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Some "gifted" suggestions

by el ed

Oct 21, 2009

I taught IG(Intellectually Gifted) Enrichment to grades 2-8 students for 21 years. I have a masters in gifted education.

I was very fortunate to work with an administration and faculty and staff that supported gifted education. I loved my kids and my job, most of the time.

Some things that worked for me:

Be a team player...See More

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deanie On 10/21/09, el ed wrote: > I taught IG(Intellectually Gifted) Enrichment to grades 2-8 > students for 21 years. I have a masters in gifted education. > I totally agree with your suggestions!!!!

> I was very fortunate to work with an administration and > faculty and staff that supported gifted education. I loved > my kids...See More

Oct 23, 2009

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el ed Get lots and lots of publicity for the achievements of your students, but do not have your picture made with them often. Mostly stay in the background. A professor suggested this when I was working on my gifted certification, and she was spot on. Colleagues notice such things. Human nature is human nature.

Be on the look out for people in ...See MoreGet lots and lots of publicity for the achievements of your students, but do not have your picture made with them often. Mostly stay in the background. A professor suggested this when I was working on my gifted certification, and she was spot on. Colleagues notice such things. Human nature is human nature.

Be on the look out for people in the community who can be valued resource people. It is especially amazing what "older" citizens could share with your students. Get the permission of the powers that be for this, though.

Have a sense of humor. My kids got along well, but if a rare fuss came up, I would begin singing loudly and very badly, "Let There Be Peace On Earth and Let It Begin With Me". They would say, "Mrs. el ed, if you will stop singing, we'll stop arguing." After one such "song" time, my little bright bulbs would say, "Stop, or she will start singing." Or, I would say, "Do I need to sing?" My little bright bulbs had great senses of humor, some quite subtle and unique. We had fun!

Be a life long learner. I loved to learn new things and the kids knew it.

I asked for and appreciated their input. We planned units together.

I knew I was doing something right, when after I had made a suggestion to a student on an individual art project, the student said, "Yes, that is a good idea, Mrs. el ed, but I think I like my idea better." I was thrilled by that response. Do you understand why I was thrilled?

Some days when things were going great, I would tell my kids how fortunate I was to be their teacher and how they were such a joy to teach and know.

I apologized, when apologies were appropriate. If I jumped to conclusions or over reacted to something, I told the kids I was sorry and asked for their forgiveness. They appreciated my attitude. Seems I was doing "modeling" before it had a name.

Every person and teaching situation is unique, but these things worked for me.

Deanie, thank you for your response to my post.

> I taught IG(Intellectually Gifted) Enrichment to grades 2-8 > students for 21 years. I have a masters in gifted education. > > I was very fortunate to work with an administration and > faculty and staff that supported gifted education. I loved > my kids and my job, most of the time. > > Some things that worked for me: > > Be a team player. > > Ask for suggestions and ideas. Classroom teachers often > passed on great materials to me, saying that these might be > good for my class, but not for their whole classes. > > Stay out of the teacher lounge as much as possible. > > Try to stay out of any dramas. > > When in ANY doubt, run projects by the powers that be. They > don't like surprises. > > I loved it when my kids could come up with improvements on > my ideas. It never bothered me that I might be teaching > some students with a higher IQ than me. I had more life > experience and a broader range of knowledge. > > I will always be grateful for the class that taught me the > basics of chess. I loved it when a student could teach me > and other students new things. > > I always told a new class that if I made a mistake to please > let me know in a kind(respectful) way. I always thanked > them politely when they did so. No "Got'cha" moments for me. > > This makes it "easier" to correct their mistakes. > > My kids and I had mutual respect for each other, but they > always knew who was in charge. That would be me. > > Everybody and every situation is unique. > These are just some suggestions of things that worked for me.

Oct 23, 2009

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Need ideas for first grade gifted

by TeePea

Oct 28, 2009

I have a first grader who is a gifted student and is pulled out four times a week. I'm having a really hard time challenging her in the classroom. I need help on where to start and what to present to her. Can anyone help me?

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GT Teacher On 10/28/09, TeePea wrote: > I have a first grader who is a gifted student and is pulled > out four times a week. I'm having a really hard time > challenging her in the classroom. I need help on where to > start and what to present to her. Can anyone help me?

What signs is she giving you in the classroom that she is not being c...See More

Nov 4, 2009

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Guidance and Counseling

by Dee

Oct 31, 2009

I am taking a class on gifted counseling and guidance. No, I do not work with gifted children, just need to understand what to do with them if they come to me. I have to do a final project and need some suggestions for my idea. MY IDEA: To create a club/group for early release days at my school. Invite TAG students to participate. Have discussion s...See More

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Dee That is why I am asking. I have NEVER worked with TAG students and I am lost. What would they actually enjoy?

On 11/06/09, kevin wrote: > On 10/31/09, Dee wrote: >> I am taking a class on gifted counseling and guidance. No, >> I do not work with gifted children, just need to understand >> what to do with them if they ...See More

Nov 7, 2009

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Kevin On 11/07/09, Dee wrote: > That is why I am asking. I have NEVER worked with TAG students > and I am lost. What would they actually enjoy?

Gifted kids are kids---they like fun activities. They often like puzzles and games that use their brains, so a strategy game club might be popular (chess, go, blokus, connect-4, ...).

Fi...See More

Nov 7, 2009

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Teaching my College Honors Class

by bernoulli

Nov 1, 2009

I am teaching my first ever College Honors class and am loving it. What a joy to be with students who want to learn, can think and write critically, and actually get enthusiastic about what they are studying. I mentioned this to my Dean and he said, "You had forgotten what it is like to teach students who want to learn!" How true!

One of t...See More

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The concept of giftedness is false.

by a person who was considered gifted

Nov 3, 2009

Human genius is as common as the air we breathe. Stop looking at people in this nonsense way.

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A Child Called "It" ???

by Victoria

Nov 4, 2009

I have not read this book, but I just read a report that listed AR books by how many tests/how popular the books were and this topped a few of the lists, especially middle school. Is this an appropriate book for middle schoolers? The amazon page mentions grades 9 and up but the reviews say it is a story of resilience.

I'm just interested ...See More

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Victoria Thanks everyone--from the description, I thought it didn't sound appropriate. Seeing it be so popular made me wonder though LOL I would like to read it but will definitely not be sharing it with my students.

On 11/06/09, Cyna wrote: > > This book is in our library, but is in the room with the other > professional books for teache...See More

Nov 6, 2009

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mary anne On 11/04/09, Jo wrote: > Reading this as an adult I had a very hard time with the > content. I cried through most of the book. I don't agree that > it is suitable material for a teacher to choose for a student > or to allow a student to choose without parental consent. > The content is just too horrendous. The abuse of this child &g...See More

Dec 17, 2009

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Accelerated & being bullied

by rnicklas

Nov 8, 2009

I have a 4th grade student that skipped 2nd grade & is now dealing with bullying. His mom contacted me today looking for help. I welcome any suggestions for websites or literature on this subject.

Thanks!

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Sara On 11/08/09, rnicklas wrote: > I have a 4th grade student that skipped 2nd grade & is now > dealing with bullying. His mom contacted me today looking > for help. I welcome any suggestions for websites or > literature on this subject. > > Thanks!

Bullies look for targets but for a quick if temporary fix - where is this...See More

Nov 12, 2009

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rnicklas Thanks for the repies! This was happening at various times @ school. Mainly during transition times. I informed his core teachers & paras that are on duty too. The principal spoke to the bully & his parents. Things have really improved. I was please that my principal took immediate action. We are a small campus of approx. 400 students (grad...See More

Nov 23, 2009

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behavior issues with small group

by gph

Nov 9, 2009

I have a group of ten third-graders for gifted ELA. I am responsible for their grades and teaching them the ELA curriculum. Because it is a small group, they get very, very silly most of the time - they interrupt constantly when I'm trying to explain something; they think they know the answers to everything before I've explained it (they don't) whi...See More

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lesson plan website for 1st grade gifted

by Artsiegurl

Nov 22, 2009

Is there a web site of ideas for teaching 1st grade gifted students? I have looked everywhere Thanks!

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Leah I am not aware of one. You may want to use some of the activities and materials at the following site.

Nov 23, 2009

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Do you group kids by grades?

by J.J.

Nov 24, 2009

I teacher gifted kids from grades 3-5. I currently group them by grades. I also heard that some teachers group kids together. I am just wondering what are the pros and cons of grouping them together.

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Jamie in MO I have grouped students both ways. It really (like most other things we do) depends on the particular students.

Some pros of mixing, in my experience: it can even out class sizes--if you only have 4 in one grade and 11 in another, you can instead have classes of 7 and 8--which benefits the smaller group by giving them more interaction with...See MoreI have grouped students both ways. It really (like most other things we do) depends on the particular students.

Some pros of mixing, in my experience: it can even out class sizes--if you only have 4 in one grade and 11 in another, you can instead have classes of 7 and 8--which benefits the smaller group by giving them more interaction with different partners and people, and the larger group by getting more of your attention. Another pro is that you can group them thoughtfully so that you have a more productive personality mix, and/or group them for particular learning purposes (spatial emphasis learners, communication as a strength learners, or even do interest-based groups and have them indicate a preference for a particular set of activities that semester).

Some cons--sometimes other things in the building can wreak havoc with your schedule, like a fourth grade field trip that leaves half your class (the fifth graders) behind, or guest speakers for particular grade levels, or different lunch/specials schedules. You can work around all these things, but it does mean more running around and follow-up to communicate with people--and this is multiplied if the students are not clustered in the same grade level class.

Another con was that some grade levels (with some particular students) were not good mixes. 2nd and 3rd sounded like a good idea, and it worked from November-February, but was rocky at the beginning and end. The second graders were just so young at the beginning--writing tasks were so slow, for example--and the third graders seemed so much older at the end that it wasn't a good fit. I had a similar experience with the 3-4 combination, but there have been years when it would have worked better.

I had good luck with 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, and 7-8 combinations. I have also had particular students--a pair of first graders who joined a 2nd grade class, a particular 2nd grader who joined a third grade class--who "accelerated" for GT successfully.

I am currently working with grade-level groups, all day, once a week. That system has its pros and cons, too, of course.

Grouping is such a tricky issue, because you're trying to maximize time and quality of time--and the class size and personality mix and schedule all influence those things.

On 11/24/09, J.J. wrote: > I teacher gifted kids from grades 3-5. I currently group > them by grades. I also heard that some teachers group kids > together. I am just wondering what are the pros and cons of > grouping them together.

Nov 25, 2009

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