Gifted and Talented in the 21st Century

Technology is an exciting learning tool for most students, but for gifted and talented students it represents the opportunity to engage in deep and complex thinking on a wide variety of topics. In the primary grades, technology can be a powerful motivator. I don’t mean dangling a computer usage as a reward for compliance. The technology can motivate reading, writing, deep and critical thinking. In my work with primary grade students I have used several technologies to motivate students thinking. Voicethreads provide an opportunity for students to practice public speaking in a less threatening environment than standing in front of a class. It enables students to share thoughts and ideas about a story or activity without requiring strong writing skills. In teaching students to write a persuasive paragraph, students were motivated by being able to record their paragraphs for parents, grandparents, and friends to listen to on Voicethread. http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/amazing%20grace.aspx
First graders loved creating a Geometry Video with our symmetry activities http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/geometry%20video.mp4
Seeing their work on the school website was extraordinarily motivating to kindergarten students http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/Kindergarten%20Corner.aspx?PageView=Shared
Students in primary grades require assistance with all of these technologies however they can quickly become competent in using them with supervision. The rewards of increased motivation, increased deep thinking are well worth the investment in time to introduce the tools.

The Gifted Kids Network is a web based supplemental gifted and talented programming model that includes accelerated or advanced content and affective programming. Enrolled students from schools and districts throughout the United States are able to come together in a private secure online environment to engage in high level content with other gifted peers. Gifted Kids Network utilizes technologies such as wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, collaborative documents, podcasting and video or photo sharing to create a virtual gifted program that is collaborative, connected, and social.

Registration is now open for Fall and Spring Classes www.giftedkidsnetwork.com/fall.htm

Ancient Civilizations This a full year class. Students should plan to enroll for 2 semesters.
Grades 5-7
Representative Topics: Fertile Crescent, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, Ancient China, Ancient Americas, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.

Students expand their understanding of history by studying the people and events that ushered in the dawn of the major Western and non-Western ancient civilizations. Geography is of special significance in the development these civilizations. Emphasis is placed on the daily lives, cultures, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and political structures, as well as in establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed where and when they did, why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds.

Astrobiology Full year course offered Fall and Spring
Grades 7-8
Representative Topics: History of Life on Earth, Chemistry of Life, Cells and Cellular Functions, Life in Extreme Environments, Habitability of other Planets/Moons.
The field of Astrobiology asks three main questions: How does life begin and evolve? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Through this unit, students will gain an appreciation for the many complexities of life, the basic necessities of life, the habitability of planets in our solar system, and how astrobiologists continue to develop this field. Students will explore how life emerges from cosmic and planetary precursors and understand the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life. Students will discuss the principles that will shape the future of life, both on Earth and beyond.

Enrichment Classes
Animal Planet One Semester Enrichment class offered Fall and Spring Grades 3 – 6
Is it fair for animals to be raised in captivity or is it better to allow them to roam free in the wild? What’s your opinion? We’ll examine the practices of wild life preserves, zoos, humane societies and more. We’ll be creating a virtual zoo based on what we learn about humane treatment of animals. We’ll be using wikis, discussion forums, VoiceThreads, and Animoto in this fun activity. This program is asynchronous — activities can be completed at any time during the day/evening. Students should plan to spend about 2 hours per week on these fun activities.

Book Clubs One Semester Enrichment class offered Fall and Spring Grades 4 – 5
Books should be obtained by families either by purchasing the book or borrowing the book for the library.
1. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. (realistic fiction/racism)
2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. (historical fiction/ Holocaust)
3. United Tates of America by Paula Danzinger. (realistic fiction/death of a family member/friendship challenges)
4. The Misfits by James Howe (realistic fiction/friendship challenges/gay middle schooler)
5. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (adventure)

Book Clubs One Semester Enrichment class offered Fall and Spring Grades 2 – 3
Books should be obtained by families either by purchasing the book or borrowing the book for the library.
1. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (realistic fiction)
2. Chris Van Allsburg author study. Books will include: The Stranger, The Sweetest Fig, Two Bad Ants, Zathura
3. Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry (realistic fiction)
4. Patricia Polacco Author Study. Books will include: The Keeping Quilt; Thank you Mr. Falker; Babuska’s Doll; Mrs. Katz and Tush; Tikvah Means Hope
5. Freckle Juice by Judy Blume

Carol Fertig recently posted Ideas for Studying the Olympics. She’s given some great links that I encourage teachers and parents to explore. 

Personally I love the Olympics as a way to learn more about geography. Here are a few ideas:

• Plot the route of the torch on a map.
• Locate each country participating in the Olympics on the map and learn more about these countries.
• The New York Times has an Interactive Map of the medal or use Community Walk or Google Maps to create your own Map the medal count of each country

There are also some great Google Tools for learning about geography while watching the Olympics.

National Geographic has a site dedicated to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Here’s a great challenge: read a book about each country in the Olympics or by an author from that country by the end of the year. 

Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn more about our world while enjoying the summer Olympics.

It’s been an exciting week for the Gifted Kids Network with two journals running stories about GKN.

Read the article about GKN in Tempo Magazine.

Read the article in Edweek.org

This summer 20 students from the United States and Australia came together in the Gifted Kids Network to learn about endangered animals, humane zoo keeping practices and create a virtual zoo. We asked the question:

Is it fair for animals to be raised in captivity or is it better to allow them to roam free in the wild? What’s your opinion? We’ll examine the practices of wild life preserves, zoos, humane societies and more.

Here’s an outline of what we did:

In this enrichment program you will each select an animal or area of the world that you are really interested in learning more about. You will read books, watch videos, listen to podcasts, and look at web sites about your chosen animal. Together we will each learn about some of the factors that zoo designers consider when creating a zoo.
Class Rules

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9 

Most of the students have completed their work and you can see all of their projects on our wiki

I’m really proud of these students who choose to spend some of their summer vacation learning about animals and exploring new technologies.

It’s been a while since my last post on technology and differentiation.  As I was working on summer presentations, I came across a few additional sites that I’d like to share.

Christina Laun writes 100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner.  This is post shares great tools for auditory learners, visual learners and kinesthetic learners.  Technology certainly makes it easy to differentiate for different learning styles.  Steve Spengler, the Director of Instructional Technology for Secondary Education at the Pocono Mountain School District in northeastern Pennsylvania, has a great wiki on using technology to differentiate instruction. 

Sample Differentiated Lessons using Technology

General Music Lesson

A Different Place

Computer Kids Interactive Lessons

Donna Hebert Differentiation

Educational Origami

Enhance Learning with Technology

Do you know of other great lesson plans or sites that talk about how to use technology to differentiate?  Please share them with us.

I was searching for the perfect tool for my students to create their virtual zoo and came across this fabulous list of Online Drawing, Sketching and Painting Tools  most are free and many are open source. 

I am just back from partipating in Confratute, where I presented on using Web 2.0 tools to create collaborative learning environments for gifted students.  I find attending GT conferences so rejuvinating.  It is great to be surrounded by people who understand the needs of gifted students and are working everyday to make education challenging and enriching for these students.  Then I return home to realities of the GT world and the misconceptions of so many.  

 Tamara Fisher has posted a fabulous blog on What GT is NOT….  There are so many misconceptions on what GT education is.  These misconceptions make it so easy to dismiss GT education as unnecessary and unimportant.  It’s critical that advocates for GT students and GT education continue this important goal of helping to dispel these misunderstandings.   As Tamara writes so eloquently,

“GT is NOT a surplus offering for kids who have surplus knowledge. Rather, it IS an academic intervention for kids who don’t learn like other kids do. ACADEMIC INTERVENTION. Let’s start calling it what it IS so that we can help those who misperceive begin to understand what GT is really all about.”

This is a must read post!

This coming week, July 14-20, our nation will celebrate National Parenting Gifted Children Week to bring broader awareness to the joys – and challenges – involved in raising a gifted child.

 Parents of these children along with teachers, counselors and researchers know the joy is not without its share of struggles, which can include: finding an appropriate educational fit, lack of challenge in school, intensities/sensitivities, extreme concerns about justice and fairness, perfectionism, difficulty finding true peers, isolation, being teased for being different, unrealistic expectations of themselves and others, and underachievement.

 Our education system as a whole – from Washington, D.C. to the state capitals to the school district level – by and large fails to provide an adequate investment in gifted education services.  Gifted resources are often the first to be placed on the chopping block during budget battles, thanks to an untrue and counterproductive notion that “gifted children will do fine on their own.”

 A national report released this year shows that while the nation’s lowest performing students have made academic progress under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the brightest students often appear to be left to fend for themselves.  Because of the mission of NCLB, schools and teachers feel the need to shift their time and resources toward educational strategies aimed more at bringing the lower performing students up , which tends to neglect the achievement potential of the higher performing students.  If we are going to compete internationally in a global economy we need to prepare students for jobs and technologies that don’t even exist yet.  NCLB, while good in theory, has become a stumbling block for the students who show the most potential.  We need to diligently encourage, educate, and inspire the highly capable kids in our nation’s schools, as well as accommodate those who are struggling.

Because of the nature of giftedness, highly capable kids not only have unique learning needs, they also have unique social and emotional differences that require appropriate support and understanding.  The most important resource is a qualified teacher specifically trained to work with advanced learners, yet a recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of all teachers have little to no formal training in gifted education, and nearly 60 percent have had no professional development in this area.  This training becomes even more valuable with twice exceptional students, those who are gifted and also have a learning disability.

Ultimately, the gifted children who lose out the most are those from underserved and disadvantaged backgrounds.  While more affluent families can supplement what little resources are provided, students whose families lack the means are dependent exclusively on what the system provides.  For many throughout the country, this means that gifted and talented children will go unidentified and unserved. 

What are some recent celebrations in Colorado?In 2007 a new law was signed by Governor Ritter that tightens rules regarding gifted and talented programs in school districts across our state. If districts in Colorado were not doing it already, they now are required to identify and provide support services for gifted children, as detailed by the Colorado State Board of Education.  This is a huge step forward in raising the awareness and interest for appropriate gifted education services for all schools in our state.  Since Boulder Valley schools were already identifying and providing services to gifted and talented students, no additional steps are needed to meet these new state requirements.

 In 2008, another new bill was passed that acknowledges the unique needs of gifted and talented children.  The intent of this bill is to meet the specific needs of highly gifted 4 and 5 year olds, who are ready and wanting to start school.  It provides funding for districts to permit early access for certain students to enter kindergarten or first grade if they qualify through a stringent screening process.

What can parents do? Boulder Valley schools work very hard to identify and serve all gifted students.  However, limited funds constrain the amount of services and student attention that can be provided.  This is a problem that affects school districts across the nation. Parents can become more informed by reading books on parenting gifted children, attending local and state conferences on giftedness, and helping to support the efforts that are being made at their schools.  Effective parenting practices combined with engaging enrichment activities can provide a positive climate in which children can grow and learn.  Joining an organization that enhances the awareness and advocacy of gifted children and fosters effective parenting practices can be hugely affirming for parents.

How are we trying to make a difference locally? Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented (BVGT), an affiliate of the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented, is a group of parents and educators who have joined together to advocate for the  gifted andtalented youth in both public and private schools in the Boulder Valley area.  BVGT provides resources and support for parenting and educating gifted children by inviting experts to speak about issues that affect the gifted population, providing newsletters with current legislative and local event information, and offering information on our web site at www.BVGT.org.

Boulder Valley School District and local private schools offer Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted  (SENG) workshops for parents of gifted and talented students.  SENG groups provide parents with an opportunity to share the joys and challenges of parenting gifted students in a supportive environment. More information on joining a SENG group can be found on the BVGT website.

We celebrate National Parenting Gifted Children Week by urging our policymakers at all levels to continue to increase the investment in and attention to gifted and talented children. We encourage those in our community to support candidates who make educational opportunities for growth available to all children.  Every child deserves the right to an appropriate and meaningful education.

Sincerely,

Terry Bradley, President, Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented

Michelle Eckstein, Secretary, Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented

Also published as a letter to the editor in the Boulder Daily Camera.

The pilot program of the Gifted Kids Network has just finished.  Students have been blogging all semester and many of the students reviewed the program in their blogs.   Many students discovered that taking online classes is more difficult than they imagined.  It takes a committed, organized, and motivated student to do well in online classes.   

Read one parent’s review of the program,

A new program, the Gifted Kids Network (GKN) is offering engaging, multimedia-rich classes that encourage student activism.  This is fantastic!
Bright, talented kids are learning how they can make this world a better place.

Eight-year-old Alex just completed the Beta program for the Gifted Kids Network.  Despite the work involved and the late start (we didn’t find out about the class until a month into the session), he loved it. 

Each week in his Space Colonies Class, he got to watch videos or play games that taught him about the factors to consider – such as atmosphere or geology – when assessing the habitability of planets. Later in the course, he read The Green Book, a story about a family that is forced to leave a dying Earth to colonize a distant planet.

If you ask him, Alex will loudly proclaim that “The Green Book is the worst book on the face of the planet.”  I still don’t know why he had such a negative reaction, but I suspect it’s because the main character was a girl.  And, even though he hated the book, it certainly inspired his latest writing, Alex’s Journal: Journey to the New Planet.

Take a look at all the amazing projects that these talented students completed in various classes on the GKN Student Blog Site.  You will be impressed.

I think that what he liked best about this class was the chance to connect with other kids who share his interests.  Alex has been asking for his own IM account for awhile, but I don’t think he’s old enough to handle a public account like AOL’s AIM.  However, on the GKN there is a “lounge” where the kids can chat in a safe, teacher-monitored environment.

Now, he’s looking forward to GKN’s Animal Planet Summer Enrichment Class where he’ll get to create a humane, virtual zoo.  Older sister Kayla is also excited about the Cool Tools Summer Enrichment Class where she will get to create an online multimedia project that will incorporate “digital photography, video creation, web design, and more.”

Personally, I’m thrilled that they will both get to participate in a fun learning experience from the comfort of our home, or wherever we take our laptops!