERIC L.MANN, PURDUE [email protected]

x2 5x

5x 25

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however, a journey well worth taking. To get started, checkout Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History ofMath published by Key Curriculum Press (1996), orhttp://www.herkimershideaway.org/ for more resources. �

ReferencesAllaire, P. R., & Bradley, R. E. (2001).Geometric approaches to quadraticequations from other times and places. Mathematics Teacher, 94,308-319.

Schubring,G. (2005).Conflicts between generalization, rigor,and intuition:Number concepts underlying the development of analysis in 17–19thcentury France and Germany. NewYork: Springer.

Gifted in the Newshttp://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=1003

Gifted children, their families, and their teachers are mak-ing news and are the subjects of news and features in themedia around the country every day.NAGC collects andposts daily updates of “gifted” in the news as well as anarchive going back two years, given accessibility.

S M A R TCOOKIES

BY BESSWILSON

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of Pokémon strategy will agree that anin-depth study into what interests achild has no real limits. I think of thislayer as the many “hats” that can bedonned in any given content. For myreading unit, I decided that studentscan don the hat of a literary critic, par-ticularly because any discussion of lit-erature from the curriculum, and inparticular young adult literature,would be incomplete without a niceslice of the canon wars. My studentscome into my senior-level class readyto don the literary critic hat, after all,and it gives me a great lead-in to dis-cussions of the purpose of schoolingand, in particular, the purpose ofteaching literature (Brauer & Clark,2008; Goodlad & McMannon, 1997).I have to admit

that, up until now,I have differenti-ated before withmethods muchlike the twoabove, but never,before Kaplan’slectures, have Ibeen so very sys-tematic, namingwhat I’m doing“differentiation”and claiming whyit is such in mymethods classesor even in thef reshman- leve lclasses I teach.Likewise, never have I taken it to an-other layer, Kaplan’s third, and I assertone of the most transformative, called“independent study.” Quite simply,you’ve never seen independent studylike this before. Far from the old “Oh,you’re finished? Go and research thison the computer…” routine that giftedkids and parents know all-too-well, Ka-plan’s independent study actually hasteeth, meaning, extension—and all, Ibelieve, through her use of structureand guiding principles for how to takethinking like a disciplinarian one stepfarther. While I won’t give the princi-ples here (believe me, you’ll want toread her work yourself), I will say that,

in my classes I’ve decided to includeonly the parameters of the products tobe produced from the independentstudy in each unit. Kaplan does notnecessarily add that parameter, so thatone is particular to me—probably, ifI’m honest, to satisfy national guide-lines about artifacts that should repre-sent knowledge of best practices inteaching English. If you’re a teacher,you too might know a little about na-tional mandates, standards, artifacts…we’ll leave it there. The exhilaratingthing for me is that the Kaplan con-ceptual framework works in tandemwith these aspects of my reality andyours.

Classics, Current Events, Con-cepts: Adding the“SoWhat?”Ok, here’s where English teachers

far and wide get excited, and for any-one who loves to stretch kids, you

should get excited, too. Kaplan’s nextlayer involves an infusion of the clas-sics into each unit of study. You meanthere’s a text in this class? Oh yes, andnot just any text, but what for ageshas been considered top shelf. LikeKaplan, I too preface my enthusiasmby a long discussion of what is classicversus what is plain elitist, and believeme; neither of us seems remotely in-terested in the latter. But the thoughtof studying Plato’s Republic in a uniton how to teach reading is just rich-ness beyond words for me and mystudents. For years, my students and Ihave all secretly held book discus-sions, teasers, even seminars on the

A FunnyThing Happened…continued from page 1

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fringes of my Teaching English course,justifying them as related to readingwhen what we all mourned was theloss of an experience that brought usto teaching English in the first place—discussing relevant and rich literaturearound a theme or author of interest.Kaplan’s work sets us free in that re-gard, offering a pedagogical justifica-tion for gathering around a text indepth—once we’ve learned the con-tent, the depth and complexity, the dis-ciplinary paradigms, and the disciplineof independent study. At this point inher framework, Kaplan also adds cur-rent events, again something that manyof us have done, except in a not-so-systematic way. The interesting thing tome about adding current events as alayer of differentiation is not that thecurrent events in that unit/field/as-pect/“part” of study take studentsaway from the center of the classroominstruction—kind of out-into-the-big-relevant-world as I’m sure my past at-tempts have translated. Rather, addingcurrent events here brings studentsfarther in to the study by framing thecurrent events in terms of Kaplan’s“universal concepts” and “big ideas”that have been implicitly driving thishorse all along. With this layer added,I have realized that Kaplan’s work can-not possibly be compartmentalized.Kaplan argues that either before break-ing a differentiated course into con-tent, adding depth and complexity,adding disciplinary thought and soon—or even after teachers havethought all that through—they mustcome to choose a universal conceptand big idea that flows out of that con-cept that meshes, glues, ties, gels (picka metaphorical verb!) the students’ ed-ucational experience together. Thankgoodness for us, Kaplan has developedover time both a list of universal con-cepts and a list of big ideas that she hasfound to work in a host of educationalcontexts. For my methods class, Ichose “relationships,” with the bigideas that “relationships are purpose-ful,” to yet again reiterate to my un-dergraduates that teaching English isindeed a juggling act, but one muchmore like juggling spaghetti thanplates. Indeed, the dearth of pedagog-ical textbooks that highlight the crucialsymbiotic relationships in the study of

English gives me even more motivationto choose that big idea as my mantra.And there you have it! Kaplan’s frame-

work makes me come full circle, notonly by creating an umbrella over mysyllabus and semester of timeless andtimely concepts within which my stu-dents can frame all the various aspectsof teaching English, but also by forcingme to realize an awful truth: my teach-ing, even in some ways (I hate to admit)my understanding, of differentiated in-struction has been metaphorically half-empty. I look at my syllabus now asmore of a real roadmap to the course,and I see the potential for all studentsin our classrooms to learn much morein-depth and at a level that both fits andchallenges them. I hope they emergewith an experience that is different, notbecause it differs from the standard de-livery, but because they have molded itto fit their needs and interests at everylayer. Be they elementary, middle, orsecondary, I so hope that classroomteachers both present and future cantransform their ideas of differentiating

instruction in the same, remarkableways. �

References and Readings for Further StudyBrauer,L.,& Clark,C.T. (2008).The trouble is Eng-lish: Reframing English studies in secondaryschools.English Education,40(4), 293-313.

Dewey, J. (1913). Interest and effort in education.NewYork:Houghton Mifflin.

Dewey,J. (1916).Democracy and education.NewYork:Macmillan.

Gardner,H. (1983).Frames of mind. NewYork:Basic Books.

Goodlad, J., & McMannon,T. J. (Eds.). (1997).Thepublic purpose of education and schooling.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kaplan, S. (1974). Providing programs for thegifted and talented:A handbook.workingdraft.Ventura, CA:Office of Ventura CountySuperintendent of Schools.

Kaplan, S. (2008).Theory and practice: Curricu-lum and instruction for educators.http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~skaplan/index.html

Kaplan, S. (2008).Proceedings from Confratute2008. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

King-Shaver, B., & Hunter, A. (2003).Differenti-ated instruction in the English classroom.

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Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.Renzulli, J. S. (1976).The enrichment triadmodel: A guide for developing defensibleprograms for the gifted and talented.GiftedChild Quarterly,20, 303-326.

Renzulli, J. S. (1977).The enrichment triadmodel: A guide for developing defensibleprograms for the gifted and talented.Mans-field Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Renzulli, J. S. (1978).What makes giftedness?Re-examining a definition.Phi Delta Kap-pan,60, 180-184, 261.

Renzulli, J.S.,Gubbins,E. J.,McMillen,K.S.,Eck-ert, R.D., & Little, C.A. (Eds.). (2008).Systemsandmodels for developing programs for thegifted and talented.Mansfield Center, CT:Creative Learning Press.

Renzulli, J. S., & Reis, S.M. (1997).The school-wide enrichmentmodel: A how-to guidefor educational excellence.Mansfield Center,CT: Creative Learning Press.

Tomlinson, C., Kaplan, S., Renzulli, J. S., PurcellJ.H., Leppien J.H., Burns D. E., Strickland, C.A., & Imbeau M.B. (2008).The parallel cur-riculum: a design to develop learner potentialand challenge advanced learners (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Write for THPDo you havepracticalclassroomapplicationsof currentresearch,theory, andbest practices in thefield of gifted edu-cation? Are youproud of the in-novative wayyou address the needs ofgifted students in your schoolor classroom? Have you cre-ated a successful lesson orunit plan that aligns with theNAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 GiftedProgram Standards? If so, wewant to hear from you! Sendmanuscripts to: Jeff S.Danielian, Editor, THP [email protected].

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IIhave always been fascinated with pourquoi tales. In my earlyyouth,my favorite aunt gaveme a book of them. Its title long for-gotten and the book is long lost. Recently, the publication ofthree new books has prompted a renewed interest in these de-lightful andmulticultural tales. In fact, these tales of “why some-thing is” may very well be the first, popular multiculturalliterature for children. Many of these tales are traced back to Na-tive Americans and their rich and wonderful oral tradition andstorytelling skills.Pourquoi tales are probably popular because of the natural

and insatiable curiosity of kids, especially gifted kids. If you area parent, then you know what I mean: “Daddy, why is…”—thequestion that almost drove you to insanity. It happens in theclassroom, too. That is one of the reasons why I used these sto-ries in my gifted language arts classroom, because, as I told mystudents’ parents, this is our revenge. After reading several ofthese stories, discussing them, analyzing the common pattern(simple plots, rather stereotypical, personified animal charac-ters, and all with a lesson or a truth), we then set out to writeour own pourquoi tales. Some of my students’ best writingcame from this exercise. I especially remember one gifted sixth-grade writer, a young lady, who took up the idea of “why grassdidn’t grow around the trees on city streets.” This was promptedby a phrase in Diane Duane’s wonderful short story, “MidnightSnack” found inDonGallo’s collection of young adult literatureshort stories, Sixteen (Mass Market Paperback, 1985). This is awonderful collection, and contains one of my favorite read-alouds, “Priscilla and The Wimps” by Richard Peck. It is veryamusing while at the same time presents a significant lessonabout bullies and gangs. If you don’t know Sixteen, RUN, don’twalk, to the nearest book store or website and get your copy.Back to the books that have re-prompted my interest in

pourquoi tales. The first is FolktaleThemes and Activities for Children, Vol-ume 1: Pourquoi Tales by Anna MarieKraus (Teacher Ideas Press, 1998); thesecond is How & Why Stories by MarthaHamilton (August House, 1999). Thesebooks make a great team. The first is arather good collection of tales with back-ground, traces to origin, etc., and the sec-ond book is a great guide for storytelling.It, too, provides tales with some interest-ing background information as well. Itssuggestions for helping students to be-come storytellers are really valuable.I also have found that pourquoi tales

are getting a new twist in several currentpicture books, which brings us to the

third new book: Firstthe Egg by Laura Vac-caro Seeger (RoaringBrook Press, 2007).This delightful bookhas been named asboth a CaldecottHonor Book and aTheodore SeussGeisel Honor Bookin 2007. Its twist onthe old conundrumof which came first,the chicken or theegg, is delightful. You have to discover the plot for yourself—presented visually with very limited text. This book now bringsto mind another book. I know, I know, this is the fourth book—but hey! I’m a word guy not a numbers guy! One of my veryfavorite picture book authors, David Macaulay, gave us Whythe Chicken Crossed the Road (Houghton Mifflin, 1987). It’shard to find, but well worth the effort.Pourquoi tales readily lead our students into some exciting

writing. As I mentioned above, some of my students’ best writ-ing came out of this exercise. But don’t sell these tales short (ac-tually this pun was intended) on the opportunities for bothcritical and creative thinking. If nothing else, they can lead ourstudents into an inquiry and investigation of why cultures acrossthe world have nearly the same or very similar stories. I see re-search opportunities here and a great subject for independentstudy.Let me knowwhat you and your students are doing with pic-

ture books in your classroom. Happy reading! �

Pourquoi TalesBY BOB SENEY,MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY [email protected]

BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS

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AAs I’m writing this column, Old Man Winter has decided toblanket Northwest Ohio with ten inches of snow. It’s a newyear, and having a little solitude provides the opportunity to re-flect on previous experiences and encounters. Here’s an ex-cerpt from a letter I received in the holiday mail from a recentlygraduated teacher education student:Hi Dr. Bob, it’s me, Jamie. I took your advice and broad-

ened my horizons—getting my first teaching job in FortWorth, Texas, in of all things, gifted education! Even thoughour paths crossed during my training as a middle gradesteacher, I just wanted to let you know that the discussions wehad in class about the individual needs of learners really hadan impact on me. I was always pretty quiet in class; just tak-ing things in, but for some reason you always involvedme inthe conversations. You were the first teacher I’ve ever had thatrecognized there was more than meets the eye when it comesto students. You didn’t just let us sit still and go on autopilot.You demanded the best out of me and pushed me to thinkabout more than test scores and covering the standards. Infact, I learned that the standards were anything but!

I have now taken up your cause of fighting for the kidsmost ignored in schools. Those special children who chal-lenge the system, know more than me, and often teach meas much as I hope I can teach them. (I’m pretty sure they areteaching me more at this point in my career as a first yearteacher!) I just love it. The way the kids “correct” me when Iget a fact wrong, or the way they add what they know aboutsubjects (and they know a lot!). It keeps me on my toes everyday. But, the biggest surprise happened just after Thanks-giving break. I was being evaluated by the principal. Thekids rallied around me and made sure they built off any-thing I said so I looked brilliant. My evaluation was stellarand I thanked the kids for being so good. Here’s the kicker.A boy in my class (which is self-contained 5/6th graders),said the only reason the kids rallied around me was thatthey finally had me broken in and didn’t want to have to gothrough that process again with another newbie!What a wonderful dose of reality. I thought you would

enjoy knowing that everything you said about gifted kids isexactly on the mark. I thought teaching would be where I

have control; but, just like you said, I have tonegotiate for everything in class. Control ex-ists totally in the hands of the students.All I can say is, “Jamie, welcome to the world

of gifted kids!” They’ll be brutally honest (whichthey see as being helpful!) but totally on themark at all times (at least they’ll tell you this verysincerely!). You are now on the best and possiblymost terrifying roller coaster ride of your life.You will learn the most from the kids you sharespace and place with in your classroom. Listenwith your heart as well as your head. Understandthat open communication and sharing informa-tion is a sign of trust. Be gracious with yourpraise and also humble and honest. When youdon’t know an answer, say so. Don’t make some-thing up or turn the question around and put itback on the student. Share your emotional stateof being from time to time. The kids gain respectfor you if you are honest and consistent.Enjoy the peaks and valleys of your ride. I’m

somewhere back further on the roller coaster,enjoying the death-defying drops and mind-numbing climbs right along with you; learningas much from gifted and talented kids as I hopethey learn from me.I am sure that most of you, whether a veteran

teacher or new to a school, can relate to the letter Ireceived.We have all been there, orwill be soon.�

ATeacher’s Eyes OpenedBY BOB SCHULTZ, UNIVERSITY OF [email protected]

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

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WWhenIentered the teaching professionten years ago, my motivation was to fol-low in the footsteps of many of my highschool teachers and coaches who,whether they know it or not, were verysignificant role models in my life. I be-came certified in secondary social sci-ences and dreamed of a career teachingand coaching in a high school environ-ment similar to the one I attended.When I began to apply for teaching po-sitions, I realized that jobs in my fieldwere not plentiful at the mid-point ofthe school year, when I finished myteaching program. Eager to begin mycareer, I accepted a job at a local schoolserving students with severe emotionaland behavioral disabilities (SEBD). I re-member telling one of my new col-leagues, “I am only going to work hereuntil I can get a ‘real’ teaching job.”Ten years later, I am still there, and

would never consider teaching any-where else. Although I entered theteaching profession with of a love of so-cial sciences and athletics, I have foundthat in this setting, I am able to have asignificant impact on students’ lives.More importantly, I have come to viewstudents from this population in amuch different perspective. What I sawas deficits in academic and social func-tioning, I now see in many cases is un-tapped gifted potential. This potentialhas been hidden beneath layers of prej-udice, poverty, abuse, neglect, inap-propriate curriculum and instruction,and decades of misconceptions aboutwhat constitutes high ability. Here, I de-scribe my experiences in working withBilly, a very bright student with SEBD.

The First MeetingBilly was a 12-year-old Caucasian

sixth grader who was referred to myschool due to behavior problems thatincluded being disruptive in class, re-fusing to follow directions, talking backto teachers, verbally and physically

threatening students, using profanity,and making inappropriate sexual com-ments to teachers. When I met Billy, heappeared to be well-mannered and in-troduced himself properly by lookingme directly in the eye, extending a firmhandshake, and displaying a friendlysmile. Despite his disheveled hair, tat-tered clothing, and worn-out sneakers,Billy was a charming and handsomeyoung man.When I learned that a white student

from a rural school system would be ar-riving in my classroom, I was con-cerned about how well he would getalong with my current students, all ofwhom were urban African Americanyoungsters. I was afraid they would notaccept each other, and frankly, Ithought that I would be spending a lotof time breaking upfights. To my sur-prise, Billy walkedinto my room and in-troduced himself tomy students in a verydifferent mannerfrom the way he hadintroduced himself tome, but in a way thatgained him immedi-ate acceptance and admiration. Withinminutes Billy and my students werelaughing and joking with each otherand I quickly surmised that Billy notonly had a great sense of humor, butalso was very charismatic. I wonderedwhat other surprises Billy had in storefor me.

Understanding and AdaptingStudent Abilities and LearningStylesOur school psychologist adminis-

tered reading and math assessments toBilly to determine his ability levels sothat we could plan instruction andplace him in the appropriate readingand math groups. From Billy’s school

records, we learned that his overall IQscore was firmly in the average rangeand we were amazed to see him readon an 11th-grade level and performmath operations and computations ona 9th-grade level. Billy’s school recordsand files made no mention of high abil-ity or gifted potential. Like so many stu-dents with behavior problems, hisinterfering behaviors and conduct in-fractions seemed to overshadow hisstrengths.In my classroom Billy finished as-

signments in a fraction of the time ittook other students. Not used to stu-dents with this speed and productivity,I found myself initially unprepared andlearned that giving him a greater quan-tity of work only resulted in boredom

and increased the incidence of inter-fering behaviors. Having been trainedin regular and special education, I wasnot exposed to gifted instruction orprogramming. I did not know whatcurriculum compacting was at the time,but I found myself doing just that. I al-lowed Billy to work at his own paceand skip units in which he was able toprove mastery. This worked great formath where I was able to give Billy apre-Algebra book and let him work in-dependently. This strategy not onlyprovided him some much needed con-fidence and positive recognition, but italso became a motivator for other stu-dents who were quite competent inmath but had lost interest with what

Teaching Billy:Motivating a High-Potential Student with Emotionaland Behavioral DifficultiesBY DEREK DAVIS, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Derek Davis has been a special edu-cation teacher for more than 12 years.He is currently the special educationcoordinator for W.R. Coile MiddleSchool in Athens, GA, and is workingon a doctorate degree in Gifted andCreative Education at the University ofGeorgia.

What I saw as deficitsin academic and

social functioning, Inow see in manycases is untapped

gifted potential.

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they perceived as dull instruction andboring repetition. When one of my un-derachieving math students asked,“Why can’t I do algebra?” I told himthat as soon as he demonstrated com-petence of the pre-requisite skills hewould also be individually accelerated.This motivated many of the students towork harder. When several of my stu-

dents began to improve assignmentcompletion and accuracy, I plannedbasic algebra lessons for them.Despite the fact that several students

needed some scaffolding and remedia-tion of the basic computation skills foralgebra, they were motivated to workhard at something they felt made themappear successful to their peers. Due toBilly’s social acceptance in the classand his high ability, I found him to beboth a great motivator and tutor forother students. This provided Billy withanother positive outlet for his academicabilities and personality, which had notbeen made available to him in his reg-ular school.Compacting Billy’s reading instruc-

tion was not quite as easy. Due to theremedial nature of the school’s aca-demic program, there was no readingclass that could accommodate Billy’s11th-grade abilities. We attempted tomodel the same arrangement we used

for math but found that, due to limitedstaff resources, the direct instructionaspect of our reading program did notlend itself to peer tutoring and or men-toring and instead we were forced toplace Billy in a reading group. It didnot take long for the disruptive behav-ior to begin. Billy was not challengedand quickly resorted to teasing other

students, making fun of their mistakes,and talking back to his teachers. We re-alized that we needed to do somethingdifferent.

Developing a Learning PlanOur treatment team met with Billy to

determine what could be done to mo-tivate him to behave appropriately inreading. Our school uses a token rein-forcement behavior management sys-tem that allows students to purchasesecondary re-enforcers such as food,drinks, pens, pencils, and toys. Thiswas not working with Billy as he wasnot motivated by these types of re-wards. We asked Billy to fill out a wishlist of things he liked to do and thingshe would be willing to work for. Welearned that he loved to play basketballand play the drums. We drew up a con-tract for Billy that allowed him to pur-chase time to do these activities withthe positive points he would earn for

proper behavior in reading. We also al-lowed Billy to create his own interest-based reading list. Since Billy washaving occasional episodes of impul-sive profane language and was becom-ing argumentative with some of histeachers, we included these behaviorsin the contract and allowed Billy tocarry sports and music magazines withhim to class to serve as reminders ofour arrangement.

Response to the PlanBilly gradually improved his behav-

ior and reduced his profane language.He enjoyed his self-selected reading as-signments and became very helpfulwith the other students. We learned tobe patient as Billy endured the chal-lenges that accompanied his progress.There were several occasions where hewas unable to participate in his pre-ferred activities due to his poor behav-ior. When he realized that he was notgoing to be able to renegotiate theterms of the arrangement, somethingthat he seemed to do with ease in hishome school, he quickly improved andbecame a model student.Billy’s continued success was de-

pendent upon constant monitoring.His academic and behavioral programrequired frequent modifications. Therecognition and acceptance he re-ceived by helping other students hadgiven him a tremendous boost in con-fidence as well as minimized his prob-lem behaviors. We noticed that Billy’saltruistic efforts were having a positiveeffect on other students. Billy neededto continue to be challenged academi-cally on a level we had never experi-enced in our alternative school.Besides compacting his curriculumand allowing him numerous opportu-nities for self-selected assignments, wealso found it useful to enlist Billy’s as-sistance in everyday classroom taskssuch as running errands within theschool, photocopying, assisting teach-ers with bulletin boards, and helpingyounger children.

Outcomes and ReflectionsOne of the most rewarding aspects

of working in a school like mine is thatyou get to see students begin to enjoyschool again. I enjoyed watching thishappen for Billy. He was no longer the

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class clown or bad kid in the princi-pal’s office. He was an important partof my class and our school, and heknew it. He was successful academi-cally, socially, and behaviorally. He hadmade many new friends and was hav-ing positive, appropriate interactionswith adults.

Regardless of what a teacher accom-plishes in modifying instruction, pro-gramming, and curriculum, the impactof a positive, supportive adult rela-tionship can never be underestimated.Billy now has several supportiveadults who are fond of him, and he

knows it. Billy’s academic and behav-ioral success has been stable and con-sistent enough that he is now ready tosee if he can transfer what he haslearned back to his home school, theultimate goal of our program. Billy isnervous but excited. The transitionfrom our school to his home school

will be gradual sothat Billy can main-tain his important re-lationships andreceive the academicand behavioral sup-port he will need ashe attempts to meetthe demands of a reg-ular middle school.We are communicat-ing and collaborating

with his new teachers so they can beproactive in continuing the modifica-tions that have helped Billy change hisbehavior and feel good about being inschool again.We are excited and hopeful that

Billy is ready to return to his home

school, but we are also sad to knowthat he eventually will be gone fromour school. That is the bittersweetirony of teaching in such a setting. Weexperience the exhilaration of achild’s success and happiness, only tohave to say goodbye if we are success-ful. As difficult as it is to say goodbyeto this talented student from whomI’ve learned so much, I eagerly awaitthe next Billy. �

For Further ReadingBianco,M. (2005).The effects of disability labelson special education and general educationteachers' referrals for gifted programs.Learn-ing Disability Quarterly,28, 285-293.

Morrison,W.F. (2001).Emotional/behavioral disabilities and gifted and talented behaviors:Paradoxical or semantic differences in char-acteristics? Psychology in the Schools, 38(5),425.

Winebrenner, S. (1992).Teaching gifted kids inthe regular classroom: Strategies and tech-niques every teacher can use tomeet the aca-demic needs of the gifted and talented.Min-neapolis,MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

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Like so many studentswith behavior problems,his interfering behaviorsand conduct infractionsseemed to overshadow

his strengths.

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MSupport Creativity: 5Ways toMake a DifferenceBY SUZANNA E.HENSHON, FLORIDA GULF COAST [email protected]

SUBJECT MATTERS

Meeting the needs of creative students can pose quite a chal-lenge. After all, the majority of time spent in the classroomusually involves teaching skills that enable the class to passthe next standardized test. Yet children must also learn to de-velop their creativity. To deny this element of the educationalexperience will deprive the world of thousands of brilliantideas and innovative products. While it is sometimes difficultto see the benefit of creativity in a practical sense, giving chil-dren the freedom to dream is one hallmark of the Americaneducational experience.When creativity is valued in your classroom, children will

see that developing new ideas is as important as under-standing factual information.These guidelines not only seek to have you understand the

needs of creative students, but also offer suggestions for en-couraging and inviting creative thought.

Children should be encouraged to think outsidethe box.Many children enter school as budding artists, writ-

ers, and dreamers, but these creative activities are often stag-nant or non-existent by junior high. Unfortunately, the schooltesting culture encourages teachers to instruct and to teach tothe upcoming standardized test. Teachers often encourage“right” answers over multiple responses, even if divergentthinking might allow for a more optimal solution. When stu-dents are assessed and graded on drawing and writing skillswith a strict rubric, they become more self-conscious abouttheir work, and focus less on their creative abilities. Usingbrainstorming techniques in your classroom encourages mul-tiple responses and allows children to think outside the boxbefore honing in on a more formal and specific answer.

Children must learn to appreciate and developtheir creative abilities.What does it feel like to share an idea with a class

– and to have it immediately rejected? Schools often re-ward organizational skills and time-management abilitiesover innovation, imagination, and individual creativity.The simple act of turning in an assignment that has fol-lowed all the directions and is on time can mean morethan the quality and uniqueness of the product itself.Teachers, in coming to understand the differences of stu-dents’ expression styles, can construct more individual-ized assignments for their students. The student, givenchoice and freedom, will begin to appreciate and developtheir creative abilities.

Children must have the opportunity to developtheir own ideas in the classroom.The goal of many classrooms is to move students

through material in a progressive manner, teaching studentsto think and write in a structured way. It is important, afterall, to have students work toward developing skills that willserve them in later careers and life. Fine writers are able towrite coherent paragraphs and fluid sentences, but high qual-ity writing also takes passion and inspiration. In the sameway, many students memorize mathematical formulas andsolve equations in math classes. They too spend time lookingfor the “right” answer to questions rather than exploring thebeauty of mathematics and the passion involved in this dis-cipline. Remember that while focusing on the basic buildingblocks of a discipline, it is critical that children also developcreativity and problem-solving skills related to the subjectmatter. The real world is constantly changing, and knowledgeis not a static concept across most academic fields. Becauseof the way schools are set up, creativity does not fit into astandard curriculum. However, you can lay the foundationfor a “creative classroom” by encouraging brainstorming, ideadevelopment, problem solving, and innovation. Considerusing SCAMPER, Future Problem Solving, Future City, andother programs that encourage problem solving techniques.

Children need to see the connection betweencreative ideas and the real world.Textbooks provide students with information, but the

real world provides myriad learning opportunities. Studentsrarely see a connection between innovative products (or every-day products) and the creative ideas and process that devel-oped them. Introducing students to the lives of inventors,entrepreneurs, songwriters, poets, and others who “create”;urging them to uncover the process of discovery is a greatplace to start. Once a discovery has been made, a creative in-dividual is then able to transform ideas into innovative prod-ucts, which requires intellectual passion, resilience, andcommitment. Independent investigations, invention contests,and other experiences provide opportunities for students totransfer ideas into products. The role of authentic assessmentcomes into play here, as work can then be judged by profes-sionals and experts in the field, adding credibility to the stu-dent’s work.

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Parents must encourage creativity at home.Creative thought occurs more often at home than at

school, and parents should be aware of this. Studentswho are allowed to develop their creative and intellectualabilities outside the classroom may find varied areas of suc-cess in the future. Parents who encourage reading, intellec-tual interests, and good study habits, coupled withopen-ended questioning, storytelling and creative resourcesin the home allow their children to experience all that cre-ative thought has to offer. There are a wealth of summerprograms and camps available to students across the UnitedStates. Teachers can encourage parents to explore these re-sources by sending out a notice or posting links on theirwebpage.

Creativity is everywhere. From the buildings we live in,to the art at a museum. It is in the toothpaste tube we usein the morning, and the box spring we lay down on atnight. Creative thought is an important piece of education,and it belongs in the curriculum. It is only through the in-dividual expression of creative ideas that students can beginto recognize their own talent. Visit the following link:http://www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity_Techniquesfor the most up-to-date resources relating to creative strate-gies.This website is compiled by Mycoted Science and Tech-nology. �

5EncouragingTask-OrientationEncouraging task-oriented competition facilitates

strong, stable friendships. One way to achieve this is byrewarding self-improvement. For example, teachers canshift the grading scheme toward comparison to the stu-dent’s past efforts. In tasks that are inherently competi-tive, teachers could provide instructions that encouragemastery and self-improvement (e.g., adding or elaborat-ing skills) (Butler, 1989), rather than a focus on the finalevaluation or result.While promoting friendships, it is important to consider

children’s individual social needs. Some children only needor want one or two friends, whereas others seek many. Forsome gifted children, quality or a particular quality may bemore important than quantity. Friendships are tested whencompetitions are presented. Consideration to the needs ofgifted children should be taken when offering competitivesituations. �

ReferencesReferences available online at the THP homepage:http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=1498

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