Promoting Dialogbetween Parents and Teachers

Benefits the Gifted Student

Karen RosnickWW-P Teacher

PACE District CoordinatorMarch 3, 2007

Montclair Public School District

Essential Questions

• What have we learned about parent involvementin student education?

• How can parents and teachers communicatebetter?

• How will you use your new understanding?

What have we learnedabout parent

involvement in studenteducation?

• We know that when parents are more involvedin the education of their children, the student

will benefit.

• We know that when parents are more awareand understand the educational programs

devised for their children, the parents are morelikely to support the school system, and the

student will benefit.

How can parents andteachers communicate

better?

• Make a good first impression• Find areas of agreement• If a problem occurs, focus on “it”, not the

person

Initiate Dialogue

• Foster long-term goals• Find opportunities to agree• Understand vocabulary• Establish a relationship• Be realistic

What’s in a Word?

Montclair defines gifted as exceptionally ablestudents with outstanding intellectual oracademic ability when compared tochronological peers:

Content areasVisual artsPerforming artsCreative/productive thinking

What’s in a Word?

• Gifted• Gifted and Talented• Gifted and Underachieving• Gifted and Learning Disabled

One view of “gifts”

Giftedness designates the possession and use ofuntrained and spontaneously expressed naturalabilities (called aptitudes or gifts), in at least oneability domain, to a degree that places anindividual among the top 10% of age peers.

(Gagne, 2005)

Views on Talent

Talent designates the superior mastery ofsystematically developed abilities (or skills) andknowledge in at least one field of human activity toa degree that places an individual within at leastthe top 10% of age-peers who are or have beenactive in that field or fields.

(Gagne, 2005)

factors contribute to the development of gifts INTO talents.

Expression of “gifts”

• Talents are expressions of gifts –• That is, they are achievement in a specialized

area or an area of high performance.

• Can you be gifted but not talented? Yes.• However, when gifts are not fully realized it

leads to underachievement.

What factors contributeto talent development?

Influences:Family, peers, mentors, teachersEnvironmentPhysical and Psychological health:Self-management, willpower, volition,personality, temperamentPrograms available to the individualChance

The School Day

• Examine BEST PRACTICE

• How should we teach thegifted?

Effort

AssessKnow

UnitHW

DI

UseTestGifted

Best practice:five points

• Learner centered classroom• Pretests document mastery• Big ideas and concepts drive lessons• Systems help classroom operations• Literacy lessons are abundant

Advocatesfor the Gifted Child

ParentTeacher

Guidance CounselorChild Study Team

School AdministrationThe Child

What is differentiation?

Differentiation isclassroom practice that lookseyeball to eyeballwith the realitythat kids differ, andthe most effectiveteachers do whatever it takes to hookthe whole range of kids on learning.

-Tomlinson (2001)

Is “differentiation” new?

Think back to your days in school. Did yourteachers differentiate for you?

YES! But it wasn’t called differentiation.

Translating Teacher Speak

• DI has a language all its own: tiering, flexiblegrouping, learner profiles, anchor lessons,scaffolding, assessment, compacting

• DI is NOT individualized instruction, but the actof planning lessons based on individualstrengths.

Assessment is Important

• Preassessment – Good assessment advanceslearning, not just documents it (Wormeli, 2006).(Pretest)(Pretest)

• Formative assessment – finding out throughcheckpoints what students KNOW,UNDERSTAND, and are able to DO, before theend of the unit (Quiz)(Quiz)

• Summative assessment – end of unit (Test)(Test)

Attributes of DI

• Concept is extended to other areas• Work with advanced resources• Add an unexpected element to the product• Identify misconceptions• Identify bias or prejudice• Critique something against a set of

standards

• Teachers and parents need to developresponse-ability

• Promote a team effort• Start small and recognize success• Build trust• Employ patience• Invest in each student!

Parent Support Denise Dwyer, PACE, an advocate for gifted children

Educational Advocacy of Central New Jersey, LLCPhone: 609-632-0475

• SENG = Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted

(480) 370-2193 http://www.sengifted.org/

• NAGC= National Association of Gifted Children,Parent Resource Specialist, Robin Schader www.nagc.org

• NSGT = new G&T group, no parent group yet (SIG/ETS funding)

(800) 572-6748 http://www.nsgt.org/

Summary

• Communicate and collaborate! As Covey, 2004said: Seek first to understand and then to beunderstood.

• Just as students need DI, parents have variedneeds too.

• Enjoy your gifted child and find mentors for themeverywhere!

You can contact me:

• Work phone: 609-716-5300, x5347

• Work email: karen.rosnick@ww-p.org

• Areas of experience: FPS, CmPS, NHD,Cognetics, Rogate, AMIGOS (peer mediators),Science, raising high-functioning BOYS!

Material used to preparethis presentation

• Connecting for High Potential. printed from www.nagc.org• DeVries, A. R. and Webb, J. T. 2003. SENG-Model Parent Support Groups.

printed from www.sengifted.org.• Fischer, Max. 2002. What I’ve Learned About Cultivating Parent Involvement.

www.nea.org/classmanagement/ifc021029• Gagne, Francoys. 2005. “From Gifts to Talents: The DMGT as a

Developmental Model.” in Conceptions of Giftedness, 2nd ed., New York:Cambridge University Press.

• Smutny, Joan Franklin. 2001. Stand Up for Your Gifted Child: How to Makethe Most of Kids’ Strengths at School and at Home. Minnesota: Free SpiritPublishing.

• Webb, J. T. and DeVries, A. R.1998. Gifted Parent Groups: The SENGModel. Scottsdale, Arizona: Gifted Psychology Press.

• Webb, J.T., Meckstroth, E. A., and Tolan, S. T. 1994. Guiding the GiftedChild: A Practical Source for Parents and Teachers. Scottsdale, Arizona:Gifted Psychology Press.

• Wormeli, Rick. 2006. Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in theDifferentiated Classroom. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, NationalMiddle School Association.