simple seminar on the talented n gifted n Including them in the classroom

1. Teaching students with
Special Gifts and Talents
Kyra Huntley
SPED4004: The Inclusive Classroom: Theory and Practice.

2. In this session we will pay extreme
attention to:
What are special gifts and talents?
 Is there a difference between the two terms?
 Categories of Special gifts and talents
 Features with students who have special gifts and
talents
 Common Barriers General Education Instructors
 Inclusion and inclusive classrooms (differentiation)

3. Aren’t all children gifted?
• The first step is to desensitize the issue.
• Labeling a child as gifted does not instill them
with more worth than another child.
• Identifying a child as gifted is identifying a
need that must be addressed.
• Gifted students learn differently to their peers
and will suffer if these needs are not met.
Oakland, T 2005, ‘Assessment of Gifted Students for Identification Purposes: New Techniques for a
New Millennium’, Learning and individual differences, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 327-36

4. • Are we all on board…….
• Well then, lets jump right in ………

5. • What are special Gifts and Talents

6. • “Special Gifts (Gifted) and Talented” is
hard to define since:
– The meaning of “Gifted” has changed over
time
– Terms such as “talented” and “creative”
differentiate between subgroups of gifted
students
– Various provinces/states have their own
interpretation of the term

7. • “Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform or
show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels
of accomplishment when compared with others of their age,
experience, or environment. These children and youth
exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative
and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity
or excel in specific academic fields. They require services
not ordinarily provided by schools. Outstanding talents are
present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across
all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.”
– US Department of Education, 1993 (adapted from Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented
Student Act of 1998- incorporated into the NCLB Act of 2001

8. • Gagné cautions that it is important to
differentiate between giftedness and talent.
• Gifts are the “natural abilities” that can only
become talents provided the right intrapersonal
characteristics, environmental influences and
luck!
Gross M, et al. 2004, Gifted and Talented Education: Professional development
package for teachers, Department of Education, Science and Training, Sydney, NSW

9. • SO…..
–Is there a difference between the Two
(2) Terms?..... Hmmm…

10. • Yes there is…
– Gifted refers to students who are academically
abled and displays a high level of intelligence.
• WHILE
-Talented/ Creative persons are those who excel in
certain aspects, especially in the arts.

11. 3 factors of giftedness
Above Average Ability
– difference between
general and specific
abilities
Task Commitment –
motivation turned into
action
Creativity – originality
and fluidity of thoughts Renzullian Characteristics of Giftedness

12. Categories of Special Gifts and
Talents

13. • General- intellectual ability
• Specific-academic aptitude
• Creative-thinking and production
• Leadership skills
• Visual, Performing Arts, Sports
• Mechanical Ingenuity
• Special Abilities - Empathy,
• Understanding and Negotiation.
• Source: NCCA Draft Guidelines - Exceptionally Able Students

15. Features of students with special
gifts and talents

16. Cognitive Social / Emotional
General

17. • Keen powers of OBSERVATION
• Learned to READ very early, often before school age
• Reads WIDELY and rapidly
• Well developed VOCABULARY - takes delight in
using unusual and new words
• Has great intellectual CURIOSITY
• Absorbs information rapidly - often called
SPONGES
General Characteristics of Gifted
Learners

18. • Very good MEMORY - can recall information
in different circumstances
• Have ability to CONCENTRATE deeply for
prolonged periods
• Unusual or quirky sense of HUMOUR
• Heightened SENSITIVITIES and intensity
• Can develop strong passions – become an
EXPERT

19. Social/Emotional Characteristics of
Gifted Learners
• Emotional intensities & sensitivities
• Display heightened sense of injustice
• Play more structured games, suited to older children
• Prefer friendships with older children
• Heightened capacity for empathy with others
• Frustration with own fine motor skills
• Mature and quirky sense of humor
• Can have different expectations around friendships to peer
group

20. Affective characteristics of gifted
Learners
• Experience intense emotions
• Exhibit perfectionist tendencies
• Highly developed sense of justice
• Empathy – unusually high or absent
• Very mature sense of humor
• Prefer company of older students

21. Common barriers for General Education
Instructors

22. • Teachers lacking subject matter knowledge
• Problems with classroom management
when trying to differentiate instruction
• Misguided attitudes and beliefs about
learning
• Inability to modify curriculum in such a
way that is appropriate for high ability
students

23. • The reality that differentiation is needed for
an array of students with diverse learning
needs
• Difficulty in obtaining and using appropriate
instructional resources
• Lack of time to do adequate planning
• Lack of certain pedagogical skills necessary
for separating instruction for high-ability
students
• Inadequate administrative support

24. •INCLUSION

25. • Inclusion is “a term which expresses
commitment to educate a child, to the
maximum extent appropriate, in the school and
classroom he or she would otherwise attend. It
involves bringing the support services to the
child (rather than moving the child to the
services)”
-(Causton-Theoharis & Theoharis, 2009, p. 43)

26. • Inclusion in education is an approach to educating
students with special educational needs. Under the
inclusion model, students with special needs spend
most or all of their time with non-disabled
students. Implementation of these practices may
vary. Schools most frequently use them for
selected students with mild to severe special needs.
• Fully inclusive schools, which are rare, no longer
distinguish between "general education" and
"special education" programs; instead, the school
is restructured so that all students learn together.
-

27. •How do you include
the Gifted/Talented?

28. • There are 3 main ways in which the
curriculum should be differentiated
• 1 – Process modifications
• 2 – Product modifications
• 3 – Learning environment
• Teachers must differentiate or adapt
their instruction – different lesson
plans, worksheets, rubrics, etc.

29. • Acceleration- The practice of placing students at a
higher than normal level of instruction to meet
their learning need - for example: skipping grades,
graduating early, taking higher grade level courses
• Gifted students may be in any of three types of
classrooms:
• 1. A classroom within an exclusive school for the
gifted
• 2. A pull-out classroom within a regular school
• 3. In a general classroom within a regular school

30. • Strategies to motivate and include gifted students
• Allow them to use their gift
• Act as a tutor for other students
• Incorporate opportunities for creativity in assignments
• Provide lessons geared toward real-life assignments
• Focus on higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of
learning when creating activities for gifted students
• Enrichment - distance courses, summer programs,
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
courses, and using higher level texts

31. • Importance of student-teacher relationships
• Involve the student in their own assessment, as well
as planning their own learning and outlining
achievements
• Adapting the curriculum may be very time-
consuming for teachers, but it will be worth it!

32. • Rights and Responsibilities
– Gifted Children’s Bill of Rights
The National Association of Gifted Children has
issued a “Bill of Rights” for these students. You
have right:
. To know about giftedness
. To learn something new everyday
. To be passionate about your talent areas without
apologies
. To have an identity beyond your talent area
. To feel good about your accomplishments
. To make mistakes

33. • To seek guidance in the development of your
talent
• To have multiple peer groups and a variety of
friends
• To choose which of your talent areas you wish
to pursue
• Not gifted at everything

34. Not ALL Gifted
Characteristics
have to be
present.

35. Highly gifted children tend to be those who
demonstrate asynchronous development -
the process whereby the intellect develops
faster and further than other attributes such
as social, emotional and physical development.
Due to their high cognitive abilities and high
intensities, they experience and relate to the
world in UNIQUE WAYS."

36. • He was gifted with the sly, sharp instinct for
self-preservation that passes for wisdom
among the rich.-Evelyn Waugh

37. References

38. BC Ministry of Education- Gifted Education- A Resource
Guide for Teachers.
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/gifted/
Renzulli’s Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness.
http://www.gigers.com/matthias/gifted/three_rings.ht
ml
Smith, Tom et al. Teaching Students with Special Needs in
Inclusive Settings. 2nd ed. Toronto: Pearson Education
Canada Inc., 2006. 247-276. Print.
Symons, Cameron. The Exceptional Teachers’ Casebook.
Brandon: Brandon University Faculty of Education
Professional Development Unit, 2010. 111-113. Print.

39. • Vaille, W & Geake, J 2003, ‘Pedagogy and Curriculum’ in W
Vaille & J Geake (eds), The Gifted Enigma; a collection of
articles, Hawker Brownlow Education, Cheltenham, VIC
• Oakland, T 2005, ‘Assessment of Gifted Students for
Identification Purposes: New Techniques for a New
Millennium’, Learning and individual differences, vol. 20, no.
4, pp. 327-36
• Gross M, et al. 2004, Gifted and Talented Education:
Professional development package for teachers, Department of
Education, Science and Training, Sydney, NSW

40. Thank you for viewing.