Monthly Archives: December 2013
All Kinds of Gifted
For the last chat of the year, our topic was All Kinds of Gifted. This included gifted, highly gifted, profoundly gifted, twice-exceptional, minority and low-ses. Throughout the chat, it was emphasized that educators need to recognize and understand that giftedness comes in many different forms. A full transcript may be found here.
The difference between gifted and high-achievers was discussed. A common misconception is that these terms are inter-changeable which greatly affects the approach many teachers take to gifted education to the detriment of all gifted students.
I’d like to take a moment to thank all our readers here at #gtchat’s blog. I encourage you to join us on Friday, January 3, 2014 at 7 PM ET/6 PM CT. Our topic will be, “2014 The Year Ahead” and I plan to use crowd-sourcing to determine the future of #gtchat. This will be your opportunity to tell me what you like and what you would like to see changed.
Until then, may you all enjoy a joyous holiday season and very Happy New Year!
Links:
Exceptionally Gifted Children: Different Minds from @SENG_Gifted
Profiles of the Gifted and Talented from @DavidsonGifted
High Achievers, Gifted Learners, and Creative Thinkers
Gifted Children and the Overachievement Fallacy
Educators’ Guide to Gifted Children from @GiftedHF
Why Are Gifted Students Different & What Does That Mean For Us As Educators?
Cultivating a Gifted Mind from @giftedbooks
What We Have Learned About Gifted Children from @GiftedDevCenter
12 Lists of Characteristics of Gifted Students from @ByrdseedGifted
Different than the Rest: Social Challenges of Gifted Adolescents
The “Problem” with Gifted Kids
How Being Gifted Means Being Different
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Gifted Advocacy: What’s the Point?
What’s the point of gifted advocacy? This is the question we tried to answer. Too many advocates these days seem to be focusing on everything except the gifted child and their ‘right’ to an appropriate education. Of all groups studied in today’s classrooms, the identified gifted learner is making the least progress. Having topped out on most standardized tests, what will make the difference in the life of these kids? A full transcript may be found here.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented on Twitter happens weekly on Fridays at 7PM ET/6PM CT in the U.S., Midnight in the UK and 11.00 in Australia (ET) on Saturdays. Polls for topic selection are posted on Tuesdays and the link is posted by @gtchatmod on Twitter. Please join us!
Links:
“Why Geniuses Don’t Need Gifted Education”
“The Wrong Argument for Gifted Education” via Gifted Exchange
“Why Gifted Students Still Need Gifted Education!!” via @davis_joy
“RED ALERT: Gifted Education is a Civil Rights Issue” via @DeborahMersino
“Preaching to the Choir: Thinking About Gifted Advocacy” from Crushing Tall Poppies
Professor James J Gallagher: “Advocacy for Gifted Education a National Priority”
Paradise Valley USD in AZ Gifted Program with Self-contained Classrooms.
Cybraryman’s Gifted Advocacy Page
“Social Networking – Impacting the World of Gifted Education”
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Twice-Exceptional Smart Kids with Learning Differences
LIVE from Houston, Texas! Global #gtchat was excited to be at this year’s TAGT Annual Conference where we debuted the new brochure from Gifted Homeschoolers Forum on Twice-Exceptional Learners. It was a perfect match with sentiments shared in the Conference Keynote by Dr. Temple Grandin. A full transcript may be found here.
It’s always an exhilarating experience to participate in a Twitter chat with a live audience and this was no exception. Many thanks goes out to those who came to help the folks who were new to chat. Check out the pictures below!
Jeffrey Farley, Mary Lovell and Tracy Fisher
Carolyn Coil
Krissy Venosdale, Angie French, Lisa Conrad and Stacia Taylor
Special thanks to Corin Goodwin and her staff from Gifted Homeschoolers Forum for going the extra mile to make this a very special and informative chat. Global #gtchat appreciates the collaborative relationship that has developed between our two organizations. Support of gifted children and their unique needs is definitely a community effort.
Promotional Materials Courtesy of Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
Links:
“Twice Exceptional Smart Kids with Learning Differences” brochure from @GiftedHF (pdf)
Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (website) from @GiftedHF
GHF Press from @GiftedHF
“Beating the Odds: An Interview with Temple Grandin” (pdf) TEMPO Magazine
Brief Summary ~ Dr. Temple Grandin Keynote TAGT 2013
“The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed” (book – bn) Dr. Temple Grandin
Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (website)
TAGT Annual Conference 2014 in Fort Worth
Legacy Book Award Winners 2013 from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
‘Gifted & Twice Exceptional Kids: An Interview with Corin Goodwin & Mika Gustavson’
Asynchronous Scholars’ Fund (website)
“ASD & Giftedness: Twice Exceptionality on the Autistic Spectrum”
“Life Among the ‘Yakkity Yaks‘” An Interview with Temple Grandin
“Gifted Children with Learning Challenges (Twice Exceptional)”
“Raising My Twice-Exceptional Children… Not What I Signed Up For!”
“Developing Social Thinking in the Twice-exceptional (2e) Learner through Improvisational Play”
“Giftedness Should Not Be Confused with Mental Disorder”
“Stuck, Stubborn and Always Right? Changing Patterns of Rigid Thinking”
“The Paradox of Giftedness: When Potential Doesn’t Necessarily Predict Performance”
“Executive Functioning at Home and School” by @ayermish via @DavidsonGifted
“What happens when students don’t have good executive functioning skills?”
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Interview with Dr. Joyce Juntune
We are please to share our interview with Dr. Joyce Juntune who will be the Keynote speaker at this year’s TAGT Annual Conference in Houston, Texas. Dr. Juntune is an Instructional Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Texas A & M University.
Moderator: Dr. Juntune, could you tell our readers about your background in gifted education?
Dr. Juntune: I started out in gifted education as a cluster teacher in Minnesota. I was teaching when the first federal law was written concerning gifted education. I had attended a workshop on gifted education when I was teaching in California, but nothing was ever mentioned about gifted again until I returned to Minnesota.
Moderator: This week, you will be keynoting at the Opening Session of TAGT 2013 on Thursday. What will you be speaking about?
Dr. Juntune: I will be addressing the challenges ahead for gifted education. Yes—we have succeeded in getting laws concerning gifted education passed in every state—AND we have educators in every district who advocate for gifted students—BUT we have started to become complacent about what gifted students really need. The existence of programs for gifted students has made us comfortable instead of being the catalyst for designing what is really needed for the gifted.
Moderator: One of your presentations at the conference will be, “Finding and Serving Gifted Students Raised in Poverty”. Can you tell us one way a school can identify gifted students from low-SES communities?
Dr. Juntune: In order to identify gifted students from poverty—a school district needs to understand how poverty impacts the development of intelligence. We need to look for students with potential for intellectual development and then design programs so they develop the intellectual skills they need for academic success.
Moderator: What advice do you have for parents struggling with financial concerns to help their gifted children succeed in school and life?
Dr. Juntune: Many of us came (including myself) from limited economic backgrounds. I took advantage of every grant and work opportunity I could find. There are more options available today—high ability students can often get full or partial scholarships, some students work to get a scholarship in an area of talent (music, athletics, etc.), dual-enrollment during high school means a student can enter college with at least a year or more already completed, some attend a local (more inexpensive) community college for their first two years and then transfer to a major university.
Moderator: What changes can teachers make to their classrooms to assist students from poverty to build academic success?
Dr. Juntune: First and foremost is to help them build academic vocabulary and their level of verbal communication. These areas are basic to building academic literacy. Talk—talk—talk about the content.
We at Global #gtchat would like to thank Dr. Juntune for taking time from her busy schedule to chat with us. If you are going to this year’s conference, you can hear Dr. Juntune on Thursday at 8:30 AM in the General Assembly Theater at the GRB Convention Center in Houston to speak on “Time for a ‘Provolution’ (Proactive Revolution) in Gifted Education”.
Links:
Dr. Joyce Juntune “Creativity in Education” TEDx The Woodlands 2011
What You Value, You Will Get! (in Education and Training) (pdf) by Joyce E. Juntune
Dr. Joyce Juntune Suggested Readings
