New Book Proclaims An Idea Whose Time Has Come

The climate of schools has changed dramatically in the last thirty years. When I first started teaching, school procedures were cut and dried. Things were done a certain way, with students and parents reacting in a predictable pattern. That doesn't mean that all things were always pleasant and wonderful, but it does mean that everyone knew exactly what to expect. Because some have the misconception that schools were meeting the needs of all students in this old fashioned manner, it needs to be recognized that a very high percentage of dropouts existed. Troublemakers and poor students were dropping out as soon as possible.

Within that period of time educational curriculum, teaching techniques and methods, jargon, etc. made drastic changes. Some changes were timely and needed; others were misleading and unproductive. Teachers felt like they were jumping on and off the bandwagons. In the mean time, laws requiring school attendance were strengthened which meant that a new unwilling clientele now existed. Law defined specific treatment of students with specialties, and new programs had to be financed at least in part by the districts.

With all of these changes came a movement to enhance self esteem. At one time I had a student whose prescription for raising self-esteem according to his caseworker was to allow him many chances to give class responses. If possible, I was to find good points to praise from those answers. This had been the procedure for several years. By the time I had him in fifth grade, he was raising his hand and talking quite freely--the problem, he had no idea what the answers were and looked pretty stupid just spouting off unrelated information. We then had to break him of this bad habit. I doubt that it helped build any self esteem, and giving random, incorrect answers was a horrible learned pattern. This is just one example of how some programs have had ill effects. They were artificial, misguided, and ineffective.

There is a need to help children realize their value, but a false approach is damaging, not productive. It is time costly. It is harmful. While dealing with the at risk, it was easy for me to recognize the need for "building up" the child who believed him/herself worthless. I started to look for the good in each child and how to meet that child's needs.

Along came Carroll Killingsworth, a retired educator/administrator from Mill Valley, CA. He gave my thoughts a name. He, too, recognized that many children were being left behind. Brains and athletes were getting praise and rewards as deserved, but the rest were being left out.

Between the two of us, we developed a plan to help educators recognize what makes each child special. It is very simple. We ask students to identify what they do well. We ask parents/guardians what their child does well. We ask teachers to identify what the students do well. The list is compiled. The student then claims the gifts, talents, and abilities that best describes the good qualities of the child. The child does the choosing. The list is updated yearly.

Seeing What Is There

Now, my husband can never find things. He'll run around the house looking high and low for something right under his nose. Finally, I'll get up, pick up the missing item, and hand it to him. It was always there; he just couldn't see it. Often that is the way it is with people and their gifts.

I had a student who loved to talk. If she wasn't talking, she was singing. When our team was getting ready to take a day off from school to job shadow a career, she couldn't think what she'd like to do. I laughed and said to her that since she liked to talk and sing she ought to shadow a DJ. She had a marvelous day. On the basis of that experience she, a fourteen year old, was offered a summer job at the station. Some adults in the community responded to her broadcasting by calling the school to let us know how proud they were to have young people exhibiting their talents in such a positive way. Until I pointed out that her talking and singing were indeed gifts that she could use to her advantage, she had never put the two together. Talking was just something that got her into trouble at school and singing was just something she did without thinking. My partner and I became very proficient at helping students align their gifts to career exploration activities.

Applying the Information

Now applying the information--that's the next item covered by the Gifts Project. Once the talents, gifts, and skills are identified as valuable assets for the child, opportunities to use them are beneficial. As middle school teachers, my teammate and I had no problems using the information. There were many career opportunities on our team--Career Day (professionals came to share their careers to small interested groups), Mini Career Fair (a group of 8th graders presented careers to 6th graders), research project (students selected a career and then had to prove or disprove the validity of choice), job shadowing (students followed a professional in a career for one day), and enrollment in high school (selecting electives and moving into a career path).

Whenever possible, we tried to provide an opportunity for someone to "shine" with their gifts. Sure there were times when certain gifts wouldn't fit into the curriculum. There were several approaches we could take. We could ask other teachers to keep the gift in mind (elective teachers especially). We suggested our students to get involved with after school activities that would allow them to refine their gifts. We encouraged our students to look for opportunities in their daily lives to use their gifts wisely.

Value of Seeing the Gifts

One student said to me, "Mrs. Hoover, I never knew you could see this in me. I need to think about this." Some students asked if they could start their list over again. When they understood the value of the list, they were anxious to do it right. One said, "I get it now, Mrs. Hoover. Can I make some changes?"

And as for the few who drug their feet getting things done, when we started using the lists to help us make decisions--they requested an opportunity to complete the project. You see, I asked the students to do this as an advisor base (homeroom) activity. No grades were attached. It didn't take time away from any of my classes, but it did help support some of the work our team was doing in class.

The real value is probably not measurable. It is the self-knowledge that comes from self-examination. It is the coming to an understanding of what a person can do well. Does it help build self-esteem? Not in the commercial canned program way, but yes it does. Understanding one's gifts helps a person to appreciate their unique position in life. This activity opens up a communication line between the student/teacher as well as child/parent and teacher/parent. Most of you can probably see the relevance of this project for intervention as it stresses the positive in students.

The book explains the concept completely, helps with forms for teacher use, provides essays and interviews to support the role of the teacher in identifying the gifts, and has blackline masters for presenting the concept to others. There is no hidden cost of implementing the Gifts Project in a school beyond obtaining the book. Best of all, it is a project that in itself takes very little time from an already overloaded curriculum and can accomplish much. It is the only book that shows teachers how to discover the gifts of all children.

For more information/purchasing the book visit The Gifts of All Children and/or Teachers Helping Children--The Gifts Project.

Ginny's Eclectic Middle School pages