Whole-School Gifted And Talented Education Strategy: Fill & Download for Free

Edit: The California Association for the Gifted's Board of Directors has written a position paper/pdf describing how thought differs with highly gifted people to people who are not -- and lists many other attributes of gifted, and highly gifted and talented people. Here is the link, titled Traits of Giftedness. https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/my-child-gifted/common-characteristics-gifted-individuals/traits For more information, see the information posted on the website for The Mirman School, What Does Gifted Mean? Like all people, those who test as highly gifted vary as individuals.This question asks for a generalization and it is hard to generalize because the unique gifts and talents and abilities of each highly gifted individual are so incredibly variable; for example, one who is great at chess may not be able to spell; or one who is exceptionally musical may not be good at science. There is a huge variation in abilities and seeing any group as monolithically endowed is doing a disservice to the evaluators as well as those being evaluated. Here are some experiences I have regarding how thought differs with highly gifted people (in a particular area) versus people who are not:Learning to Play Chess. I have seen many highly gifted people 'see' more chess moves ahead than those who are not highly gifted in areas of spacial awareness, logic, and whatever else goes into being a good chess player. So I watched children who were learning chess as an after school activity at The Mirman School for Highly Gifted Children (the name changed later to The Mirman School for Gifted Children I think because the term 'highly gifted' became so polarizing to the rest of the gifted and talented community).These children learned the moves of each chess piece with ridiculous ease. I taught a few of them how the pieces moved. Once they understood those moves, they began beating me at chess games almost immediately and also immediately understood the 'goal' of the game and how to plan to capture the king and defend against the queen's (and bishops' and rooks' and knights') abilities to protect the king. They saw and planned for many moves ahead. I would describe the difference in thought as 'far-seeing.' Then they asked for strategies and that is where I stepped away to let the chess master, a man from Russia who was running the chess program and was internationally ranked, illuminate their minds with his abilities and insight into the game. These kids were hungry -- hungry! -- to learn and absorb every strategy taught. The silence in the chess room was deafening very quickly, because they were thinking ahead many moves. Their focus was beyond keen.Learning, Memorizing and Acting Using Poetry. Another example: there was an annual Poetry Festival. Every child in the school was tasked with memorizing and acting out (if desired) a poem of her or his choosing. Somehow, the quality of poetry selected, the length of the poems selected, their difficulty and language challenges, the scope of poems selected, always amazed me. And this is my area of talent. I remember listening to the longest and most dramatic poems by Edgar Allan Poe recited beautifully by heart, by one who became an internationally known opera singer later in life.Peer Group. Another example: the palpable relief these children have in finding one another as peers. One boy who tested as highly gifted came home from his first week in kindergarten in a public school dragging his toes, looking down dejectedly, and said he was in the wrong school or the wrong class, as he did not have the same slow thinking of his classmates. He also said he spent the whole day waiting for the other children. His mother invited some classmates over for playdates, and discovered there was nothing particularly slow-thinking about these children: her son was just thinking much faster than they were, and they were not his peers. Once he was evaluated and tested as highly gifted, he was placed among his peers. He became stimulated, interested, and excited about learning.When Such A Student's Needs Are Not Met. Boredom, isolation, defiance, self-destructive acts, emotional disturbance, and other self-loathing phenomena seem to follow the repression of people who are highly gifted, and these also, sadly, can characterize the differing thoughts of those who are misunderstood when their needs are not met appropriately by teaching to their highly gifted abilities.The Variables of Life Determine Thoughts, Acts and Outcomes. How the thoughts of highly gifted people differ from those people who are not are dependent on the variables involved in each person's life -- their background, their family life, their emotional make-up, and their educational placement all contribute to their thoughts and thought patterns.There is no single answer to this question.

Absolutely 0%I went through the process to legally become a High School social studies teacher in Texas. I had to have a Bachelor's degree in anything, as long as I had so many Social Studies credits.I took a test, which I aced in a very high percentile (not bragging, but just trying to show a flawed system). This allowed me to take classes about classroom etiquette, how to construct a cookie-cutter lesson plan, and techniques to use and not to use on special student populations (English Language Learners, SpED, Gifted and Talented, etc.). Then I had to log a small number of observation hours, in which I couldn't be hands on or involved, but simply observe. I received a certificate that qualified me to teach in any public school, grades 7-12 as long as no more than one of my class periods were outside of Social Studies. I could've taught one period of Calculus if my administrator had felt like it.I received an offer from the first high school for which I applied, and accepted--a small Texas town split roughly 1/4 white, 1/4 Mexican (literally from Mexico, who'd be absent for weeks at a time out of country), 1/4 Mexican-American, and 1/4 Guatemalan refugee (my favourite students, because they actually cared). They liked my test scores, and were trying to have a youth-faculty movement, letting go some veteran teachers along the way. I also agreed to “assistant coach;” they assured me that this meant filming home games. They strictly would not hire social studies teachers who wouldn't take on coaching duties (something that every school I interviewed for mirrored).Week one in town, before school started, I was introduced to my mentor, an assistant coach who taught whatever classes weren't covered by other teachers. He was the assistant varsity football coach, head junior-varsity football coach, assistant track coach, and after the newly hired guy backed out of his contract, the head basketball coach. Needless to say, there was little time for mentoring.I was unprepared for semester, by an ungodly margin. I was new, none of the kids listened, and I couldn't adapt. I would go to the administrators, the other teachers, the New Teacher Academy (a bad joke of an organization) people. They'd all say, “go to your mentor."I'd go to my mentor, he was busy today, had film session for three hours after school, would be gone to a coaches' something or other tomorrow, would get back with me when he got back as long as there wasn't a game.Then we found out how short on coaches we were. It started circulating that I was the head Cross Country coach. Then it was confirmed by another coach bringing me a stack of coaching papers to sign. They'd decided, but forgotten to send someone (or an email) to tell me. They offered a good stipend, so I begrudgingly accepted.I went an entire school year, not knowing what I was doing, how to handle situations, how to handle threatening felon students, being constantly reminded about the benchmarks all of my students needed to meet. A number of the students were removed from the student population due to crimes or them representing a threat; some would disappear for two weeks, finally be taken out of the system, only to reappear, saying their parents decided on a whim to visit Mexico; one confirmed pregnancy; the white kids wanted to prove they were cool to the minority students (which to the white kids meant blowing off everything); the minority students had it in their heads that nobody cared about them or that they were naturally incapable, so “who cared;” and the poor refugee kids just didn't say anything, they'd seen some crazy stuff in their lives.And you know what? One of those veteran teachers they were so keen to replace probably could've handled it. Your Education Major young teacher could probably handle it. A new inexperienced teacher maybe could've handled it, if they had a strong supporting cast.I was not schooled to be an educator; I had passed a test. I was not experienced, and nothing in those courses had remotely applied to a classroom. I did not have a supporting faculty-- it was just me and one other teacher, looking out for each other-- neither of us stayed after the school year finished. School started in August, I was burnt out by November, and actually in tears by Christmas.The funny thing, I still showed up every day, although I spiraled into a deep depression; those kids probably didn't learn anything all year; the school kept paying us, and the entire district's scores took hit after hit-- nothing changed.I finally met with my mentor, once, in February; he told me that he really didn't have much to offer me, but he was rooting for me.I had it all planned out; I had my letter of resignation typed up. I was going to give a copy of it to the principal and superintendent on the second to last Friday of the year, my lease on my apartment would run out, and I'd never go back to that town again. I didn't get the opportunity. The district had found a young new basketball coach, and they wanted him bad. They'd given him a contract, but he would only accept if a social studies teaching position was offered to his wife, who had just finished the same certification program that I had a year earlier. They called me in, and asked me to finish the year and then “resign.” I jumped at the offer, I'd still be on their payroll through August, and their insurance through September (school ended at the beginning of June).A good few of us left that place when semester ended. I've stayed in contact with the one who helped me, it turned out good for him, he's teaching in a town fifteen minutes from his parents now, and his dad's in poor health, so it's good that he's close.I will never teach again. In one year, one year, I felt more sadness, anger, disappointment, confusion then I've felt in the rest of my years combined. I let those kids down, the whole school let them down, heck the entire state of Texas let those kids down. How many others like me are out there in public schools right now?My grandmother's hometown school plays sports in the same district. Apparently their beloved athletics programs have gone downhill, and I was curious and looked up their test scores, another down year.It's getting close to a year since I left that place. I've reflected some on it, and I hate the words “lesson plans" to this day.If you want to be a teacher, please actually go to school for it, student teach, learn all of the methods and strategies. Find a school that will teach you as you teach the students. Pick a school that values academics at least as much as athletics. If you want to go and help those poor students at schools like the one I taught at, get some experience under your belt first in a more conductive environment. Just don't expect them to value your experience too highly when you do get there.I'm sorry this turned into an essay. I didn't mean to write so much, but dang it, I want every student to have the best chance to succeed. If they just give anyone a certificate regardless of background, and throw them in a classroom, students won't learn, and that'll affect us all someday.

Because there is less demand for talent than there is supply for it.God loves mediocrities. Otherwise He would not have made them so many as He did. This world is as it had been designed for the lagom mind in mind and there simply is far less need for talent than there is talent around.Put that kid in <insert here a certain Helsinki school in ‘elite’ reputation>, here she won’t get enough challenges and she will grow up lazy, said my teacher to my parents in the elementary school. It would have been impractical because of the sheer distance; that particular school isn’t a boarding school. My teacher was right; I grew up lazy. Fortunately I had swimming, where I learned diligence, investing effort and value of hard work. But without it I would have ended up as a manqueéThe Finnish schooling system is excellent - providing you belong in the great 98% grey mass of the pupils. It is not that excellent if you don’t. It does not take into account the grossly talented, like me. And this - growing up lazy - is a real problem. You learn to excel - which is easy because you have talent, but you are never taught to how to succeed - unless you have some hobbies where you really need to work for success. I eventually swam on national level.I mean, if you can succeed by sitting in the classroom, answering the correct questions, making your homework and sleeping the school through, what’s the point? You never learn the value of hard work and effort.Moreover, as it was an ordinary comprehensive school, I felt terribly lonely. The effects of the 30 points’ communication range didn’t exactly help on making friends, fitting in, binding social connections and finding your identity. I was always an outsider. While I was never bullied per sé, I had no friends in school. All my friends came from swimming. This loneliness damages the growing soul, and hurts on making social networks and learning co-operativeness. And we humans are social animals. At worst you learn other people are your rivals, your enemies and the world outside is hostile and out to get you.God (which BTW does not exist, so you will have no help whatsoever) help you if the other kids perceive you as hostile and you get bullied! Many talented children have been bullied in school into suicide, into serious mental impairment or into mariginalization. You are likely to develop a similar PTSD as the Nazi concentration camp inmates. Or perhaps alcohol or drug habit to escape it.To exacerbate things even further, the teachers may see you as a rebel, a misfit, a square peg on round hole, and attempt to chastize you and squeeze you in the standard mold - and punish you from simply being different. In such case you learn success is perceived as a hostile act by others and you learn to avoid success: that is; to do just as little as needed not to get fired, chastized or punished, not to get distinguished from the great grey goo. This is something I learned in the military. Never be the first, never be the last and never volunteer.Okay, I eventually thought the wisest strategy is to attempt to climb above the sh*t and I was chosen to officer training. It was in the military academy where I first really meet youth like I was; incredibly intelligent, sportive and talented. We formed lifelong friendships there. But I was the only girl, the first woman in the Engineer Company, and I was expected to fail. If you grow up in a hostile environment - or without peers with you can relate, you may learn to succeed is to be in danger. If you succeed, it may alienate you from your own (the crab mentality) or the others may relate you with hostility or you will expect no support from your binding groups or stakeholders.Moreover, already ibn Khaldun noted in the 13th century that men tend to resemble more the times they live in than their fathers. Blind luck may be the decisive factor. Perhaps you have been born in a disadvantaged minority. Or an oppressed minority. Or in wrong social class. Or your parents don’t appreciate education and success and just want to have grandkids ASAP. Or you may graduate just during the worst economic depession in the century and get a menial job just to survive. Things like that do happen.Furthermore, if you are talented, you are likely to see the whole absurdity of this earthly existence. The whole insanity of the human life, the insanity of the world and with how little intelligence this world is led. You may turn your back to the whole success thing and instead concentrate on making your life comfortable. You may dedicate it just on Epicureanism - to keep the distress and pain away in your life and think ‘let’s eat and drink as tomorrow we are dead anyway’. Or you may become a Hedonist and aim your effort on practising sex with as many people as you are able to.Am I an underachiever? Certainly I am no Nobel laureate, no chess world champion, no next Tolkien and no next Bill Gates. Not even the next Linus Torvalds. I am just another lab rat in a small university. Yet I have served my country, I have completed a degree, I have a job and I am a net positive taxpayer. I write here in Quora.It all depends on how you define success and achievment. On some metrics I am an underachiever and on some others not.