Addressing the other half of the Special Needs Spectrum Jacob Johanssen Colegio Roosevelt (The American School of lima)

 Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What is a sundial in the shade? Ben Franklin

Common Misconceptions about Giftedness  A gifted student should be an all-around amazing student.  We should spend a lot of time focusing on the student’s weaknesses.  A gifted student will not have any sort of disability.  There is a sure-fire formula for identifying gifted students.  Students can only be gifted academically.

Gifted Behavior  Gifted vs. Gifted Behaviors  The student could be an expert in one area and not proficient in another.  Also giftedness may come and go over time.

What does it mean to be gifted/have gifted behaviors?  Varies from place to place and person to person (in how they determine).  Traditionally related to cognitive ability such as IQ or similar test scores.

The 3-Ring Conception of Giftedness 1

Above-Average Ability  GENERAL-High levels of abstract thinking, verbal and numerical reasoning, spatial relations, memory, and word fluency. Adaptation to the shaping of novel situations encountered in the external environment. 1  SPECIFIC-The capacity for acquiring and making appropriate use of advanced amounts of formal knowledge, tacit knowledge, technique, logistics, and strategy in the pursuit of' particular problems or the manifestation of specialized areas of performance. 1

Creativity  Fluency, flexibility, and originality of thought. Openness to experience; receptive to that which is new and different (even irrational) in thoughts, actions, and products of oneself and others. 1  Curious, speculative, adventurous, and "mentally playful" willing to take risks in thought and action, even to the point of being uninhibited. 1  Sensitive to detail, aesthetic characteristics of ideas and things; willing to act on and react to external stimulation and one's own ideas and feelings. 1

Task Commitment  The capacity for high levels of interest, enthusiasm, fascination, and involvement in a particular problem. area of study, or form of human expression. 1  The capacity for perseverance. endurance. determination, hard work, and dedicated practice. A strong ego and a belief in one's ability to carry out important work, freedom from inferiority feelings, drive to achieve. 1  The ability to identify significant problems within specialized reason; the ability to tune in to major channels of communication and new developments within given fields. Setting high standards for one's work; maintaining an openness to self and external criticism; developing an aesthetic sense of taste, quality, and excellence about one's own work and the work of others. 1

How should we identify giftedness?  Get together in groups of 3 or less.  Review the profiles of the students and decided who you would admit into the program and why.  You have 10 minutes.

Techniques to help get to know your (gifted) students  PRETESTS  Interest surveys (for all different levels)  Letters from the students  Informal conversations  Exploratory projects  Personality tests (Meyers-Briggs, Kiersey Temperment Sorter, Learning Styles, Multiple intelligences etc.)Meyers-Briggs, Kiersey Temperment Sorter  Strengths Finder Test Strengths Finder Test

4 Ways to Differentiate Instruction 2  Content/Topic  Process/Activities  Product  Manipulating the Environment or Through different learning styles  See link for more information on differentiation by Content, Process and Product.link

Differentiation for Gifted Students  Compacting  Acceleration  Extension

Compacting  Basically condensing the unit and only having the student do what they don’t know.  Step 1: PRETEST. If you don’t know where they are, you can’t help them move forward.  Step 2: Locate any holes or gaps and fill those in.  Step 3: Accelerate or Extend your students knowledge. SOESOE

Acceleration  This is similar to skipping a grade but could be as simple as skipping a unit. Basically it is any strategy that allows the student to work more quickly than is normal for their level.  One disadvantage is if one teacher does this, the student must continue down that path otherwise they run the risk of being bored and not challenged once again.  “Grouping kids by age for instruction makes about as much pedagogical sense as grouping them by height. ~Deborah Ruf

Extension  This doesn’t involve changing the content but rather going in more depth.  This could be a tiered lesson (see examples at table)  This could also be a project that you have the students do. ParaboloidsParaboloids

What’s there to lose by trying…  “A rising tide lifts all ships”

Extra Resources  There are literally hundreds of resources for either gifted education or differentiation. Below is a link to a wiki I started please visit it and add links/comments to what is already there. That is also where I will be uploading all of my info.

Questions?

Sources  1:A Practical System for Identifying Gifted and Talented Students 1:A Practical System for Identifying Gifted and Talented Students  2:Differentiating Instruction 2:Differentiating Instruction  3: For Idaho Teachers 3: For Idaho Teachers