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The world of the gifted and talented.
- 1. THE WORLD OF THE GIFTED AND TALENTED DANIEL TRUMPIS GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY SPD – 593 JULY 8, 2017
- 2. OBJECTIVES • An overview of the characteristics of gifted students. • Become familiar with the diversity of the gifted population. • Discuss inclusive ways to identify potential gifted students. • Practice ways to serve these students. • Discuss continued means of support.
- 3. MYTH BUSTERS: PART 1 • Myth: Gifted students do not need extra assistance in the classroom. • Truth: Fordham Institute – 58% of teachers receive no gifted and talented PD. – 73% of teachers agreed that their brightest are bored and unchallenged. (NAGC).
- 4. MYTH BUSTERS: PART 2 • Myth: Gifted students are model students. • Truth: Distinct social emotional traits. – 25% of gifted students are underachievers. – 20 – 25% of high school dropouts are gifted (Low SES). • Myth: Gifted students cannot have learning disabilities. • Truth: Twice-Exceptional (2e). • (National Association for Gifted Children – Common Myths).
- 5. DEFINITIONS OF GIFTEDNESS • NAGC: “Gifted individuals … demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude or competence in one or more domains …” • Federal: Gifted individuals “give evidence of high achievement capability in … intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity … who need services or activities not ordinarily provided … to develop those capabilities.” • Varies from state-to-state (NAGC). • What is your definition of giftedness?
- 6. WHO ARE THE GIFTED? High Achievers … Gifted Learners … Creative Thinkers … Work hard to learn. Learn without working hard. Experiment with ideas and concepts. Answer questions thoroughly and comprehend at a high level. Comprehend with depth and complexity and consider other possible perspectives. Insert new possibilities and overflow with ideas. Easily memorize. Easily infer. Easily create and brainstorm. (Kingore, 2004) Handouts: Pages 2 and 3.
- 7. SOCIAL EMOTIONAL TRAITS: PART 1 • Asynchronous Development: “Children of Many Ages.” • Overexcitabilities/Intensities: • Intellectual: Intense curiosity. • Imaginational: Vivid imagination and heightened creativity. • Psychomotor: Sometimes mistaken for ADHD. • Emotional: Hypersensitive and emotional. • Sensual: Strong response to physical stimuli (Hebert, 2011).
- 8. SOCIAL EMOTIONAL TRAITS: PART 2 • Heightened moral maturity and empathy. • Perfectionism. • Underachievement. • Strong passions or interests. • Sophisticated sense of humor. • Lack of resilience. WAYS TO HELP: 1. Tap into personal interests. 2. Counsel and support. 3. Mentors. 4. Biographies of famous gifted people. 5. Extracurricular activities (Hebert, 2011).
- 9. TWICE-EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS (2E) • Children who exhibit great talents or strengths in some areas and challenging weaknesses in others. • Students with advanced intellect who display an apparent discrepancy in their ability to perform in specific academic areas … reading, mathematics, spelling, or writing. • Impact their self-esteem. Challenge their identity development. WAYS TO HELP: 1. Same as other gifted students. 2. Typical LD accommodations. 3. Focus on strengths and successes. 4. Commend resilience (Hebert, 2011).
- 10. GIFTED STUDENTS FROM MULTICULTURAL AND/OR LOW SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS • Possess the same characteristics as other gifted students. • Affected by their cultural and social values (Handouts: pages 4 and 5). • Underrepresented: Identification and test bias. • Underachievement. • Racial and/or cultural identity conflict (Hebert, 2011). WAYS TO HELP: 1. Same as other gifted students. 2. Acknowledge culture/celebrate diversity. 3. Make it real and significant. 4. Pay attention to learning styles.
- 11. LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD: MULTIPLE CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT • Observations: Academic and social emotional traits. • Multiple Assessments: Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), Torrance Tests of Creativity Thinking (TTCT), Naglieri and Ravens Non-Verbal Tests. • Work Samples (Ford, 2011).
- 12. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DON’TS AND DO’S Don’t Do Use them as teacher’s assistants/student tutors. Allow opportunities to explore their interests. Expect them to be model students. Social emotional traits. Give them extra work if they finish early. Give them content rich assignments and assessments. Let them work alone without oversight. Check in. Work with other gifted students. CLUSTERING. Expect them to be gifted in every area. Learn about their gifts. (Brown, 2015)
- 13. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DIFFERENTIATION PART 1 • Critical Thinking: Bloom’s Taxonomy, Webb’s DOK, and Hess Matrix (Kelly, 2011). • Activity: Handouts: pages 6 – 8. Choose one of the above and create questions/tasks for your students using the question stems.
- 14. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DIFFERENTIATION PART 2 • Creative thinking. • Fluency: A large number of ideas. • Flexibility: Diversity of ideas. • Elaboration: Add to ideas. • Originality: Unique, clever ideas (Kelly, 2011). • Activity: Handout Page 9. Review the traits of creativity and then apply them to the objects in the picture.
- 15. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DIFFERENTIATION PART 3 • Tiering Assignments. • A tiered lesson addresses a particular standard, but allows several pathways for students to achieve an understanding of it (Kelly, 2011). • Activity: Handouts: Pages 10 – 12. Use the model on page 11 to create a tiered lesson on the template on page 12.
- 16. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DIFFERENTIATION PART 4 • Project Based Learning (PBL). • Not just projects: Handouts page 13. • Unit for teaching content standards. • Sustained inquiry process. • Authentic. • Activity: Use the planner on page 14 to create a PBL assignment.
- 17. SERVING GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM: DIFFERENTIATION PART 5 • Choice Boards (or Menus). • Provide students with choices for meeting class requirements. • Single lesson, week-long lesson, or month-long. • Paired with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (Kelly, 2011). • Activity: Handouts pages 15 – 17. Create your own choice board on page 17.
- 18. GIFTED EDUCATION RESOURCES • Hoagie’s Gifted Education Page. • Byrdseed. • Buck Institute for Education (Project Based Learning). • SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted). • NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children). • Handouts: Page 18. • Edmodo Group (TBD).
- 19. CONCLUSION: CREATING AN EXTENDED SUPPORT COMMUNITY • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). • Gifted Family Support Group: SENG model (Devries & Webb, 2007). • Newsletter: Online, paper, or both. • Potential Innovators, Artists, and Leaders. Let’s not rob the world of them!
- 20. REFERENCES • National Association for Gifted Children. (n.d.). Myths about gifted students. Retrieved on July 8, 2017 from https://www.nagc.org/resources- publications/resources/myths-about-gifted-students • National Association for Gifted Children (n.d.). Definitions of giftedness. Retrieved on July 8, 2017 from https://www.nagc.org/resources- publications/resources/defintions-giftedness • Kingore, B. (2010). High achiever, gifted learner, creative thinker. Retrieved on July 8, 2017 from https://www.bertiekingore.com/high-gt-create.htm • Hebert, T.P. (2011). Understanding the social and emotional lives of gifted students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press Inc. • Ford, D. Y. (2011). Multicultural gifted education. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press Inc. • Brown, E. F. (2015). Serving gifted students in general ed classrooms. Retrieved on July 8, 2017 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gifted-students- generl-ed-classrooms-elisssa-brown • Kelly, D. (2011). Differentiating instruction for gifted learners: A resource for classroom teachers. Retrieved on July 8, 2017 from http://podcasts.shelbyed.k12.al.us/lsherrell/files/2015/02/Differentiating-for-Gifted-Learners.pdf • Devries, A.R. & Webb, J.T. (2007). Gifted parent groups: The SENG model. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press Inc.
Editor's Notes
- Slide 1) Welcome to this professional development session on the world of gifted and talented students.
- Slide 2) This session is intended to be an overview of the characteristics of gifted students. It will provide an opportunity to for you to become familiar with the diversity that exists within the population. We will discuss inclusive ways to identify potential gifted students. We will then practice ways to serve gifted students in a mainstream classroom and discuss ways, as a school, we can continue to support these students. If there is a topic covered in this session, that you would like me to expand upon in a future session, please keep that mind. At that end, you will be able to communicate that to me on the post- professional development survey.
- Slide 3) Let us start by addressing some of the myths related to gifted students. These are very damaging. They affect how people perceive gifted students, which in turn can affect the amount of support and services they receive in school. One myth is that gifted students do not need extra assistance in the classroom. This is not true. According to the Fordham Institute, 58% of the teachers they interviewed said they receive no training on the needs of gifted students. Also, 73% of the teachers they interviewed agreed that their brightest students are often the most bored and unchallenged in their classes (NAGC).
- Slide 4) The next myth we will address is that gifted students are model students. Again, this is false. The truth is that gifted students possess distinct social emotional traits that we will discuss in this session. Unfortunately, not all of them are constructive. It has been reported that 25% of gifted students are underachievers, and that 20-25% of high school dropouts are gifted students. A large percentage of those students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The final myth we will look at is that gifted students cannot have learning disabilities. Once again, this is not true. A gifted student can have learning disabilities. They are known as twice-exceptional or 2e, and we will discuss them further in the session. These are not the only myths about gifted students that are floating around out there. If you are interested in checking out more of them, go ahead and visit the National Association for Gifted Children website, whose URL is listed, among others, in the back of your handout packet (NAGC). These myths are very damaging to gifted students. They affect how people perceive them, which in turn can affect the amount of support and services they receive in school.
- Slide 5) There are many opinions about what constitutes giftedness. The NAGC defines giftedness as “… those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports.” The federal definition of gifted and talented is: “… students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.” While we do have a federal definition, each state is allowed to establish their own definition of giftedness. It varies from state-to-state, according to their priorities. In Arizona, the definition covers intellectual and academic capacities but not creative or artistic ones. However, it is up to schools and districts to decide how they wish to serve their gifted students. The questions I have are: What is your definition of giftedness? Do you agree with the NAGC or federal definitions or do you have your own ideas? Take some time to discuss this with the people sitting with you, or think about it on your own. Decide on a definition of giftedness that would give you a clear vision of how to serve these students in your school (NAGC).
- Slide 6) We will now move on to some of the distinct characteristics of gifted learners and what distinguishes them from high-achievers or our model students. I am also including characteristics of creative thinkers, as they are related to gifted learners. One of the biggest differences is that while high-achievers work hard to learn, gifted learners learn without working hard, and creative thinkers experiment with ideas and concepts. It has been determined that typical students, including high-achievers, need 6-8 repetitions to learn new material, while gifted learners need only 1-2. Next, high-achievers answer questions thoroughly and comprehend at a high level, while gifted learners comprehend with depth and complexity and consider other possible perspectives, and creative thinkers insert new possibilities and overflow with ideas. The last comparison I have listed is that high-achievers easily memorize, while gifted learners easily infer, and creative thinkers easily create and brainstorm (Kingore, 2004). If you turn to pages 2-3 in your handouts packet, you can find a more extensive list of differences. Take a moment to review it and then either on your own or with the people sitting with you, think about any past or present students that have displayed any characteristics of gifted learners and/or creative thinkers.
- Slide 7) Next, we will discuss the social emotional traits of gifted students. The first I want to touch on is known as asynchronous development, where the student’s intellectual, emotional, and psychomotor growth are not aligned. Gifted students can literally be “children of many ages.” It is possible to have a ten-year-old gifted student who possesses the intellectual capabilities of a fourteen-year-old, the emotional level of an eight-year-old, and the psychomotor skills of a six-year-old. Gifted students also possess distinct overexcitabilities or intensities. It is possible for them to display one or more of the following. Intellectual overexcitability will manifest itself as intense curiosity especially with subjects they are interested in. If you encounter this from one of your students, set aside some time for them to research any questions they might have about a topic of study on their own. Most importantly, allow them to report their findings to you and/or the class when they are finished. Students with imaginational overexcitability will possess vivid imaginations and be very creative. I would recommend giving these students open-ended creative projects in order to work on. Students with psychomotor overexcitability are often misdiagnosed as having ADHD. Many of the same accommodations will work. These students need options to release excess energy. Next is emotional overexcitability. These students are hypersensitive and very emotional. They will have meltdowns easily. When this occurs, give them time to cool down, and when they are ready, listen to what they have to say about what upset them and discuss ways they can cope with similar situations in the future. Finally, there is sensual overexcitability. These students will have strong responses to physical stimuli, such as rough or smooth surfaces, loud noises, bright or dark lights. Some accommodations for these students could include headphones for students who cannot handle loud noises, or students who are sensitive to bright lights can work in a corner of the room with dim light (Hebert, 2011).
- Slide 8) Another prominent trait among gifted students is a heightened moral maturity and empathy. They have a strong sense of right and wrong, and when they feel they have been slighted they will fight to see justice done. This could also manifest itself in the need to help others who have been wronged, due to their high degree of empathy. Perfectionism is another trait demonstrated by many gifted students. In fact, sometimes, this sense of perfectionism is so strong that it becomes a fear of failure, and they will not even attempt a task out of fear of being unable to do it correctly. This can lead to underachievement, which we mentioned earlier and is a common trait among gifted students. Another root of underachievement in these students is that teachers are not tapping into their personal interests or the material is not being presented in a way that is relevant or authentic for them. Gifted students also possess strong passions or interests. In fact, these can be so strong they can possibly divert them from other tasks they have to complete. Gifted students possess sophisticated senses of humor too. They are quick to pick up on the meanings of puns, idioms, and other figures of speech. Finally, and unfortunately, many gifted students lack resilience or persistence. This is related to the fact that they learn new material so easily that when faced with an actual challenge, they might freeze up, especially if it is in a new arena for them and outside of their realm of expertise. One way we can help these students is to tap into their personal interests in order to try to make the material we are teaching is intriguing to them. Also, counsel and support them. If you notice your gifted students are having difficulties with, say, perfectionism or lack of resilience, work on ways to help them cope. Finding mentors from members of the community, someone who shares their passion or interest that they can identify with, can help. If that is not possible, have these students read biographies about famous gifted people. This can be an especially helpful way to model persistence and resilience for them. Finally, see if there are any extracurricular activities available, either through the school or through somewhere in the community, that will allow them to further pursue their passions or interests (Hebert, 2011).
- Slide 9) As mentioned already, it is possible for gifted students to possess learning disabilities. These students are known as twice-exceptional or 2e. One definitions of 2e students Is: Children who exhibit great talents or strengths in some areas and challenging weaknesses in others. Another definition is: students with advanced intellect who display an apparent discrepancy in their ability to perform in specific academic areas, such as reading, mathematics, spelling, or writing. 2e students could be gifted but at the same time possess ADD or ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia. This has the potential to impact their self-esteem and possibly challenge their identity development as they have to struggle with being both gifted and possessing a learning disability. We can help these students by using some of the strategies we have already mentioned. Finding mentors for these students could be especially powerful for them by helping them discover they are not alone. They could also benefit from reading biographies about famous 2e people, such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, or Walt Disney. These students also respond to normal LD accommodations. Such as for dysgraphia, the student could write on paper with raised lines or use a dictation enabled device for composition. Definitely focus on the strengths of these students and the successes they experience, and above all commend their resilience (Hebert, 2011).
- Slide 10) Students from multicultural and/or low socioeconomic backgrounds are often underrepresented in gifted programs. These students possess the same characteristics as other gifted students. However, their performance and behavior is often affected by cultural and social values that could affect their identification as being gifted and/or their willingness to be involved in gifted programs. In pages 4 and 5 in your handout packet are some characteristics of gifted students from different cultures. Please, take a look at them and, on your own or with others, see if you can recall any of these characteristics in students, past or present. One reason why these students are underrepresented is that they go unidentified by unaware and/or uncaring teachers, who cannot or are unwilling to acknowledge their potential. If these students are referred for gifted testing, often times testing bias will get in the way. Some gifted identification tests are considered skewed toward middle class or wealthier students, who possess life experiences that multicultural or low SES students have not had, along with access to enrichment or experience with academic language that will aid them on these tests. As touched upon earlier, almost half of the gifted students who drop out of high school are from low SES backgrounds. Another reason why we might have trouble identifying these students and/or keeping them in gifted programs is that it presents a racial and/or cultural conflict. For example, in some cultures, girls are not expected to pursue higher education or have careers, so there is no need for them to participate in gifted programs. For some students, being smart and liking school is seen as “acting White” and will often lead them to suppress their gifts and passions in order to fit in with their peers. We can help these students by using many of the same strategies that were mentioned earlier. In addition, we need to find ways to acknowledge and integrate their culture into our instruction and celebrate diversity, not just during the “designated months” but year-round. This will send a powerful message of inclusion. Another strategy is to make the curriculum and instruction as real and significant as possible, especially attempt to align it with the world that these students know, their reality. Finally, pay attention to learning styles – visual, audio, kinesthetic -- and try to play to those strengths (Hebert, 2011).
- Slide 11) As mentioned already, there is an element of bias in gifted identification and assessment. In order to counteract that and make sure we are casting as wide of a net as possible, we need to rely on multiple criteria in both the identification and assessment process. There need to be observations that include both academic and social emotional traits exhibited by the students. The high-achiever/gifted learner/creative thinker chart in the handout packet could easily be adapted into an observation tool. There should be multiple assessments as well. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is one of the most common assessments used, as it assesses students’ verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning abilities. However, on its own, it is not enough. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking should be included as well, along with either the Ravens or Naglieri Non-Verbal Tests. These last two tests are especially important, because they have a solid track record of identifying 2e students as well as students from multicultural and/or low SES backgrounds. Finally, work samples should be included as well that can be measured against a matrix or rubric to determine the presence of giftedness in the student ‘s work (Ford, 2011).
- Slide 12) Once you have identified gifted students in your classroom, you need to know how to effectively serve them. In addition to the strategies already described, here are some additional Do’s and Don’ts. For starters, do not use gifted students as teacher’s assistants or class tutors. For one thing, gifted students often rely on abstract thinking to answer questions, and mainstream students, especially those who are struggling, will have a hard time following the gifted student’s train of thought. This will lead to both parties being frustrated. Instead, allow gifted students opportunities to explore their interests. One way to do that is through project based learning, which we will touch on later. Next, do not expect gifted students to be model students either. We already touched upon many of the social emotional traits they possess. After that, if your gifted students finish their assignments early, do not simply give them extra work that is just “more of the same.” Make sure you are giving them content rich assignments. Do not let them work alone without oversight either, especially if they are working on a project. Check in with them. Also, consider partnering them with other gifted students. Clustering gifted students in a mainstream classroom is a common practice. Finally, do not expect them to be gifted in all areas. It is possible for a student to be gifted verbally but struggle in math or vice versa, so make sure you learn about their gifts (Brown, 2015).
- Slide 13) If you visit the page on the NAGC website about the myths of gifted students, you will find that one of them is that gifted education requires a lot of resources. That is not necessarily true. One way you can easily differentiate for these students is to elevate the level of critical thinking involved in a given lesson, assignment, or assessment by using either Bloom’s Taxonomy or Webb’s Depth of Knowledge. Another tool is the Hess Matrix, which combines the two (Kelly, 2011). On pages 6-8 in your handouts packet, you will find a copy of the Hess Matrix along with question stems for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the DOK. Take a few minutes, and either on your own or with others try to develop a variety of questions or tasks using these tools.
- Slide 14) Another way to differentiate for gifted students is to apply aspects of creative thinking in your lessons, assignments, or assessments. One aspect of creativity is fluency, which is the diversity or number of ideas a student is able to generate. Next there is flexibility or the diversity or range of ideas generated. Elaboration is the ability to add to an existing idea. Finally, originality is how unique and/or clever the idea is. Of course, these skills need to be taught and practiced in advance before being implemented (Kelly, 2011). On page 9 in your handout packets, there are some more details on the aspects of creative thinking. For the next few minutes, either on your own or with others, practice these skills with one or more of the objects in the picture on the slide.
- Slide 15) Tiering assignments is a way you can differentiate for not only your gifted students but for students of all levels. A tiered assignment will address a particular standard but allow different pathways for students to achieve an understanding of it. The first step of a tiered assignment would be a preassessment to determine your students’ understanding of the standard. From there, you would create different tasks that correlate to your students’ different slevels of understanding (Kelly, 2011). On pages 10-12 of your handouts packet, you will find more detailed directions for tiering an assignment along with a sample tiered assignment and a blank template. For the next few minutes, either on your own or with others use the information and example on pages 10 and 11 to create your own tiered assignment on page 12.
- Slide 16) I mentioned project based learning (PBL) earlier. It is a lot different than simply doing a project. If you turn to page 13 in your handouts packet, you will see the difference between the two. I want to stress that project based learning (PBL) should be used to teach content standards, it should also involve a sustained inquiry process, and be authentic and have real-world applications. On page 14 of your handouts packet, there is a blank PBL planner. For the next few minutes, either on your own or with others, plan a PBL assignment.
- Slide 17) The final differentiation strategy I want to share are choice boards (or choice menus). They provide students with choices for meeting class requirements and can be utilized in single lessons, week or even month-long lessons if planned correctly. Choice boards are especially beneficial if they are paired with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences – musical, visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic – as they allow students to choose activities that fit with their preferred learning styles (Kelly, 2011). On pages 15-17 of your handout packet, there are two examples of choice boards that use multiple intelligences. For the next few minutes, please look those over, then either on your own or with others create your own multiple intelligence choice board using the template on page 17.
- Slide 18) As we begin to wrap up, I want to share some online gifted education resources that might be useful. There is a complete list on page 18 in your handouts packet, but I just want to highlight a few in particular. Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page is literally a one-stop-shop for all things gifted. You will find everything you want on the academic and social emotional needs of gifted students there, as well as entertainment and enrichment, including lists of movies and books that feature gifted characters. Byrdseed is another great source and possesses a wide variety of information. It is all presented in a very down-to-earth, accessible manner, and some of the posts are often quite entertaining. Next is the Buck Institute for Education, where you can find a lot of great resources about project based learning. After that, there is SENG, which stands for Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted. They have a lot of great articles pertaining to the social emotional needs of gifted students. As mentioned earlier, I have also included the National Association for Gifted Children website. They are a wealth of information, as well as a source of advocacy. Once again, a complete list of online resources can be found on page 18 in your handouts packet. I invite you to explore them at your leisure, and for anyone who is interested I will be starting an Edmodo group on gifted education. If you are interested in joining, there will be a space where you can leave your email address on the post-professional development survey.
- Slide 19) In conclusion, we should work toward creating an extended support community for our gifted students. One way we can accomplish this is through professional learning communities that meet regularly to share best practices and plan goals for their gifted students. Forming a gifted family support group should also be considered. It can be challenging bringing up a gifted child, and families would no doubt appreciate our support and the resources we can offer. SENG has developed a model that has a proven track record of success. Each week focuses on a different trait to foster within gifted students, such as discipline and stress management (DeVries & Webb, 2007). A newsletter, either online or on paper, could be a good supplement for these group meetings. The bottom line is that our gifted students are potential innovators, artists, and leaders. We should make sure we are helping them develop their gifts to their fullest so we are not robbing the world of the potential contributions they might make some day.