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