Monthly Archives: August 2013
Can Gifted Learners Really Be Challenged in the Regular Classroom?
This year’s Back-to-School #gtchat discussed whether or not gifted learners could really be challenged in the regular classroom. Many different opinions were expressed including the belief by many that it was possible, but rarely occurred. A full transcript may be found here.
Most participants agreed that gifted learners do in fact learn differently; although several teachers pointed out that all children learn differently. This conclusion laid the basis for discussing various instructional strategies; their appropriateness and viability in the classroom over time.
Differentiation seemed to be the most widely used strategy for working with gifted students. A timely blog post by Ginger Lewman, “A Case Against Differentiated Instruction“, posed an alternate view.
Everyone in the chat seemed to agree that two factors … professional development in gifted education for teachers and teachers’ attitude toward gifted students … played a critical role in the delivery of services.
Links:
Instructional Strategies for Gifted Students
High-Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB
Differentiation for Gifted Learners (Fall 2013) from Richard Cash
Tips for Teachers: Successful Strategies for Teaching Gifted Learners from Davidson Gifted
Instructional Strategies for Gifted Education from the #gtchat Blog
What All Teachers in Regular Classrooms Can do for the Gifted
High Ability and Gifted Students in the Regular Program: Left Behind?
The Plight of the Gifted from Georgia Tech
The Miseducation of Our Gifted Children from Davidson Gifted
Gifted Kids and Elementary School from the Berkeley Parents Network
CCLebrate Learning 2013 – 2014 Parent Handbook (pdf)
Motivating Without Grades from IEA Gifted
Promoting a Positive Achievement Attitude w/Gifted & Talented Students from Davidson Gifted
How to Build a Culture of Thinking
The ‘Culture of Thinking’ movement began in 1993 with the publication of a book by Ron Ritchhart. Today, it is encapsulated in the Project Zero at Harvard University’s School of Education. It is funded (through the end of 2013) by Bialik College in Melbourne, Australia under the patronage of Abe and Vera Dorevitch. A full transcript of this chat may be found here.
Links:
The Thinking-Learning Connection / Creating a Culture of Thinking (1993)
10 Ways to Create a Culture of Thinking
‘Creating a Culture of Thinking’ (pdf) Ron Ritchhart
Cultures of Thinking Project Zero Harvard Graduate School of Education
How do you help engender a culture of thinking within your learning community? TED Conversations
“Thinking Deeply in Kindergarten”
Thinking is Contagious! How our Cultures of Thinking Journey Began
Structure and Purpose of Thinking Routines (RRR # 1)
Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Marshal to Truly Transform Our Schools
An Overview of Ron Ritchhart’s Keynote Talk at Project Zero Classroom 2012 (YouTube)
Special Guest: Dr. Lynne Kenney, author of BLOOM
Global #gtchat welcomed Dr. Lynne Kenney to our chat to discuss her new book, BLOOM. The book is available in digital form on Dr. Kenney’s website (see link below) as well as at Amazon for the Kindle. Much of the information in the book is relevant for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. One lucky chat participant won a copy of BLOOM during the chat! A full transcript can be found here.
The first question to be considered was how parents can move from a punishment-reward paradigm to a more positive type of parenting. Dr. Lynne explained that focusing on the connection between desired behaviors and attachment is key with gifted kids. She also stated that we need to think beyond rewards and into relationships building, collaboration and thinking skills. The moderator noted that if reward-punishment systems worked, we wouldn’t be seeing the increase of poor behavior in kids that we do today.
Other issues discussed included the importance of having an organized home for the atypical child, how parents can help children to build communication skills, and how to stop ‘setting off’ our children with the ‘tell, don’t yell’ strategy. Please check out the links below.
Links:
BLOOM at Dr. Kenney’s website – Full graphical version & stream-lined graphics version
BLOOM Kindle Edition (Amazon)
Co-author, Wendy Young’s website Kidlutions
DrLynneKenney on Blog Talk Radio from TheCoffeeKlatch
Play Math from @DrLynneKenney
The Family Coach Method (Amazon) from @DrLynneKenney