Coping When Extended Family Doesn’t Get Giftedness

We started this chat with an endearing blog post from long-time #gtchat participant, Jo Freitag on her blog ~ Sprite’s Site. One of the storylines on Jo’s blog has followed the lives of the Tweet family and their gifted tweetlets. Tweet and Retweet, the parents, have had to cope with friends and family who simply don’t get ‘giftedness’.

Stories were related of less than satisfactory family relationships and strategies were shared on how to cope with family members who could not accept the idea of giftedness. The discussion entailed twice-exceptional children, homeschooling choices and the wide-range of sensory issues gifted parents must face. A full transcript may be found here.

Links:

A Review of Research on Parents & Families of Gifted Children (1983) from Davidson Gifted

Gifted Families Yahoo Group (Australia)

Resources for Parents of Gifted Children from SENG

Gifted Children, Gifted Parents

Texas A&M Edu Psych “Gifted 102” Class for Parents of Gifted Children Dr Suzy Carroll

Texas Parents of the Profoundly Gifted

A light-hearted view of family matters from Jo Freitag’s Sprite’s Site

Life in the Asynchronous Family (Kearney)

Family Counseling with the Gifted

“If This is a Gift, Can I send it Back?” book from Jen Merrill

Ginger Lewman and Project Based Learning

Our recent chat with Ginger Lewman centered on Project-Based Learning. Ginger is an Education Consultant with ESSDACK, specializing in Project/Problem Based Learning, gifted and high-ability learners, differentiated instruction, and technology integration. After teaching in public schools for 15+ years, she joined the ESSDACK team, partnering with Kevin Honeycutt to bring you LifePracticePBL, a flavor of Project Based Learning that engages all learners, Kindergarten through High School.

Ginger presented a thorough explanation of the difference between doing projects and Project-Based Learning. “Doing projects is about learning a topic, reading something, being taught AND THEN doing a project that demonstrates what you learned. On the other hand, PBL is about learning *by* doing. It’s about having a question or a challenge to answer and that the learning happens because it has to be gathered/experienced. And the learning has to occur in order to answer the Question or solve the problem.” A full transcript of the chat may be found here.

Links:

Edupreneur ~ Ginger’s Blog

Ginger’s Bio

Livebinder Resources for Gifted and Talented Students

Ginger Lewman’s Library on Diigo

Project Based Learning: A Recipe for LifePractice by Ginger Lewman on Scoop.It!

Ginger’s Keynotes & Workshops

PBL Outline/Ideas Livebinder

PBL/STEM Livebinder

PBL Resources Livebinder

PBL: Learning Geogebra Livebinder

PBL in the Primary Classroom Livebinder

PBL as Entrée, Not Dessert Livebinder

LifePractice PBL

12 Ways to Know if You’re in a Project-Based Learning Environment or Merely Having Kids Create Projects in Your Classroom from @GingerLewman

Project-Based Homeschooling (book)

Project-Based Homeschooling Blog

Building a Gifted Education PLN

Building a Gifted Education PLN brought together participants from 19 states and 8 countries. The chat centered on the what, who, how and why of Personal Learning Networks. A full transcript may be found here.

Our favorite quotes from the chat include:

Krissy Venosdale @ktvee

“You may think you don’t need a PLN, but that’s just because you don’t realize what you are missing by not having one.”

Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1

“Everyone should be included in your PLN: students, parents, educators (teachers, counselors & administrators), community members.”

toby brown @tbbrwn

“Part of the power of the PLN is the global connection. LOVE the ability to erase miles and flatten the planet to facilitate convos.”

Links:

Gifted Education Livebinder

Creating on Online PLN in Gifted Education from @MaryStGeorge

The Power of a PLN for Educators of Gifted Learners

Social Media and Gifted Advocacy

The Global Classroom Project Our Year on Skype from @Elle_Gifted

Can Social Media Help Overcome the Problems We Face in Gifted Education? From @GiftedPhoenix

The Professional Learning Network Phenomenon

Why You Need Time to Make Time for a PLN

Gifted Resources Newsletter

Gifted and Talented Ireland

Cybraryman’s PLN Page

35 Ways To Build Your Personal Learning Network Online

Cybraryman’s Twitter Page

Cybraryman’s Gifted PLN Stars

Irish Gifted Education Blog

Cybraryman’s Educational Chats

Cybraryman’s Student-Centered Classrooms

Analysis of Personal Learning Networks (Slideshare)

The Twitter Experience: The Role of Twitter in the Formation and Maintenance of Personal

Learning Networks

World Conference for Gifted and Talented Children World Conference 2013 (@gtchatmod will be there)

Fostering Parent Awareness and Creating Community

Fostering Parent Awareness was a spirited chat with parents and educators sharing their experiences with raising parent awareness in their respective schools. This chat ranks as the 2nd most in tweets and participants since March 2012 when TAGT became the primary force behind #gtchat. Activity prior to and after the chat were at near all-time highs as well. A full transcript may be found here.

We at #gtchat sincerely appreciate the opportunity to provide an outlet for the gifted community to network and discuss relevant topics each week. Several milestones in terms of statistics were achieved this week including over 1,000 followers on Twitter for @gtchatmod, over 200 ‘Likes’ on our new Facebook page and nearly 3,000 pageviews here on our blog! Our original mandate to ‘build bridges’ within the gifted community is being realized each and every day!

During the 24 hours including this week’s chat, over 100 participants posted tweets from 25 states in the U.S. and from 12 countries. It is exciting to see the ‘global’ reach of our chat. This week, we will be announcing the addition of a second chat during the week that will be at a more convenient time for those in the UK, EU and Pacific Rim. Follow @gtchatmod on Twitter for all the latest news. If you have wanted to join chat, but were hesitant on how to participate; visit our page on the TAGT website to learn more.

Links from chat:

Appropriate Expectations for the Gifted Child (DeVries)

Considerations and Strategies for Parenting the Gifted Child

Parent Perceptions of Preadolescent Giftedness and Self Concept

Gifted Child In the Family: Early Detection of Giftedness (.pdf)

Gifted Education: More than Just an IQ Score Advice for Parents

The Moral Sensitivity of Gifted Children and the Evolution of Society (SENG)

Exceptionally Gifted Children: Different Minds (SENG)

Tips for Parents: Self-concept and Self-esteem Regarding Gifted Learners (from @DavidsonGifted )

Tips for Parents: The Real World of Gifted Teens (from @DavidsonGifted )

Resource Guide for Parents and Educators of Gifted Learners (.pdf)

Goodness of Fit: The Challenge of Parenting Gifted Children