leaving your brand on gifted education without leaving your … · “typical” gifted child…...

Leaving Your Brand on Gifted

Education Without Leaving Your

Brand on the KidsTamara Fisher

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted

Karen Isaacson

www.kisaacson.com

WANTEDGreat Advocates for Gifted Children

Preferably Alive

My brand goes on the program or my parenting style. The child’s brand

goes on his education and his life.

Parents and teachers have a great deal of influence on children. While we want to take advantage of that opportunity and make it a positive experience, we also need to recognize that each child is an individual, separate from teacher or parent, with individual needs and feelings, likes and dislikes, weaknesses and strengths.

Our job is to develop relationships in our individual spheres with the children in our lives. Whether we are acting as parents or teachers, we can hone our skills and develop strategies for reaching and refining these children without taking away from their individualities and freedom to choose who they will become. They have a right to their own thoughts, to take what we give them and use it how they will.

Frontier ThinkingExploration

Questioning factsSurvival skillsIndividualityBarn-raisingSelf-Reliance

•The Heroes of Our Story

•Teaching a Child Self Advocacy Skills

•Developing Parent/Teacher Advocacy Strategies

•Problem-solving Strategies

Let’s talk about the “typical” gifted child…

The Heroes of Our Story:

Introvert Extrovert

Energetic Sedentary

Random Sequential

Kinesthetic Visual Auditory

Anxious Hacuna Matata

Sometimes we may be tempted to think that we need to herd the kids like cattle. We all have some traditional ideas about how a child should develop and what path he or she should take to find success in this life.

But…

So, how do you herd a multitude of individuals in a hundred different directions, to a hundred different destinies, at the same time?

Let’s talk about you for a moment…

Ultimately, it’s not about herding cattle to a destination of the cowboy’s choosing. It’s about allowing a child to develop and find his own way, protecting him from the wolves and the cattle rustlers, and providing him with the skills he needs to stay true to the path he chooses for himself.

In fact, sometimes it is about giving him the encouragement and helping him to develop the confidence to leave the herd.

“The mind is capable of infinite possibilities. Fear is the force which resides in the mind that makes all things finite. If a man conquers fear he opens his mind up to those infinite possibilities.”

~ Maxwell Orme ~

So, since we’re coming from a wide “range” of individuals, all of our solutions are going to be different.

How do we work together?

How do we incorporate the needs of each child into our efforts?

Student Self-advocacy:

Advocate for a student and you help him today. Teach a student to advocate for himself, and you help him for a lifetime.

“Every child deserves an equal opportunity to struggle.”

~Dr. Mary Slade, professor, Gifted Education~

Show them where their bootstraps are and teach them how to use them.

Self-advocacy is the life skill of speaking up for oneself to assure that essential needs are met. In a school setting, it can mean asking for harder spelling words, requesting harder classes, seeking alternative assignments, and finding ways to help others understand your school experience and why you speak up for appropriate academic accommodations.

Essential Elements of

Self-Advocacy:

Understanding of Self•Recognizing one’s own strengths & weaknesses•Knowing when an alternative learning option isneeded (and when it’s not)•Acknowledging one’s personality type and howthat may influence the process of self-advocacy[Pleaser, Ego-Centric, Timid, Bold, Responsible,Scattered, Overbearing, Risk-Taker (or not),Flighty, Motivated, etc.]

Understanding the Teacher•What challenges is the teacher upagainst?•Acknowledge teacher’s current or pastefforts at making accommodations•Recognize that the teacher also hasstrengths & weaknesses•Be aware of the teacher’s personalitytype

Understanding the System•What resources & opportunities are alreadyavailable?•Obstacles inherent in the structure•Loopholes inherent in the structure•What processes & policies are already inplace?•What is the process for change?

Questions to Ask Yourself•Do you have already-developed healthy strategies todeal with the frustrations that will come with thechallenging accommodations for which you areadvocating?

•Can you manage your emotions and think on yourfeet?

•How will you respond to possible rejection?

•Can you accept the offered alternatives with grace,appreciation, & the responsibility to follow-through?

Getting Ready•Write it down first

•Plan, Practice, and Role-Play ahead of time

•Start with small steps

•Take a buddy with you if you need

•REMEMBER THE 4 P’s:

The four Ps:

•Polite•Private•Proof•Propose

Teacher and Parent Advocacy:

Sometimes, heading into a parent/teacher conference can feel like…

instead of…

a shoot out…

a “Howdy, Partner!”

But remember that you’re in this together, and while you may have different brands, you both have the same goal.

Always go in “R”med:

•Respect•Relationship•Reflect•Roadmap

•Craft your “R”guement

Don’t go in “all hat and no cattle.”

Sometimes you really step in it.

•Regroup.

You’re going to make mistakes. Accept that, learn from that, and move forward.

Acceleration for Gifted Students(generally speaking)

Good Bad

All Children are Gifted

Yes No

Gifted Kids Have it Made

So True Are Ya Kiddin’ Me?

The Other Kids Will Catch Up

Yes, in a Few Years Probably Never

Cluster Grouping

Good Bad

Gifted Kids are Handy and Helpful

Tutors and Should be Used as Such

Often Rarely

Parenting a Gifted Child is a Piece

of Cake

Easy Squeezy Bucking Bronco

Going to GT is a Privilege

Yes No, it’s an Academic Intervention

I Have a Hard Time Reaching &

Stretching the Gifted Learners in My

Classroom

Often Rarely

•Remember…

…that there are many varying perceptions and theories about giftedness and gifted education. Not all of these theories and perceptions are accurate, but remember that everyone who comes to the table is bringing his own theories with him.

Consider carefully before becoming a vigilante.

Problem-solving Strategies:

No, the saloon is not the answer.

What are some possible scenarios that would require parent/teacher advocacy?

What did you learn?

What would you do differently next time?

As a teacher, what suggestions would you offer to parents to help them more

effectively communicate with you?

As a parent, what suggestions would you offer to a teacher to help him or her communicate

more effectively with you?

How can you incorporate your own strengths and knowledge into your advocacy strategies?

How can you incorporate the child’s needs,

strengths, and interests into the solution?

When do you bring the child to the table with the adults to discuss

strategies and solutions?

Respect the teacher.

Respect the parent.

But most of all, respect the child.

Tamara Fisher

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted

Karen Isaacson

www.kisaacson.com