Teaching the Gifted, Coffee House Session

     Tonight I had the pleasure of attending a session on teaching gifted students held by Zoe Branigan-Pipe and Kristy Luker of the HWDSB. It was not only refreshing to see that there are information sessions being held for this demographic of students, but also that so many parents and educators were in attendance to learn more. 

     The session focused primarily on different tools and resources that could be used for teaching gifted children. As someone that went through the self-contained program years ago, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to reflect on a few of the questions that arose from parents at the meeting. Please keep in mind that I am speaking from personal experiences and not from academic research!

As a parent, how do I keep up to date on all of the tools and resources my child is using?

     The honest answer is that you can't. We all have responsibilities, and the sad reality is that we will never have time to do all of the things that we want to do in life. The good news however is that your child is learning about new tools and resources on their own time and it's an excellent opportunity for them to teach you something. Getting involved in your child's education will benefit them tremendously!

     The wealth of tools and resources that are available for educators nowadays is overwhelming even for those of us that are younger and learning about them in our teacher education programs. At Brock, the Google suite is heavily emphasized, and we had an entire course exploring some of the tech tools out there, but there will never be time to become an expert at all of them. Pick something and stick with it. Maybe you start a blog with WordPress, go paperless with Google Docs, or get involved in local events through Twitter---the possibilities are endless! 

     It is important to remember that this is not a gifted thing, but something that applies to all students. While it might be more obvious in an enrichment centre, the times they are a-changin'. Just like we all got on board with cell phones, email, and Facebook, we need to shift our mindset of what education should look like and do our best to be positive role models in the responsible use of technology.

How do we get more of the experiences offered by the enrichment centre?

     There is often the misconception in gifted education that students would benefit more from a self-contained classroom than from visits to an enrichment centre. If a child has such positive experiences in an enrichment centre, why can't we develop a self-contained program for them where they always feel this way? There are many reasons, but the first is budgetary. The HWDSB enrichment centre sees about 450 students, or 20 classes, and is run by two full time staff. Right away we would need ten times as many staff to run a self-contained gifted program for the same student population. Beyond this, the resources of the enrichment centre would be divided between 20 classrooms, and suddenly the program isn't nearly as enticing.

     I could write an entire blog post about the stigma of being identified as gifted and placed in a self-contained classroom, but I will save that for a later date. Let's just say that there is a huge push in education right now towards inclusive classrooms, and the idea of segregating students identified as gifted would go against the grain. Instead of thinking about how to get gifted students out of the "regular" classroom and into the enrichment centre more often, what we really need to do is focus on developing ways to bring the environment and experiences of the enrichment centre into our "regular" classrooms. In teaching lingo this is often referred to as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and it is the idea that classrooms should be structured so that all students can be successful. The move away from self-contained gifted programs aligns well with the UDL framework, but now it's a matter of providing inclusive programming in our classrooms that can meet the needs of our gifted students. And we're not quite there yet. 

If my child cannot spend more time in the enrichment centre, what else can I do for them?

     The enrichment centre acts as a supplement to regular classroom routines, and what works best or what is the most engaging will vary for each student. Student motivation however is generally optimized when faced with tasks that are challenging and meaningful. Tune in to what your child is interested in and incorporate it into their life outside of school. Whether it is music, Minecraft, sewing, or quantum theory, there are plenty of resources out there you can put to use. As I said before about technology, you can't be an expert in everything, but you can talk to your child about their interests. And if you're completely stumped, talk to your child's gifted teacher---they do this for a living!

More information:

HWDSB Enrichment and Innovation Centre

Zoe Branigan-Pipe: @zbpipe / Pipedreams

Kristy Luker: @lukerkristy

The Case of Christina

Christina is a grade 8 student with an exceptionality, and after years of progressing with difficulty, she now performs at a grade 4/5 level in both reading and mathematics. Christina however has difficulties with creative writing, and despite having been provided with assistive technology, continues to struggle. She has had a very positive experience this year in an inclusive classroom as a result of attempts to mitigate her behavioural outbursts, and all parties in her educational network wish her the same success in her transition to a new school for grade 9.
Christina has repeatedly scored on the Wechsler scale in a range indicating the possibility of a mild developmental disability (borderline/low average, IQ≈80), however these psychometric assessments are insufficient in identifying an exceptionality. Differentiated instruction through the use of an EA for mathematics and as a reader for kindergarten students appears to have been responsible for the significant gains in these areas, and the repetitive nature of these tasks has likely benefitted her as well. Christina’s disabled left arm has been suggested as a reason she may have trouble succeeding with creative writing even with differentiation, however it is possible that this is instead a symptom of a larger issue. Her left-sided disability may indicate damage to the right hemisphere of the brain, thereby hampering her creative and emotional identity but not her ability in spoken language or calculations. Damage to the right hemisphere could also be used to explain the perseveration of socially inappropriate behaviours observed.
Christina likely suffers from a mild developmental disability as a result of a brain injury, and this is manifested as a below average IQ, delayed progression through developmental stages, and difficulty adjusting to social situations. Despite this, Christina has shown significant progress with differentiated instruction in reading and mathematics, and has adjusted well to social norms due to her inclusion in a regular classroom.

Maybe it's Me

     I am puzzled. Earlier this morning I completed the quizzes for sessions 2 and 3 online, and I'll reluctantly admit that I bombed both. I went to class, participated each session thus far, read all of the required readings, and have even studied cognitive development before, but I got an even 50% on both assessments. And that is why I am puzzled.

     Last week we discussed how phrasing can carry all sorts of connotations, and "puzzling" was one word that was brought up and discussed. While puzzles are typically thought of as being enjoyable in this day and age (not so much in Greek tradition), there seemed to be a pretty firm consensus that the word puzzling had negative connotations. That a student who was puzzled might feel lost and discouraged. That I could have saved hours of reading and received a similar mark through probability makes me question not just my capabilities, but the assessment as well. It was open book after all.

     I don't think I am entitled to a good mark, and who knows, maybe I just picked a sloppy answer on each, dropping my mark significantly. Maybe it's me, but I found the phrasing of each question rather puzzling in itself, and the possible answers no better. The entire assessment seemed to fall in my Zone of Proximal Development. Perhaps I was simply functioning at a concrete operational level, without abstract and idealistic thought? What would Piaget say?