When Full Inclusion Fails Gifted Students
Full inclusion was first used in regards to special education; a situation in which parents pushed for and sought legal solutions to compel schools to not place their children in separate classrooms. Full inclusion for gifted education means that GT students are kept in the regular classroom and the classroom teacher is responsible for differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students.
Most reasons for insisting on full inclusion of GT students are based on myths which claim these students will be fine on their own. School personnel often cite personal biased reasoning for why students should be kept in the regular classroom; that these students already possess intellectual advantage and no further accommodation should be needed.
What are some of negative impacts of full inclusion for GT students? It doesn’t take long to see the negative impact of mixed ability classrooms on GT students. Teasing and outright bullying can lead to being socially ostracized by age-peers. In classrooms where teachers are expected to meet the needs of wide-ranging abilities, GT students are generally a low priority. When these students are not challenged, they are unprepared to face challenges when they do come.
Curriculum differentiation has the potential to work for high ability students, but few educators receive adequate training to provide quality differentiation that meets these students’ needs. The academic needs of high ability students go well beyond curriculum. GT students learn best when educated with intellectual peers and by teachers trained to work with them.
What are some alternatives to full inclusion that work? Some of the best alternatives are multi-age, standalone programs where GT students are challenged by ability. Many forms of acceleration are excellent alternatives for GT students and cost-effective for schools with tight budgets. Some options include early entrance, dual-enrollment, subject and whole grade acceleration.
What approach can parents take to seek real solutions when inclusion isn’t working? Parents must engage in well-informed advocacy; know school district policy and finances, learn about possible alternatives, attend school board meetings, and know who the decision makers are at the state level. Most parents soon learn that there is power in numbers when trying to influence school policy decisions, availability of programs for GT learners, and potential extra-curricular activities. Parent advocacy groups are essential. A transcript of this chat may be found at Wakelet.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at 1PM NZST/11 AM AEST/Midnight UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
Highly Gifted Children in Full Inclusion Classrooms
Gifted Programs: Is Inclusion the Answer?
The Gifted Child and the Inclusive Classroom (pdf)
Teaching Gifted Students in Full-Inclusion Classrooms
The Purpose of a Self-Contained Classroom
Teacher Perspective on Differentiation for Gifted Students in the General Education Classroom (pdf)
Teacher Attitudes towards Gifted Education in Rural School Districts (pdf)
Competing with Myths about the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Students
The Development of the Educators’ Attitudes toward Gifted Education Scale (pdf)
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition via @ASCD
Future Trends in Gifted Education (TEMPO – pdf)
How and Why Teachers Need to Support Gifted Students
Ability and Performance Comparisons of Gifted Students in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Settings (pdf)
Celebrating Mediocrity? How Schools Shortchange Gifted Students
Inequitable Access to Gifted Education
Navigating the Education System: Empowering Parents for Effective Advocacy (pdf)
The Case for Gifted Education as an Equity Issue
Black-White Gap Widens Faster for High Achievers
Image courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Graphic courtesy of Lisa Conrad.
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Personal Goal Setting and Self-Regulation for Gifted Children
The first and most important step in setting goals is to identify the goals. Strategies to help gifted students should consider timing, time management, pacing and ways to accomplish their goals. Students can identify personal strengths and weaknesses; begin record keeping of progress or portfolios; and take charge of their own learning goals as they mature.
GT students need to learn the art of forethought – thinking ahead with purpose. They should consider a well thought out plan, a starting point and realistic expectations. Once the process begins, GT students can develop specific strategies to monitor personal progress and be aware of any issues preventing them from accomplishing their goals. They need a basic understanding of what ‘self-reflection’ means and its role in evaluating success or failure.
Good self-regulation involves progress monitoring by keeping good records, looking at one’s own performance, and considering if things could have been done better. GT students who master self-regulation skills are known to have specific learning goals and strategies to achieve them, self-monitor more often, and are good at adapting strategies when necessary.
Self-regulating of motivation, its control, and the changing of attitude about it can impact student achievement. Students who gain self-regulation of emotions can improve their learning. Controlling cognitive strategies through self-regulation can improve learning and performance.
Effective instructional practices when teaching self-regulation include helping students see new information in a positive light, promote ‘thinking aloud’, and ‘self-talk’. Additional effective self-regulation instructional strategies include helping students identify relevant information and materials, and utilize prior learning to inform experiential learning.
Parents can model persistence in the face of challenge and good learning strategies. They can talk to their children about potential distractions, the best possible environment to accomplish goals, and time management. Parents are their child’s biggest supporter – they can be there when it is time to assess how they did in meeting their goals and what could have been done differently if necessary. A transcript of this chat may be found at Wakelet.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at 2PM NZST/Noon AEST/1 AM UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
SMART Goals for Gifted Students
Self-Regulated Learning and Academically Talented Students
Promoting a Positive Achievement Attitude with Gifted and Talented Students
Using Self-Regulated Learning to Reverse Underachievement in Talented Students
Can Personal Goal Setting Tap the Potential of the Gifted Underachiever?
A Comparison of Gifted and Non-Gifted Students` Self-regulation Skills for Science Learning
Social-Emotional Learning and the Gifted Child
The Role of Self-regulated Learning in Enhancing Learning Performance (pdf)
On the Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Children
Emotional Experience during Participation in a Program of Self-Regulated Learning
Self-Regulation in the Classroom Helping Students Learn How to Learn (book)
The Relation of Self-Efficacy and Grade Goals to Academic Performance
Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning: Theory, Research, and Applications (book)
Cybraryman’s Resolutions and Reflection Page
The Inner Game for Twice-Exceptional Kids (Class)
Image courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Graphic courtesy of Lisa Conrad.
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Resources for GT Educators
Virtually all national and state organizations provide resources via their websites and during conferences. Please note that 2e resources are generally listed under parent resources. We will include an extensive listing in our weekly blog post. In recent years, organizations that serve the gifted community and schools also provide both free resources and fee paid resources. We will also include these in our blog post.
There are several publishing companies which cater to the GT community and provide excellent curriculum resources. General education websites also include resources specific to gifted and talented; such as, edutopia. Also, universities which offer gifted education certification have resources available on their websites and for purchase.
The Legacy Book Awards from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a great resource for book recommendations. Modern Curriculum for Gifted & Advanced Academic Students from Todd Kettler is a good resource.
What are the best tech resources/online programs for GT teachers? We like Brian Housand – a former #gtchat Advisor, who has a great tech website for GT educators. A4 Of course, we like resources from our very own #gtchat Advisor Ginger Lewman and her website.
On our @gtchatmod Twitter account, we have a list for ‘Who to Follow’ on Twitter and a list of Texas GT educators on Twitter Also, on gtchatmod’s personal account @ljconrad – there are lists for U.S. gifted education on Twitter and Global gifted education on Twitter.
Where are the best places to network for GT educators? Conferences and conventions for gifted organizations are great places to network. TAGT Leadership Conference will be help April 14th to 16th this year in Georgetown, TX. Edcamps are also good places to network as well as during professional development opportunities. A transcript of this chat may be found at Wakelet.
TAGT Leadership Conference from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented will be help April 14th to 16th this year in Georgetown, TX.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at 2PM NZST/Noon AEST/1 AM UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
Resources for Educators of Gifted Students (Elementary and Secondary)
High Quality Curriculum for Gifted Learners
Forming Flexible Learning Groups (pdf)
A Teacher’s Guide to Flexible Grouping and Collaborative Learning
Tips for Critically Evaluating Online Gifted Education Information
Fighting Fake News! Teaching Critical Thinking and Media Literacy in a Digital Age (B. Housand)
Common Core and America’s High-Achieving Students (J. Plucker) (pdf)
Common Core State Standards, National Science Standards and Gifted Education
Gifted & Talented Enrichment Curriculum (pdf)
Challenging Highly Gifted Learners (The Practical Strategies Series in Gifted Education)
Differentiating Instruction for Gifted Learners (SlideShare)
Texas Gateway for Online Resources
8 Essential Tips & Resources for Educators of Gifted Kids
Tips for Teachers: Successful Strategies for Teaching Gifted Learners
Chicken Soup for the Gifted? Differentiation in the Regular Classroom (Fiedler) (pdf)
Practical Recommendations and Interventions: Gifted Students (pdf)
GT Strategies and Resources (Corsicana ISD)
Teacher Resources from Todd Stanley
50 Resources for The Parents & Teachers of Gifted & Talented Students
Gifted Education Resources for Educators
TED Ed: How to Boost Student Access to Gifted & Talented Education Resources
You CAN Do The Rubik’s Cube Program
Genius Hour: Passion Projects that Ignite Innovation and Student Inquiry (Amazon)
AUS: Hawker Brownlow Education
Boost: 12 Effective Ways to Lift Up Our Twice-Exceptional Children (Amazon)
Teaching Gifted Kids in Today’s Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use (Amazon)
Successful Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom (bn)
Raisin’ Brains (GPP)
Cybraryman’s Gifted and Talented Page
Cybraryman’s Twice-Exceptional Children Page
Joy Kerr’s Genius Hour Livebinder
Image courtesy of Pixabay Pixabay License
Graphic courtesy of Lisa Conrad.
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Best Tips for Parents of a GT Child
Parenting and specifically parenting gifted children has changed dramatically over the past several decades due to the resources and camaraderie afforded by social media. Online groups provide a sense of community for parents of gifted kids who were once separated both geographically as well as socially. Today parents don’t have to make the journey alone. In recent years, parents have also benefited by learning about ways to get together in real life at conferences and regional meetups that were once unknown. Parents can also access much needed information and advice on their own schedule. The convenience of online resources available 24/7 cannot be overlooked.
Parenting is often based on one’s own life experiences, but the challenges of life in today’s world can be very different than they were a generation ago. Parents should seek out current advice whenever possible. The role of asynchronous development can’t be minimized when dealing with life’s big transitions. It differentiates the experiences most gifted children face when transitioning to new educational experiences and meeting life’s milestones. Parents should build a strong emotional bond with their gifted children early in life and consider themselves as partners in the transition process. Each child is an individual with unique attributes and challenges which play a role in that process.
What steps can parents take if they suspect their child is twice-exceptional? A twice-exceptional child will exhibit both abilities and disabilities; strengths and weaknesses at the same time. It is easy for even professionals to misdiagnose these kids. Parents should seek help from those familiar with giftedness. Understanding the needs of twice-exceptional children is a necessary step toward being successful in life. Parents are the first and best advocates. Knowledge about twice-exceptionalism is a powerful tool. Twice-exceptionality is a challenge, but not a roadblock. Once accommodated, 2e kids can lead productive and successful lives. Being proactive in diagnosis and seeking help is the first step.
When should parents seek professional help regarding their gifted child? When that behavior impacts their lives in any significant way, parents should at the least consider a professional diagnosis. When children enter the school system, parents are often guided to seek professional help regarding concerns they might not see in a home setting. If parents see sudden changes in behavior, a decline in school work, or issues with interpersonal relationships between their child and others; they should seek professional intervention.
What should a parent who is experiencing difficulty getting educational services for their gifted child do? Although it shouldn’t be the case, parents often find themselves on the opposite side of educational priorities from their child’s school personnel. It’s important to document everything in writing. Know that the school will be doing the same. It may not seem fair, but parents need to keep their cool when advocating on behalf of their child. Patience can be beneficial in getting the best educational placement as well as serving as a role model for their child. There are many factors – positive and negative – weighed by a school district in providing services to an identified gifted child. Parents need to be aware of the school’s philosophy on GT education and the availability of resources.
Being the parent of a gifted child has its ups and downs, but things really do eventually work out. The ‘little lawyer’ in elementary school turned defiant teen in high school will one day be your best friend. Networking with other parents of gifted children is a great way to save your sanity, know that you aren’t alone, and provide for ‘strength in numbers’ when working with schools to provide the highest quality of education for your child.
A transcript of this chat may be found at Wakelet.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at 2PM NZST/Noon AEST/1 AM UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
My Son Is A ‘Gifted Child’ Here’s Why Raising Him Has Been Anything But Easy
For Gifted Kids, Better to be Hands-on or -off?
A Middle School Survival Guide for The Parents of Gifted Children
Wonderschooling: Living in a World of Input Overload
Grayson School Blog: The Intrinsic Intensity of the Gifted Child
Hoagie’s Gifted Education Page: Parents of Gifted Children
Tips for Handling Gifted Children: For Parents and Teachers
Why Being Gifted Isn’t Always a Gift
When Gifted Kids Move: Tips for Parents and Districts
What Most Parents of Gifted Children Wish They had Known about College Planning
Choices Exclude: The Existential Burden of Multipotentiality
When Your Gifted Child Disappoints
Twice Exceptional: Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities Considerations Packet
Cybraryman’s Gifted Parenting Page
Cybraryman’s Twice Exceptional Children Page
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
Parents of Gifted and Twice-Exceptional Kids Facebook Group
If This is a Gift, Can I Send it Back?: Surviving in the Land of the Gifted and Twice Exceptional (book)
Crushing Tall Poppies (blog)
Image courtesy of Unsplash
Graphic courtesy of Lisa Conrad
