Gifted AdvocacyFacilitator: Shabnam Yaqubie

November 19, 2013

Who Are Gifted Children?

The Federal Government defines “Gifted and Talented” students, children, or youth as those: “…who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.”

Varies by state

Joe Renzulli

Joe Renzulli considers three factors important for the development of gifted behavior, thus the “Three Ring Model”

Joe Renzulli

Within the above average abilities, Renzulli makes a difference between general abilities (like processing information, integrating experiences, and abstract thinking) and specific abilities (like the capacity to acquire knowledge, perform in an activity).

By creativity, Renzulli understands the fluency, flexibility, and originality of thought, an openness to experience, sensitivity to stimulations, and a willingness to take risks.

Under task commitment, he understands motivation turned into action (like perseverance, endurance, hard work, but also self-confidence, perceptiveness and a special fascination with a special subject).

Who Are Gifted Children?

Those who excel in academic disciplines are termed ‘gifted’

Those who excel in areas requiring visual-spatial skills or practical abilities are ‘talented’ Art Dance Music Drama Sport

Gifted and Talented Wordle

Gifted Underachievers

Underachievers are defined as students who are gifted and talented but because of their outside circumstances, don’t perform at the level they are capable of.

Bored and restless with flashes of brilliance or interest

High quality oral work but poor written work

Poor test results but asks higher order thinking questions

Dislike of routine work – often incomplete

Gifted Underachievers

Creative interests outside school but not reflected inside school

Disruptive behavior in some lessons but not in others. Work must be challenging to keep them engaged

Low self esteem or highly self critical

Hostile to authority

Perfectionism

The Effective Gifted Classroom

Higher order thinking skills

Development of expertise – their own

Exploration of alternative views – not one sided view

Questioning that encourages creativity

Problem solving

The Effective Gifted Classroom

Connection of learning: big picture

Independent learning

Teaching at instructional level

Differentiation

Compacting

More Challenge – NOT More Work

Be sure to AVOID: Repetitive extension work Time filling activities Additional writing Helping others when task is completed Starting points that provide no challenge

Teacher Suggestions

If you notice your students seem bored and frustrated by a lack of variety, these are are some tips: Change the type of questions asked Encourage the students to think for themselves Encourage the students to ask questions themselves Provide more opportunities for discussion

It is important that gifted and talented students are encouraged to think independently and to inquire into their preferred area of expertise.

To fulfill the potential of gifted and talented learners to think independently, you need to provide the opportunity, support, and time to engage in independent thinking.

Characteristics of Gifted Learners

They learn quicker

They ask higher order thinking questions

They challenge accepted theories

They are independent learners

Unique learners – they look for the peculiar

Clever sense of humor

Vivid imagination

Myths About Gifted Learners

Gifted learners always rise to the top in the classroom. Not always. They can have hidden learning

disabilities that go undiscovered because they can easily compensate for them in the early years. As time goes on, it becomes harder and harder for them to excel. This can lead to behavior problems and depression.

Gifted learners will do fine without special programs. They may appear to do fine on their own, but

without proper challenge they can become bored and unruly. As the years go by they may find it harder as the work does become more challenging, since they haven’t faced challenges before.

Myths About Gifted Learners

Giftedness is something to be jealous about. Probably the most damaging myth More often than not gifted children can feel isolated

and misunderstood. They have more adult tastes in music, clothing,

reading material and food. These differences to other children can cause them to be shunned and even abused verbally or physically by other children.

Howard Gardner

A psychologist and professor of neuroscience from Harvard University developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in 1983.

According to Gardner, human beings have different kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world.

Each person has a unique combination, or profile.

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Linguistic- Highly developed verbal skills

Logical Mathematical

Spatial – Good at pattern recognition

Naturalist – Sensitive to natural phenomena

Bodily Kinesthetic – Excellent body (physical) control

Musical

Interpersonal – High ability to understand other individuals

Intrapersonal – High ability to understand one’s self

Existential Intelligence – Ability to pose questions about life, death and ultimate realities

Factors Influencing Determination of Giftedness

Socio-economic factors often lead to underreporting of some gifted

Gender issues – female students less likely to be identified

Misdiagnosis – ADHD, ODD, OCD, Mood disorders (Bi-polar or Depression)

Terminology – Exceptional vs. Gifted vs. Talented vs. Special

Wishful thinking (parents and even some teachers)

Outcast Challenges

Many gifted learners at some point in their life feel a great deal of aversion to being thought of as different.

More Work Challenge

In some cases, gifted students may feel as if they are compelled to do more work in order to achieve the same results.

Role of Teachers

Most would agree that an important factor in the determination of success for gifted learners was a specific teacher. He/she cared for the student as an individual He/she communicated with the student as a peer The teacher was enthusiastic and knowledgeable The teacher was perceived as not being

“mechanical” in methods of instruction The teacher was perceived as having high but

realistic expectations

Resources

Callard-Szulgit, R. (2010). Parenting and Teaching the Gifted 2nd Edition. Baltimore, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN: 978-1607094555

Callard-Szulgit, R. (2012). Perfectionism and Gifted Children. 2nd Edition, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education.

Callard-Szulgit, R. (2008). Twice Exceptional Kids. Baltimore, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN: 978-1578867790

No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110 (Title IX, Part A, Definitions (22) (2002); 20 U.S.C. Sec. 7802 (22) (2004))

Winner, E. (1996). Gifted Children: Myths and Realities. New York: Basic Books. ISBN: 978-0465017591

Website References

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html

http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html

http://www.gigers.com/matthias/gifted/three_rings.html

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/semart13.html

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/pdf/the_three-ring_conception_of_giftedness.pdf