What Do Parents Want from a Gifted Organization?

This week, participants at #gtchat on Twitter had the opportunity to tell gifted organizations what they wanted to be offered to parents. A full transcript may be found here.

Missed the chat, but still want to make your voice heard? Below are the questions. Feel free to leave your answers via comments on this post!

Questions from chat:

Q1) Do you belong to a gifted organization or group at any level –local, state, national?

Q2) What do you look for from a gifted organization – information, support, advocacy?

Q3) How do you prefer information to be categorized – by age, grade. or level of giftedness (G, HG, PG)?

Q4) Are you interested in the latest research on topics such as neuroscience, executive functioning, etc.?

Q5) How do you prefer information delivered – email, digital magazines or mobile apps?

Q6) How often would you use online components – Twitter chats, webinars, Google Hangouts?

Q7) Do membership fees play a role in your decision to join a gifted organization?

Q8) How likely would you be to attend a conference & what would influence your decision?

Q9) How can organizations foster an atmosphere where parents and teachers can come together?

Links:

National Association for Gifted Children

NAGC’s State Affiliate Association Web Sites

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum

World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

Texas Parents of the Profoundly Gifted

American Mensa

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What Does Success Look Like to You?

This week’s #gtchat took a look at defining success by asking participants what success looked like to them. The definitions were as varied as the participants. Then we looked at the relevancy of ‘happiness’ to success, personal fulfillment, achievement and the idea  of ’eminence’. A full transcript may be found here.

Notable Quotes:

What does success look like to you?

Jen Merrill: “I think success is how far you’ve come from where you began.”

Leslie Graves: “Achieving a feeling of happiness and satisfaction after having been involved with something of interest to me.”

Should ‘happiness’ be a consideration in success?

Justin Schwamm: “ I would say happiness is a by-product of doing what you love, not a goal to seek for its own sake.”

Can a person find personal fulfillment without being successful? 

Terri Eichholz: “Since I think success is only when you have personal fulfillment, then I do not think one without the other is possible.”

Do you equate success with achievement?

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: “Absolutely not! Success is defined by each individual for themselves… or should be.”

Jeffrey Farley: “I equate success with the achievement of goals, but too often we hold kids accountable for goals in which they aren’t invested.”

Jo Freitag: “Sometimes by happy coincidence success and achievement intersect other times they are independent of each other.”

Can someone be considered a success without becoming eminent in their field?

Gifted Homeschoolers Forum: “Eminence is from the outside; success *should* be an internal feeling.”

Barbara Larochelle: “When students equate success to a % mark, those who regularly achieve 95% + need something more intrinsic.”

Links:

The Difference between Successful and Very Successful People

3 Steps to Define Success on Your Own Terms

Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us from Daniel Pink

Defining Success by What Matters to You

What Defines Success? 

Defining the Target

How Do You Define Success?

The 12 Characteristics of Success

Defining My Own Success

Defining Success 2013 Global Research Results (pdf)

In Order to Succeed You Must Define Success

How We Measure Success?

What Real Success Looks Like

 

*Picture courtesy of Pixabay.

Gifted Children – Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep,

and miles to go before I sleep.”

(Contritbuted via Jerry Blumengarten)

Sleep can be elusive for many gifted children. Many parents reported their children saying that their minds began racing at night preventing them from falling asleep. It was also noted that gifted children simply seemed to not need as much sleep. According to Webb & Kleine (1993) and Winner (2000), 20% of gifted individuals need less sleep; 20% need more. Sleep patterns remain well into adulthood. Nightmares/Sleep Terrors/Sleepwalking appear to be more prevalent among gifted children. (Webb et al)

What strategies did parents use to help their gifted children get to sleep? Suggestions included establishing a night time routine where children are required to shut down all electronics at a set time and allow for a ‘wind down’ period of time. They also allowed their children to read for an extended time,  using melatonin temporarily, snacks, back rubs, music,  and yoga. A complete transcript can be found here.

Links:

Tips to Help Your Gifted Child Fall Asleep

Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children

Hidden Gifted Learner: The Exceptionally Gifted Child

Gifted Children and Sleep

Sleep and Gifted Preschoolers

“I Can’t Get to Sleep Mum.” from NZ Association for Gifted Children

Early Signs of Giftedness (pdf) by Linda Silverman

Gifted Children and Sleep (You Tube 41:22)

Navigating the Gifted Child Maze

The Problem with Gifted Children

Sleepless Gifted Children from Lorel Shea

Tips for Parents: Sleep and Learning

Blue Light Has a Dark Side

Cybraryman’s Sleep Page

Photos: Courtesy of the Morgue File

Is Gifted Education Relevant at the High School Level?

This week’s gtchat considered whether or not gifted education is relevant at the high school level. Jen Merrill may have said it best, “A person is gifted from birth to death, regardless of educational setting, so yeah, it’s relevant at the HS level.”

During the chat, we explored various programming options for high schools and whether most secondary schools were equipped to handle highly and profoundly gifted children.  A full transcript may be found here.

Links: “Educational Opportunities for Gifted Students at the High School Level” VA Dept of Education

EPGY – Digital Education Solutions Developed by Stanford University

The Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) from William & Mary

National Curriculum Networking Conference Sessions & Handouts Federal Registry for Educational Excellence (Links by Subject)

Gifted Education Math & STEM Resources “Using Assessments to Differentiate Instruction” (pdf) by Dr. Susan K. Johnsen, Baylor University.

“Creating a Continuum of K–12 Services for Gifted Learners” (pdf)

“PBL and the Common Core: A Natural Partnership” (pdf) by Dr. Shelagh A. Gallagher

“Multidisciplinary Lesson Planning: A 21st-Century Approach to Teaching Gifted Learners” (pdf)

“The Efficacy of Word within the Word for Gifted & Typically Developing Students” (pdf)

“Pulling It All Together: A Synthesis Model for Differentiated Curriculum for the Gifted Learner” (pdf)

“Socrates in the 21st Century: Inquiry Strategies to Address the #CCSS” (pdf)

“Real-Word Assessment” “Speed + Peers = Gifted Thinking for Middle School” (pdf)

University of Cambridge (UK) NRICH Enriching Mathematics

The Math Forum Internet Mathematics Library (by grade level)

A Different Place … a place on the web to find differentiated activities in all content areas

“Balanced Assessment in Mathematics” from Harvard Graduate School of Education

MIT Highlights for High School EPICS High School at Purdue University

Design Squad Nation (PBS)