Gifted & Talented PLMYears 7 & 8

Term 1, 2009

J. Smith

Definitionsof Giftedness

http://assessment.usatests.com/iqtest/?v=

Renzulli’s Three-ring Model

Activity: HOT or NOT

Student feedback 2008

‘just because we may be smarter doesn't mean we don't need time to ourselves to be kids and have fun. Most of the time we

are pressured to always behave and always get good marks, its like the

teachers don't understand that we are still only 14 and we make mistakes and we

need time to do things well. Also my year’s telescope class is constantly being told

that we aren't good enough, and our marks aren't good enough, just because

we can't always do our work to the best of our abilities, not because were not trying

but because we have so much on our plate, that we can’t possibly do everything

well.’

‘I enjoy challenging myself so I can do better, but it just becomes too much

sometimes. It's hard to do work to proper standards if you have too much to do and

not enough time.’

‘Telescope students are often seen as more responsible and are able to handle a lot

more than they really can. It is unfair to the telescope students as we are really just going through the same things as our

other peers.’

‘I really enjoy our class because we can all work at the same pace and learn things

really quickly. I have found that I had stopped listening to what teachers say after about 15 minutes…because they

have explain every single little thing when I understand what they are teaching

already. Some of the other students (ones who aren't in the telescope class) judge us

and don't really socialize with us just because we are in the telescope program.’

So what’s it

all about?

Underachievement

‘there is no doubt that many gifted students underachieve quite deliberately in an attempt to win social acceptance by their classmates and

teachers.’‘Since his strengths are undervalued by his peers,

he may come to seek peer approval by seeking to develop the skills and attributes which are

valued…by becoming the class clown, gaining leadership status in a group of disaffected

students of much lower intellectual capacity, or developing a sporting talent at the expense of

his academic ability.’

- Professor Miraca Gross (1989)

Activity:Bright Child/Gifted Learner

Bright Child Gifted LearnerKnows the answers Asks the questions

Is interested Is highly curious

Is attentive Is mentally and physically involved

Has good ideas Has wild, silly ideas

Works hard Plays around, yet tests well

Answers the questions Discusses in detail, elaborates

Top group Beyond the group

Listens with interest Shows strong feelings and opinions

Learns with ease Already knows

6-8 repetitions for mastery 1-2 repetitions for mastery

Grasps the meaning Constructs abstractions

Bright Child Gifted LearnerEnjoys peers Prefers adults

Grasps the meaning Draws inferences

Completes assignments Initiates projects

Is receptive Is intense

Copies accurately Creates a new design

Enjoys school Enjoys learning

Absorbs information Manipulates information

Technician Inventor

Good memoriser Good guesser

Enjoys straightforward, sequential presentations

Thrives on complexity

Is alert Is keenly observant

Is pleased with own learning Is highly self-critical

Characteristics as Learners

• The ability to ask reflective and probing, sometimes provocative, questions

• The capacity to see and create patterns and relationships in their field of special ability

• Can become deeply absorbed in work that they find interesting

• Unusually fast rate of learning

Characteristics as Learners cont.

• Reasons at a level more usually found in a student some years older

• Extremely well developed memory

• Dislike of slow-paced work

• Many gifted students have a preference for independent work

• It is unusual for a gifted student to have only one area of high ability

Social/Emotional Characteristics

Many gifted students have:

• A feeling of needing to ‘dumb down’ and hide their abilities for peer acceptance

• A high level of emotional intensity

• An unusual ability to empathise with the feelings of other students or adults

• An unusually well developed sense of justice and fairness

Social/Emotional Characteristics cont.

• An unusually mature sense of humour

• A preference for the companionship of older students

• A tendency towards perfectionism

• A strong attachment to one or two close friends rather than more casual relationships with a larger group

One of the greatest gifts wecan give a gifted student is the

opportunity and encouragement to risk temporary ‘failure’ in the secure environment of a classroom which encourages all students, including

the gifted, to let their reachexceed their grasp.

- Professor Miraca Gross, UNSW

What kind of teacher?☑ High degree of intelligence☑ High degree of intellectual honesty☑ Expertise in a specific academic area☑ A genuine interest in and liking of gifted

learners☑ Strong belief in individual differences☑ Highly developed teaching skill☑ Self-directed in own learning☑ Level-headed and emotionally stable

- Karen B. Rogers, ‘Re-Forming Gifted Education’, 2002

Activity: Effective Questioning

To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions

- Sam Keen

Judge others by their questions rather than by their answers

- Voltaire

There was no telling what people might find out once they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to.

- Joseph HellerOnline Resources

Differentiating the Curriculum

Pre-testing

Using data to inform practice

Data available:• AIM/NAPLAN (available on Intranet)

• HAST yr 7 ’09 (available from J. Smith)

• PAT Maths

• PAT Comprehension (have been e-mailed to all staff)

Models of Differentiation

• Maker Model• Williams’ Model• Kaplan Model

Online resources

Content modifications for gifted students should:

• be abstract, complex, varied

• involve issues of organisation, study of people, methods of inquiry

The following is taken from The Maker Model:

Examples

We modify content in the Telescope Program through:

• Designing units at a higher VELS level• Allowing for student questioning/inquiry• Compacting the curriculum• Exploring a wider, more challenging

range of materials/resources• Extra-curricular extension activities

Process modifications for gifted students should:

• involve higher order thinking processes

• promote creative and critical thinking

• require problem solving

• involve group interaction

• have variable levels of pacing

• allow for debriefing of the process

• involve open-endedness

• allow for freedom of choice

Examples

We modify process in the Telescope Program at MacKillop through:

• Asking high-order and open questions

• Posing real-life problems

• Faster pacing of activities

• Variation in grouping & assessment

Product modifications for gifted students should:

• involve real world problems• be for real world audiences• require real deadlines• require transformation of learning• involve appropriate assessment and evaluation• involve extended or accelerated outcomes

ExamplesWe modify product in the Telescope

Program at MacKillop through:

• Presenting to real audiences• Using real-life situations/problems• Offering more in-depth assessment tasks

over a longer time period• Using rubrics created against higher VELS

standards• Providing choice of tasks/modes of

presentation

Learning environment modifications for gifted students should:

• be flexible and open

• encourage independent and intrinsic learning

• be accepting and non-judgemental

• encourage complex and abstract thought

Examples

We modify the learning environment in the Telescope Program at MacKillop through:

• Timetabling classes into student-centred classrooms

• Providing access to technology

• Additional incursions/excursions

• Celebrating individual differences

Effective Practices

Integrated Learning Tasks

Ability grouping

Using technology-wikis for learning

Faster pacing

Using real-world situations and

problems

Student-led classes

Using experts

Student-generated rubrics

Negotiated Assessment Tasks

Higher order thinking/questioning