Monthly Archives: June 2014
Who Should Teach Gifted Children?
Although often a concern for parents of gifted children, this week’s chat saw an influx of teachers interested in how this question would be answered. During the course of the discussion of who should teach gifted children, many aspects of today’s educational system came into question. Do personal attributes of a teacher affect their ability to teach a distinct population? How important is certification in a specific area of instruction? Can education be delivered outside the traditional school house? What role does teacher-training play in the delivery of specialized education? And finally … is it okay to use gifted students as teaching assistants in the classroom?
Our first question explored whether or not a teacher had to be gifted themselves to teach gifted children. A vast majority of checklists found in academic journals suggest that this is indeed a recommended if not essential requirement for teachers interacting with gifted students. However, most (but not all) of those voicing an opinion in this chat did not believe it should be required as simply being gifted did not necessarily make one a good teacher; although it was desirable trait. Other qualities such as empathy for gifted students (see “Can Empathy for Gifted Students Be Nurtured in Teachers?” in the links below), a desire to teach in a gifted classroom, acceptance that their students might well be more intelligent than the teacher and adequate professional development were mentioned as more important.
Certification was a different matter. Clearly, most felt it was essential that teachers be certified in gifted education if they were teaching in a traditional classroom. Celeste, a homeschooling mother in Australia, expressed it this way ~ “YES – what vocation allows professionals to serve without relevant qualifications?” It was pointed out that the certification process should be meaningful with extensive review of the nature of giftedness including issues such as twice-exceptional (gifted and LD), asynchronous development and social-emotional needs. Certification was also seen as a pathway to better understanding gifted children.
Celeste, a homeschooling mother in Australia, expressed it this way ~ “YES – what vocation allows professionals to serve without relevant qualifications?”
Many of those who regularly attend #gtchat homeschool their gifted children so we believed that it was important to recognize this growing segment of the homeschooling community. Gifted homeschoolers told us that for most it was a necessity as regular educational settings simply could not meet the needs of their children. Parents felt they knew their children better, were qualified to teach or had access to resources in their communities or online (see link to Gifted Homeschoolers Forum). They also told us how much work they put into educating their children and the sacrifices that had been made to have a parent available to homeschool.
An edited (we don’t think you care to see all the retweets!) transcript of the full chat may be found at Storify. Check out the beautiful new interface that Storify has provided us making our transcripts much easier to read!
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Fridays at 7/6 C & 4 PT in the U.S., midnight in the UK and Saturdays 1 PM NZ/11 AM AEDT to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Storify. Our Facebook Pageprovides information on the chat and news & information regarding the gifted community.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered byTAGT 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
Links:
Can Empathy for Gifted Students Be Nurtured in Teachers?
Teaching Gifted Children: National Guidelines & State Requirements from Duke TIP
Ohio: Teaching Gifted Students
Professional Training for Teachers of the Gifted & Talented
Maryland: Criteria for Excellence Gifted & Talented Program Guidelines
NM: Gifted Education Licensure Endorsement Guide (pdf)
Knowledge & Skill Standards in Gifted Education for All Teachers the NAGC
NAGC-CEC Teacher Preparation Standards in Gifted
NAGC – CEC Teacher Preparation Standards in Gifted & Talented Education Guidelines (pdf)
Using NAGC-CEC Teacher Preparation Standards in CAEP Accreditation Process
Advice for New Gifted Education Specialists
Gifted Education Professional Development Package from the Australian Government Department of Education *Excellent resource for teachers
How Are Gifted Teachers Different from Other Teachers? (pdf) by Dr. Linda Silverman
What Are the Characteristics of Effective Teachers of the Gifted? by Carol Fertig
What Are the Most Effective Characteristics of Teachers of the Gifted? (pdf) 1997
Characteristics & Competencies of Teachers of Gifted Learners: The Hong Kong Teacher Perspective (pdf)
IL: Standards for Endorsement in Gifted Education
“Homeschooling Gifted Children” from Hoagies Gifted
Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families (Amazon) by Lisa Rivero
Homeschooling Highly Gifted Children by Kathi Kearney
Homeschooling with Profoundly Gifted Kids by Kathryn Finn
Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom
One Thing We’d Like to Tell The Teachers of Our Gifted Children …
Photo of teacher courtesy of By the U.S. Census Bureau (the U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Feature Photos) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Locating Age-Appropriate Books for High Ability Learners
Locating age-appropriate books for high ability learners can prove difficult for several reasons. Asynchronous development may mean that a very young child could comprehend reading material well beyond what may be considered appropriate for their age. As Lisa Van Gemert of American Mensa pointed out, interest levels and sensitivities also play important roles when finding appropriate yet challenging books for these children. Jo Freitag of Gifted Resources commented that material deemed appropriate for a child’s chronological age might be considered too simplistic and unsatisfying to the child. Leslie Graves, President of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, noted that the depth of thought embedded in the content and the pace of information offered would also make many leveled offerings inappropriate as well.
Reading patterns found in gifted readers can be different than those of typical readers. These kids often start reading earlier than their age peers and demonstrate deeper comprehension of what they read. Kate B. stated they may be self taught, read faster and be voracious readers. Justin Schwamm, Latin teacher at Tres Columnae, related that many gifted learners read and enjoy multiple books at once; which can drive others crazy. Moderator, Lisa Conrad, added that it’s still important to respect the developmental process and allow a child to enjoy reading at various levels. Parents should resist the urge to ‘push’ a child to read simply because they excel in other academic areas.
Reading to children was still considered an important role of both the parent and teacher even after children were reading well on their own. Jerry Blumengarten, well known content curator Cybraryman and former teacher, remembered family reading time as enjoyable and an important time to be set aside even after children were reading. When he taught Language Arts, his 9th grade students loved when he read dramatically to them. Jayne Frances reminded us that reading aloud is important for pronunciation of words and sharing more precise or alternate definitions than those gleaned from context. Many also related the importance of emotional bonding that occurs when adults read to children whether it was a parent or teacher.
The popular school reading program ‘Accelerated Reader’ did not fare well in the opinions of many at this chat. This program seemed out-of-sync with high ability learners. Justin Schwamm told us that he was not a fan because extrinsic rewards for an intrinsically-valuable task are problematic at best.
Questions for this chat are here and a full transcript of this chat can be found at Storify. Links from the chat and additional links are below. Thank you to all chat participants who shared links with us.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Fridays at 7/6 C & 4 PT in the U.S., midnight in the UK and Saturdays 1 PM NZ/11 AM AEDT to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Storify. Our Facebook Pageprovides information on the chat and news & information regarding the gifted community.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered byTAGT 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
Links:
Search Book Titles by Conceptual/Vocabulary Difficulty Age from Armadillo Soft
67 Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids Before Age 10
Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers (Amazon)
Guiding the Gifted Reader (1990)
Reading Lists for Your Gifted Child from Hoagies Gifted
Best-Loved Books: A Unique Reading List for Gifted Students Grades 6-12 (pdf)
Book List for Very Young Precocious Readers (link on bottom right of page)
Book List for Pre-teen Gifted Readers from Suki Wessling
The Challenge of “Challenged Books” Gifted Child Today Magazine Spring, 2002
Books for Young Readers from the MN Council for the Gifted & Talented
Appropriate Content for Gifted Readers from Duke TIP
13 Age-Appropriate Books for Young Gifted Readers
Gifted 101: Choosing Books for Your Young Gifted Reader
3 Reasons I Loathe Accelerated Reader from Lisa Van Gemert, The Gifted Guru
Dear Google, You Should Have Talked to Me First from Jen Marten
Reading Lists from Jo Freitag of Gifted Resources
Appropriate Expectations for the Gifted Child from SENG
Slow Down and Look at the Pictures
Early Literacy Page from Cybraryman
Mensa Foundation Excellence in Reading
Reading List for Key Stage 1 Gifted Readers (pdf) from Potential Plus UK
Reading and Literacy Skills Page from Cybraryman
Books Page from Cybraryman
Newbery Medal Winners 1922 – Present
Caldecott Medal and Honor Books 1938 – Present
Additional Links:
Orientation (The School for Gifted Potentials Book 1) by Allis Wade
Revelations (The School for Gifted Potentials Book 2) by Allis Wade
Gifted Readers and Young Adult Literature: A Perfect Match from Duke TIP
Book Lists from Davidson Institute for Talent Development
The Gifted Reader’s Bill of Rights (pdf) by Bertie Kingore
Mind the Gap: Engaging Gifted Readers
Resources for the Middle School Gifted Reader
Books for Gifted Readers (Middle School)
Reading Projects for Gifted and Talented Students
*Photos: Courtesy of morgueFile
** Photo: Courtesy of Pixabay
Student Voice: Listening to Gifted Learners
“Research shows that dropout rates, student achievement, and workforce readiness will improve by integrating student voices in the classroom and in society.” StudentVoice.org
This week at Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT, we chatted about involving students in their own learning. The Student Voice movement, founded by Zak Malamed, is an important initiative to foster student participation in the educational process and now includes a Twitter chat #stuvoice on Mondays at 8:30 PM ET.
Nikhal Goyal, an outspoken proponent of listening to students, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s TAGT 2014 Conference in Fort Worth in December. Nikhal is the author of One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School.
Chat participants considered what students would like educators to know. Comments included that students want to be challenged in the classroom, to be able to try it their way without being worried if the fail at first and to have their passions respected. A full transcript may be found at Storify.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Fridays at 7/6 C & 4 PT in the U.S., midnight in the UK and Saturdays 1 PM NZ/11 AM AEDT to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Storify. Our Facebook Pageprovides information on the chat and news & information regarding the gifted community.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered byTAGT 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
Links:
Student Voice (website)
One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School by Nikhil Goyal
3 Ways We Stifle Student Voice(s)
Listen to Your Students You Will Learn Alot!
Connected Learning: Tying Student Passions to School Subjects
Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design
Cybraryman’s Self-Determined Learning Genius Hour Page
3 Ways of Getting Student Feedback to Improve Your Teaching from Edutopia
Cybraryman’s Exit Slips Page
What Students Want from Teachers
Cybraryman’s What Students Want Page
Cybraryman’s Student Tech Help Page
Students Want More Say in District Accountability Plan Process
Newark Students Vow More Action
Ultimate Learning Environment Encouraging Student Voice in Classroom Design
Four Meaningful Ways Students Can Contribute
The Scary Thought of Letting Students Lead a Discussion
New Ways We Share the Narratives of Our Lives