Including Gifted and Talented Students

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Including Gifted and Talented Students

• By Nicole Terry

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• A gifted child is one who is superior in some
  ability that can make him or her an outstanding
  contributor to the welfare and quality of living
  in the society. (Torrance, Emeritus, Sisk 1)

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Teachers Misconceptions

• Student can succeed on their own
• Student is self-motivated and can teach
  themselves
• Student loves to teach other students
• Student is proud to model work and behaviour

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• Student is normally consider to be a loner
• Student cant be identified until grade 3 or 4
• Student has no special needs because every child
  is gifted

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Dilemma

• Teachers justify their decision not to give a
  gifted student advanced material because it will
  create a higher achievement range in the class.

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Types of Giftedness

• Holistic learners students that look at the big
  picture
• Analytical learners students that examine the
  individual parts

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• A gifted child may have an obvious grasp of
  the big picture, he may lack a few of the
  smaller, yet important, puzzle pieces that fit
  together naturally with age or experience. Use
  careful observation and curriculum compacting so
  that you design activities that allow him to
  demonstrate mastery of concepts, gain the
  necessary knowledge and skills, and then move on
  to an appropriate challenge level. (Smutny 30)

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Motivation

• Give students a chance to use what is learned
• Get students interested in what is being learned,
  and not grades
• Make activities appropriate
• Allow students to use their best abilities
• Make sure that there is a purpose to learning

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Behaviour Characteristics

• Large vocabulary
• Learn basic skills better, more quickly and with
  less practice
• Seek the hows and whys
• Unlimited amount of energy
• Respond and relate to parents, teachers and other
  adults better

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Learning Characteristics

• Reading level that is intended for older children
• Questioning attitude and seeks information
• Skeptical, critical, and evaluative, and are
  quick to spot inconsistencies
• Knowledgeable about various topics, and recalls
  quickly
• Grasp underlying principles  
• Quickly perceive similarities and differences
• Attack complicated material

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Signs of Young Perfectionists

• Dissatisfied with their work
• Start over and over again
• Self-critical
• Tattle
• Procrastinate
• Afraid to take risks

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Accommodations

• special schools
• fulltime classes
• pullout or withdrawal programs
• cluster groups
• regrouping for specific subject instruction
• cross-grade grouping

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The Curriculum

• Compacting individualizing parts of the
  curriculum that will challenge the gifted
  students learning
• Extensions extend and expand learning in the
  students area of strength

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Principles to create an inclusive classroom

• 1. Dedicated and planned approaches
• 2. Recognition of prior learning
• 3. Qualitative and Quantitative Differentiation
• 4. Real Challenge
• 5. Opportunities to develop persistence and
  perseverance
• 6. Reinforcement of intrinsic motivation
• 7. Assisting students with feelings of being
  different

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Pyryt Enrichment Matrix

• Pace- subject matter acceleration
• Process- cognitive and affective training,
  how-to-learn skills, advanced research and
  communication skills
• Passion- allow students to pursue their academic
  passions
• Product- identify students preferred expression
  formats as a way of expanding the variety of
  learning options for students
• Peers- not necessarily a guaranteed positive
  relationship

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Professional Development needs to focus on

• awareness
• information
• personal
• management
• consequences
• collaboration
• refocusing

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Teachers Paperwork

• Program plan
• List of identified students (their talents and
  services needed)
• IEPs
• Annual report/summary

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Works Cited

• Modifying Regular Classroom Curriculum for Gifted
  and Talented Students. Laura McGrail. 2008. 17
  January 2008. www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages
  /Modifying_Curriculum.cfm
• Roets, L. How to Survive and Thrive as Educators
  of Gifted and Talented Students. Iowa Leadership
  Publishers Inc., 1999.
• Smith, Chris. Including the Gifted and Talented
  Making Inclusion Work for More Gifted and Able
  Learners. New York Routledge, 2006.
• Smutny, J., Walker, S., Meckstroth, E.
  Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular
  Classroom. Minneapolis Free Spirit Publishing
  Inc.
• The Rhode Island State Advisory Committee on
  Gifted and Talented Education. 1995. 28 January
  2008 ltwww.rit.net/gifted_talented/rhode.htmlgt
• Tips for Teachers Successful Strategies for
  Teaching Gifted Learners. Davidson Institute for
  Talent Development. 2008. 17 January 2008.
  www.gt-cybersource.org/Record.aspx?NavID2_0rid1
  1201gt
• Torrance, E. Paul, Emeritus, Sisk, D. Gifted
  and Talented Children in the Regular Classroom.
  New York Creative Education Foundation Press,
  2001.
• Winebrenner, S. Teaching Gifted Kids in the
  Regular Classroom. Free Spirit Publishing Inc.,
  1992.