First Time in a Gifted Program
or What’s going on? Why didn’t somebody tell me about this?
How children react to being placed in a Gifted program for the first time will depend on their personalities, backgrounds, and experiences, but you can make it an easier transition if you talk with them ahead of time. For many children, placement in a more rigorous program is a real eye-opener. It can be the first time their work is commensurate with their abilities, which — on the face of it — sounds like a good thing. But problems can arise.
All of us have a sense of what we can do and how much effort it’ll take to accomplish a given task. Based on my life experience, I know how long it will take me to read a book or write a paper. Your child has that sense of self, too, when it comes to school or sports or music. But now let’s say that she’s been moved from a class where she had mastered material quicker than the other students, into a class where students are closer to her level, perhaps even above it. She’s been moved out of her comfort zone. What was considered great work in her previous class is just average in her new one. Her expectations are challenged and she has to create a new view of reality, to fit her sense of self into a class where she works harder than in the past.
Most people, adults as well as children, will do anything they can to avoid making such a change. Younger students seem to adjust more quickly, since they haven’t had as long to become complacent as students. But they can struggle as well.
The two most common responses can confuse, frustrate, and break the hearts of parents. You were expecting joy, a sense of release from the boredom you’ve heard about for so long. Instead, the first thing you’re likely to hear is: “This assignment is stupid/a waste of time.”
Or: “The teacher is mean / isn’t fair.”
Or: “The other kids have their parents do the homework.”
Or the kicker: “I don’t have any friends.”
You wonder what happened. Well, what happened was actually a very normal, very familiar human response. It’s been around forever — think back to Aesop’s Fables. When the fox can’t reach the grapes, he decides that they were probably sour anyway. This isn’t an intentional negativity; it’s just what often happens when a person is moved out of her comfort zone.
Less common but more heartbreaking are cries that “I’m not smart enough to do this! I want to go back to my other class.” How are you to respond?
First, before your child joins the new class, discuss with her how challenging that class will be. Remind her she’ll be learning new ways to think that might not be easy, but you know she can do it. Once school begins, if you start hearing anything like the comments above, check in with the teacher about what your child is feeling. While doing so, try not to be underwhelmed by your teacher’s lack of perception. Odd as it may seem to you, having heard nothing but troubles from your child, it’s often the case that a student won’t manifest any sign of worry or upset in class. When the teacher says your child seems to be doing just fine, she may not be as weirdly out-of-touch as it seems. Your child can be quite different in school than at home.
Which can leave a teacher unaware there’s a problem, but not because such a problem is unheard-of. You’re undoubtedly just the latest concerned parent, not the first one.
The best thing you can give both the teacher and the student is time. Have your child commit to at least 6 weeks of being in class — assuming you see real effort from her — before you’ll even consider pulling her. Giving in early simply allows a child to avoid the difficult task of learning how to cope with a changing world. The same sort of angst can occur when a child is promoted to middle school, high school, or goes off to college. Or when an adult moves to a new city or a new job; changes keep on happening throughout life. The skill of coping is best learned at a younger age when a strong support system is in place (that’s you, of course). Just remember that supporting isn’t the same thing as reacting; do not just react. Talk with your child, talk with her teacher, put together a plan and give it time to work.
Beware of making excuses for your child: She’s young for this grade. She’s never done this before. We just went through a [insert family difficulty here]. The moon is full.
There will always be reasons. And yes, there can be situations in which the reasons are valid. Are you in such a picture? The fact — unpalatable as it may be — is that you just can’t know today. It’s going to take a while. You can, and should, act to find out but without deciding first. Talk with the teacher. An experienced teacher knows that kids are amazingly adaptable, and that maturity is very different from chronological age. She has no doubt had other students who felt even less able to cope with change. She’ll probably have recommendations specific to her class (ie, grade level, subject, social situation amongst students, etc) to help you in helping your child.
If you’re really lucky, your child falls in that rarest of categories: the kid who’s never been challenged like this before, but wow, there’s so much to learn! How do I get more?! In twenty years of teaching gifted and profoundly gifted students, I’ve worked with more than 50 who were entirely new to the program. Perhaps 5 or 6 responded this way. And nearly all the others settled in and rose to the occasion once the first few weeks had passed.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
What a Gifted Program Should Be
You’ve long thought your child was special and now the school district has confirmed it. You’ve received a letter telling you that your child has qualified for the gifted program. But what exactly does that mean? The State of California Department of Education has a link to answer frequently asked questions about GATE programs, but here’s a quick overview.
Many districts no longer provide an IQ number after testing; instead, the score is reported as a percentile. For example, if you’re told your child scored in the 98.4th percentile, that would mean that she performed better than 984 other students out of every 1000 tested. The tests are typically normed nationally, so the district doesn’t have to actually test 1000 students to determine your child’s score. Some tests only cover spatial relationships, while others include language ability. You need to check with your school to find out what kind of test was used. There’s really no way to study for these tests because they’re not knowledge-based, but some logic-problem-solving methods can be learned and might be helpful, depending on the test.
Ideally, your child will be placed in a classroom with other gifted and talented students, overseen by an experienced teacher. Perhaps even by one of the few teachers trained to meet not just academic, but also emotional needs of these quirky, challenging youngsters. The curriculum may be – should be -- differentiated from the ‘regular’ classroom in terms of depth, complexity, novelty, and acceleration. This next section has definitions for the teacher jargon typically associated with a GATE program. It’s important to understand what each method of instruction is meant to be since, in my experience, some teachers use the terms without actually using the method.
If you’re interested in more details, accelerated teaching means the material is covered much more quickly than in a ‘regular’ class. Once the majority of students understand the lesson, the class moves on. The material won’t be shortchanged, but your child should no longer complain of sitting bored while the teacher repeats the same concept over and over.
Compacting is another means of ‘accelerating’ the curriculum. Any child scoring well on a pre-test is excused from having to cover the material again. Typically such a child is then given one of three options:
1) continuing to move through the curriculum at her own pace,
2) working on enrichment in the same content area to deepen her understanding, or
3) selecting an area of high interest to her, for independent study.
Which options are offered will depend on the attitude of the teacher, the number of students in the class, maturity level of the individual student, and the student’s needs. In an ideal world, neither teacher attitude nor class size would matter, but they do have a large impact on the program that’s provided.
One of the most popular strategies to use with GATE students is the Socratic Seminar. In the San Diego Unified School District, Socratic Seminar is defined as: “A highly structured process in which students seek a more in-depth understanding of complex ideas through rigorously thoughtful dialogue instead of memorizing bits of information or meeting arbitrary demands for simple ‘coverage’ of a topic. Socratic Seminar is not to be confused with… simple group discussion or sharing of options rather than ideas.”
If you’re interested in more details
Other strategies include:
➢ Learning Centers – Students explore topics or practice skills, preferably at greater depth than in standard lessons; not typically used in the upper grades.
➢ Tiered Lessons – All students cover the same concepts, but lessons are individualized based on the needs of each student;
➢ Problem Based Learning – Students are provided with a real-world problem, which they then explore through creating a hypothesis, researching to find information, and developing solutions.
➢ Independent Study – More mature students work with teachers / mentors to investigate an area of interest to the student, creating some product that will demonstrate the student’s knowledge.
➢ Taba Questioning – uses questioning to lead students from factual understanding through inductive reasoning, to deductive reasoning and evaluation.
➢ Icons for Depth and Complexity – Based on eleven “tools” one needs to master in order to have a true command of a subject. For depth: language of the discipline, big idea, essential details, rules, patterns, trends, unanswered questions, and ethics. For complexity: change over time, multiple points of view, and connections across the disciplines. (NOT A NOUN PHRASE LIKE THE OTHERS) Pictographs help students keep these tools in mind as while learning.
➢ Lawrence Kohlberg – Developed a theory for how moral reasoning develops. Lessons have students think about and discuss moral dilemmas, with the goal of reaching a realization that universal ethical principles exist and should be applied to real-world problems.
No classroom can incorporate all strategies all the time. The right strategy for one student may not work for another and the teaching style of the instructor also has to be taken into account. But any strong program for the gifted should include a great deal of questioning and reasoning. As Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner wrote in Teaching as a Subversive Activity, “Once you have learned how to ask questions – relevant and appropriate and substantial questions – you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know.” And that’s where you need to start – by asking questions of your child’s school:
•If your child scored in the 99.9th percentile, she is considered profoundly gifted. Does the school have a program specifically for the profoundly gifted? (In San Diego Unified the program is called “Seminar”. Class size is limited to 20-25 students (the number is in flux due to budget crisis).)
•What model does the school use for GATE classes? Homogeneous – all students are identified as gifted. Cluster – between 25% and 50% are identified as gifted. Individual GATE Plans (IGPs) – written for each student.
o If the model is Cluster, what percentage is GATE-identified and how are the non-identified students selected?
o If the model is IGPs, who will monitor the student’s progress? And how do the expectations of the IGP relate to the work required by teachers who are not monitoring the IGP?
•How many students are in a GATE class? How does this compare with a regular class?
•What training has the teacher had in gifted education?
o Was the training provided by the district or does she have a GATE credential?
o How long has she been teaching gifted classes?
You won’t be able to change the answers you get to these questions, but the information will help you understand what to expect as your child progresses through the year. Schools aren’t required to provide special programs for gifted students, but if they do, then the State of California has standards specifically for GATE programs. These standards must be adhered to if the districts want to continue to receive funding from the state for those programs. So if you feel like your child’s needs aren’t being met, check the standards out first and then approach the teacher. See what she has to say. Most of the public school teachers I worked with are quite open about listening to parental concerns and addressing them whenever possible.
Of course, the challenge is determining when difficulties may lie with the instruction or with a child’s adjustment to a more rigorous program. But that’s a different article.
Many districts no longer provide an IQ number after testing; instead, the score is reported as a percentile. For example, if you’re told your child scored in the 98.4th percentile, that would mean that she performed better than 984 other students out of every 1000 tested. The tests are typically normed nationally, so the district doesn’t have to actually test 1000 students to determine your child’s score. Some tests only cover spatial relationships, while others include language ability. You need to check with your school to find out what kind of test was used. There’s really no way to study for these tests because they’re not knowledge-based, but some logic-problem-solving methods can be learned and might be helpful, depending on the test.
Ideally, your child will be placed in a classroom with other gifted and talented students, overseen by an experienced teacher. Perhaps even by one of the few teachers trained to meet not just academic, but also emotional needs of these quirky, challenging youngsters. The curriculum may be – should be -- differentiated from the ‘regular’ classroom in terms of depth, complexity, novelty, and acceleration. This next section has definitions for the teacher jargon typically associated with a GATE program. It’s important to understand what each method of instruction is meant to be since, in my experience, some teachers use the terms without actually using the method.
If you’re interested in more details, accelerated teaching means the material is covered much more quickly than in a ‘regular’ class. Once the majority of students understand the lesson, the class moves on. The material won’t be shortchanged, but your child should no longer complain of sitting bored while the teacher repeats the same concept over and over.
Compacting is another means of ‘accelerating’ the curriculum. Any child scoring well on a pre-test is excused from having to cover the material again. Typically such a child is then given one of three options:
1) continuing to move through the curriculum at her own pace,
2) working on enrichment in the same content area to deepen her understanding, or
3) selecting an area of high interest to her, for independent study.
Which options are offered will depend on the attitude of the teacher, the number of students in the class, maturity level of the individual student, and the student’s needs. In an ideal world, neither teacher attitude nor class size would matter, but they do have a large impact on the program that’s provided.
One of the most popular strategies to use with GATE students is the Socratic Seminar. In the San Diego Unified School District, Socratic Seminar is defined as: “A highly structured process in which students seek a more in-depth understanding of complex ideas through rigorously thoughtful dialogue instead of memorizing bits of information or meeting arbitrary demands for simple ‘coverage’ of a topic. Socratic Seminar is not to be confused with… simple group discussion or sharing of options rather than ideas.”
If you’re interested in more details
Other strategies include:
➢ Learning Centers – Students explore topics or practice skills, preferably at greater depth than in standard lessons; not typically used in the upper grades.
➢ Tiered Lessons – All students cover the same concepts, but lessons are individualized based on the needs of each student;
➢ Problem Based Learning – Students are provided with a real-world problem, which they then explore through creating a hypothesis, researching to find information, and developing solutions.
➢ Independent Study – More mature students work with teachers / mentors to investigate an area of interest to the student, creating some product that will demonstrate the student’s knowledge.
➢ Taba Questioning – uses questioning to lead students from factual understanding through inductive reasoning, to deductive reasoning and evaluation.
➢ Icons for Depth and Complexity – Based on eleven “tools” one needs to master in order to have a true command of a subject. For depth: language of the discipline, big idea, essential details, rules, patterns, trends, unanswered questions, and ethics. For complexity: change over time, multiple points of view, and connections across the disciplines. (NOT A NOUN PHRASE LIKE THE OTHERS) Pictographs help students keep these tools in mind as while learning.
➢ Lawrence Kohlberg – Developed a theory for how moral reasoning develops. Lessons have students think about and discuss moral dilemmas, with the goal of reaching a realization that universal ethical principles exist and should be applied to real-world problems.
No classroom can incorporate all strategies all the time. The right strategy for one student may not work for another and the teaching style of the instructor also has to be taken into account. But any strong program for the gifted should include a great deal of questioning and reasoning. As Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner wrote in Teaching as a Subversive Activity, “Once you have learned how to ask questions – relevant and appropriate and substantial questions – you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or need to know.” And that’s where you need to start – by asking questions of your child’s school:
•If your child scored in the 99.9th percentile, she is considered profoundly gifted. Does the school have a program specifically for the profoundly gifted? (In San Diego Unified the program is called “Seminar”. Class size is limited to 20-25 students (the number is in flux due to budget crisis).)
•What model does the school use for GATE classes? Homogeneous – all students are identified as gifted. Cluster – between 25% and 50% are identified as gifted. Individual GATE Plans (IGPs) – written for each student.
o If the model is Cluster, what percentage is GATE-identified and how are the non-identified students selected?
o If the model is IGPs, who will monitor the student’s progress? And how do the expectations of the IGP relate to the work required by teachers who are not monitoring the IGP?
•How many students are in a GATE class? How does this compare with a regular class?
•What training has the teacher had in gifted education?
o Was the training provided by the district or does she have a GATE credential?
o How long has she been teaching gifted classes?
You won’t be able to change the answers you get to these questions, but the information will help you understand what to expect as your child progresses through the year. Schools aren’t required to provide special programs for gifted students, but if they do, then the State of California has standards specifically for GATE programs. These standards must be adhered to if the districts want to continue to receive funding from the state for those programs. So if you feel like your child’s needs aren’t being met, check the standards out first and then approach the teacher. See what she has to say. Most of the public school teachers I worked with are quite open about listening to parental concerns and addressing them whenever possible.
Of course, the challenge is determining when difficulties may lie with the instruction or with a child’s adjustment to a more rigorous program. But that’s a different article.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Upcoming Events!
Please join us for our Open House on Sunday, August 15, Noon to 5 PM. Learn all about RVA!
2010-2011 School Year
Classes begin in August
Holiday break December 21 - January 5
Classes end June 10
Renaissance Village Academy
9988 Hibert St., Ste 301
San Diego, CA 92131-2480
Please contact us with any questions you have.
858.564.9622
director@rva.us.com
2010-2011 School Year
Classes begin in August
Holiday break December 21 - January 5
Classes end June 10
Renaissance Village Academy
9988 Hibert St., Ste 301
San Diego, CA 92131-2480
Please contact us with any questions you have.
858.564.9622
director@rva.us.com
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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