Gifted and Talented AcademyYear 2

Curriculum and Instruction

Session 1

http://maryschmidt.pbworks.com/w/page/60213263/West%20Des%20Moines%20Gifted%20Academy%202

Agenda

• Welcome/Check In• Moodle• Where We’ve Been• Making Sense of Curriculum• Curriculum Models• Team Planning• Closure

Targets: I can…

• Define curriculum• Understand basic principles of curriculum• Make connections between curriculum for

the gifted and Iowa Core• Identify which philosophical perspective

matches my district’s gifted programming• Identify basic differences among and

roles of curriculum models• Work with my team to set goals for

curriculum design

Reflecting

Individually• Jot down

– 1-2 key accomplishments from Academy Year 1– 1-2 ways your programming is better now than

it was a year ago

Share at your table

Handshake

• Find a partner• Share one key accomplishment and one

programming improvement• Repeat

• Large group processing

Web 2.0 Tools

• Wiki or Google site– Set up account– Create team Wiki space or Goggle site

• Visit http://maryschmidt.pbworks.com – Download PowerPoint

• Moodle

Processing Reading

• Number off by 3’s• Discuss assigned chapter and identify key

points• Jigsaw

• What shifts in thinking does this information create for you? Your team?

RANDOM ACTS OF GIFTED EDUCATION

Jeanne Purcell, 2002

Curriculum Defined

A set of organized experiences appropriate for gifted learners that are written down and adopted for use in a school district. It represents a formal codifying of the goals, objectives, and activities of a gifted program. The appropriateness of a district's basic curriculum for the gifted is a key consideration. (VanTassel-Baska, 1994).

Curriculum Defined

A design plan that fosters the purposeful, proactive organization, sequencing, and management of interactions among the teacher, the learners, and the content knowledge, understandings, and skills we want students to acquire. (Purcell & Eckert, 2007)

Curriculum DefinedCurriculum can be divided into three categories: intended, enacted, and assessed curricula• Intended curriculum: the content target for the

enacted curriculum, often captured in content standards or other similar documents

• Enacted curriculum: the content actually delivered during instruction in the classroom and other learning settings

• Assessed curriculum: the content that is assessed to determine achievement (Porter, 2004)

As defined in the Iowa Core

Processing

• In your team discuss– What is common across definitions– Where definitions differ– Key considerations for your context

Making Sense of Curriculum

• With your team/table group discuss what it means to have “curriculum for the gifted.”– Today’s Meet

Making Sense of Curriculum

• Read “Myth: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted!” and “Myth 9: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted”– Identify key ideas and arguments– Discuss shifts in thinking from 1982 to 2009– How do these ideas connect to Iowa Core:

essential concepts and skills, characteristics of effective instruction, and universal constructs?

– Consider the connection between gifted programming and curriculum

Making Sense of Curriculum

• Review Guiding Principles and Best Practices and Traits (p. 89-92, Purcell & Eckert)

• Discuss with your team– The ways each of these is evident in what you

have read and learned so far about curriculum for the gifted.

Making Sense of Curriculum

• With your team/table group discuss what it means to have “curriculum for the gifted.”– Post on todaysmeet

• Read and discuss “Beliefs about Curriculum”• Read “Myth: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted!”

and “Myth 9: There is a Single Curriculum for the Gifted”• Review Guiding Principles and Best Practices (p. 89,

Purcell & Eckert)• Discuss in relation to initial perceptions

– Have those perceptions changed based on new information?

• Individually identify and share with your team something you’ve learned about curriculum for the gifted.

Curriculum Philosophy

Curriculum as• Development of Cognitive Processes• Technology• Personal Relevance• Social Reconstruction• Academic Rationalism• Precursor to Professional Career

VanTassel-Baska & Stambaugh, 2006

Curriculum Philosophy

• Individually– Identify any of the curriculum orientations you use

in your programming.– Determine which best match your own philosophy.

• With your team– Share individual perspectives– Determine which best match the orientation of

your comprehensive plan– Discuss how/why curriculum orientation matters in

and/or influences programming.

Influences on student learning

LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP

LEADERSH

IPLEAD

ERSH

IP

School

Teacher

Student

1. Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum 2. Challenging Goals & Effective Feedback 3. Parent & Community Involvement 4. Safe & Orderly Environment 5. Collegiality & Professionalism

6. Instructional Strategies 7. Classroom Management 8. Classroom Curriculum Design

9. Home Environment10. Learned Intelligence/Background Knowledge11. Motivation

Curriculum Models

In designing appropriate curricula for gifted and talented students, a curriculum model or models may serve as an ideal framework… Schools may choose to adopt a specific model or take a more eclectic approach in adapting several models that suit their needs.

What is a curriculum model?

…a format for curriculum design developed to meet unique needs, contexts, and/or purposes.

Parallel Curriculum Model

…a set of four interrelated designs that can be used singly, or in combination, to create or revise existing curriculum units, lessons, or tasks. Each of the four parallels offers a unique approach for organizing content, teaching, and learning that is closely aligned to the special purpose of each parallel.

--Purcell, 2002

Ascending Levels of Intellectual Demand

• Escalates one or more facets of curriculum• Takes into consideration students’

– Cognitive abilities– Prior knowledge– Schema– Opportunities to learn– Learning rate– Developmental differences– Levels of abstraction

Why ALID?

• To honor student differences• Address varying levels of prior knowledge,

varying opportunities, and cognitive abilities• To ensure optimal levels of academic

achievement• To support continuous learning• To ensure intrinsic motivation• To provide appropriate challenge• Provides “mental sweat”

ALID

• Download ALID document– Wiki

• Read the levels and discuss in your team• Add Ideas, Thoughts, and Implications• One team member save and upload to

team Wiki or Google site or email to all team members.

Survey

• Visit Wiki• Click on the survey link• Each person on team complete

And the Survey Says…

• Discuss as a team – What the survey

results show– How you interpreted

the ratings– Discrepancies across

buildings– Implications of these

results in light of what you’ve discussed today

Team Planning

• Use planning template on Wiki for team planning/goal setting. Upload to the Moodle site (session 1)

Home Play

• Read chapters 4-6 in VT-B text and post to Moodle forums

• Finish team plan & post to Moodle by Nov. 16

• Choose an area and explore Iowa Core standards

Next Meeting

• November 29, 2012• Heartland AEA Ames Office