“Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work. It is who you are. You think differently. You experience life intensely. You care about injustice. You seek meaning. You appreciate and strive for the exquisite. You are painfully sensitive. You are extremely complex. You cherish integrity. Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble. Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are. You are not broken. You do not need to be fixed. You are utterly fascinating. Trust yourself!”

Linda Silverman~Gifted Development Center Denver


Tuesday 9 July 2013

Gifted Education 101



Let me preface this post by saying I am NOT an expert in gifted education by any means.  I do hold my three part specialist qualifications in Special Education (including the gifted elective) and I have been teaching in a gifted intensive support program for the past six (going on seven) years.  I am also the mother of a beautiful daughter who was identified as profoundly gifted by her paediatrician when she was only 16 months old.  She attends a gifted ISP class in another school in my district.  

I am learning about teaching gifted students the same way I have learned about teaching ALL students, by listening, by observing, by trying new things, by differentiating, by talking to parents, to other staff, to experts in the field, by reading about and researching best practices, and by remaining open minded to all the things I don't know.  

When I started this blog, it was my intention to blog about teaching gifted students.  And I have.  But it might not look like it to someone outside looking in.  What is it that you do that is different I am often asked?  Usually I want to say NOTHING...good teaching is good teaching...but that is too simplistic a response.  Why?  Because gifted students do have different needs, they have different strengths and they do need different programming. 

This series of posts will not about whether or not gifted programs are a good thing or a bad thing, they will not meant as debate about funding or resources.  These posts are going to be straight up about what I do in my school board, in my school working with my colleagues and in my classroom with my students.   

Well let's start off with what is a gifted child?  I am asked this all the time by other teachers and non-eductors alike.  I bet you have all seen this before:

Click on the image above to download your own copy.


As an educator of the gifted and as a parent of a gifted child, first off let me say that neither column encompasses the whole child.  Many bright children possess gifted characteristics and many gifted students possess the characteristics of bright children.  Some children are bright and gifted.  Other children have been identified as "gifted" but may not present as "bright".  Some gifted students have multiple diagnoses and can be gifted/learning disabled.  I have students in my class who run the whole gamut of the continuum.  

In the Toronto District Public School board students are "tested" for the gifted program in the third grade.  Students are usually nominated by their teachers, but they can also be nominated for screening by their parents/guardians.

I won't get into the specifics of the testing/screening.  This is formally conducted by trained psychologists. On the overall scoring a student needs to be in the 98th percentile in one area - either perceptual or reasoning.  Parent and teacher observations and checklists are taken into account and a IPRC (Individual Placement and Review Committee) meeting is called to decide what would be the best placement for the student.  







The IPRC will meet with the parents and:
  • decide whether or not the student should be identified as exceptional
  • identify the areas of the student’s exceptionality, according to the categories and definitions of exceptionalities provided by the Ministry of Education
  • decide an appropriate placement for the student
  • review the identification and placement at least once in each school year
Students traditionally start in the gifted progam in the fourth grade, although TDSB does have some gifted programs for primary students.

You can click HERE to read my earlier post about the Top 10 Myths About Gifted Learners.

In the upcoming instalments of this Gifted 101 series I will delve into how teachers in my school work to meet the identified needs of gifted students.  Stay tuned!


15 comments:

  1. Just as you said, I have seen that little chart about the bright & gifted child and it is not black and white. Gifted or not children are way more complex than that.

    While I do hold a gifted certification in my state and teach children that have been identified as gifted, I do not consider myself an expert in the field either. Actually, I think I might be a little suspect of someone who classifies themselves as an expert. Even Joseph Renzuli acknowledges that there are too many variables.

    I will be watching your blog for more posts.

    Dee
    Mrs. B's Nook

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    1. So glad to have you on board as another voice in gifted education Dee! I appreciate your perspective, opinions and comments. If you have anything you think needs to be addressed or added please let me know. You can email me at teachingisgift@outlook.com.
      Sidney

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  2. I'm with you and Dee on this one. I too have my GT endorsement and it is not necessarily a totally different way of teaching the students. I too don't consider myself an expert and find that GT kids are just like every other kid in that their gifts vary and the amount of effort they put forth varies drastically. Just because a kid is identified as gifted doesn't mean he is not also a procrastinator and often turning in things late, etc. I try to differentiate and do lost of "compacting" with my kids so that we can take a deeper look into the standards.

    A great book that I love is Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner. One of my favorite books GT books that has real strategies for working with these kids in the classroom on a daily basis. I try to pattern a lot of her teaching strategies into my classroom to help my kids the best I can. I hope to inspire them. The worst thing I can do is bore them and make them think that learning is easy and requires little effort.
    ~Amy
    http://middleschoolminions.blogspot.com

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    1. Amy, I agree with you, kids are kids in many ways. Differentiation is important for ALL kids, not just for gifted kids. I have seen the book you mention and it is considered the bible for many a teacher who has gifted students integrated into their classroom. I also really enjoy the books by Laurie Westphal from Prufrock Press. I wrote a post about them earlier this year. If you haven't heard of them you can read more here: http://teachingisagift.blogspot.ca/2012/10/differentiation-using-choice-boards.html.
      Hope you will continue to follow and give feedback from your perspective.

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  3. Thanks so much for stopping by! I love all your info about gifted kiddos! I totally agree that our gifted kiddos have to be included in all of our differentiation too! Just because they are gifted, doesn't mean they can be given a more challenging task and left to fend for themselves!
    Amy
    3 Teacher Chicks

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  4. Thanks for your comment. I am frequently told how "easy it must be" to teach gifted classes, I wonder why if it is so "easy" why they have trouble filling those jobs? It is like all classes, it has its challenges, its ups and downs. Personally, I LOVE IT! Some days I want to rip my hair out, but really it keeps me on my toes!
    Sidney

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  5. If I had a dollar for every time someone says, "You teach the gifted kids...they are perfect", I'd be a BILLIONAIRE! People need to remember that gifted still falls under the E.S.E. umbrella. There is a very thin line between most gifted children and children with learning disabilities. Just because they are "labeled" gifted does NOT mean they are going to be your high-achievers, self-motivated, extremely responsible students. MYTH! I LOVE teaching gifted kiddos. Every day is a new adventure for sure.
    At my school we have a very high gifted population because we screen even as early as Kindergarten if a teacher feels they should be screened. We have a full-time class in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. There are 8 gifted endorsed teachers at my school. We change our program each year based on what we, as a team, believe is in the best interest of the students.
    I LOVED this post! Thank you. I can't wait to read more.
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  6. Alison,
    It must be exciting to have so many gifted classes in your school. You could really work well as a team. At my school there are 3 of us. Two of us have taught gifted for awhile and the other teacher is relatively new to teaching gifted but he is enthusiastic! You and I could put our "you teach gifted kids" dollars together and buy Google! When people make comments like that I just smile and tell them YES I am very fortunate. Why? Because I am, I love to teach and I am loving the challenges and tensions of teaching identified gifted kiddos. I am interested in what you have to say about my upcoming posts about what we have been told me MUST teach as a gifted program in TDSB.
    Sidney

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  7. I taught gifted ELA for my first two years, and as much as I loved it, it was VERY challenging to reach those students who weren't very motivated to work hard but still managed to do well. I had one student, in particular, who didn't show ANY effort on anything until April, when I finally hooked him in my poetry unit. Jeesh!

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    1. You just reminded me of a student I had several years ago who was totally, completely unmotivated to do anything that wasn't athletic! I remember taking his work down to the office and asking my principal what grade she thought I should give him! It can be very frustrating! You at least hooked your student with poetry, I can't say the same!
      Sidney

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    2. When you said 'athletic' it made me chuckle...sometimes some of my sweet, little ones are so "athletically challenged" and struggle with coordination. They get so frustrated when they don't do well in P.E. I tell them that it is okay because some other kiddos might be "academically challenged" and it's always best to try your hardest and work(really, really hard) with what you've got to pass those challenges. We make being part of the "Nerd Herd" cool...even if we can't line dance! haha
      Alison
      Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  8. Alison,
    Well, some of the kids in my program are athletic, not many I'll admit, but some. I have had several ranked tennis players and a ranked gymnast this year. I appreciated your comment, and the part about line dancing made me giggle. My class this year HATED H A T E D dance class more than anything! You never know from year to year.
    Sidney

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  9. Thanks for sharing these identification resources! I am a certified GATE teacher and GATE coordinator in California and it is really helpful to see what tools other districts are using. It is great to hear that you still have access to psychologists for identification testing. Can't wait to add your button to my blog (littlepieceoftape.blogspot.com) and keep reading!

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    1. MJ,
      I will sharing many more resources in the weeks and months to come. It has just taken a long time to work up to it. My mother had been horribly ill for the past year, and just passed away this week. Once I get her affairs settled, I will be able to focus more on the "gifted" aspect of my blog!
      Sidney

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  10. I was happy to find your blog tonight! I also teach in a self-contained gifted class in southern ontario. Looking forward to reading through your archives and sharing ideas.

    Sarah

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