Why Does Our School Need A Gifted Program

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Why Does Our School Need A Gifted Program?
2009 2010 Professional Development
Brought to you by the MPSD Gifted Educators
Created by Stephanie Malcom And Rhonda Denton
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MPSD District Goals

• The mission of the Meridian Public School
  District gifted program is to insure that
  intellectually and artistically gifted children,
  as defined by the Mississippi Department of
  Education, are offered appropriate educational
  experiences that are qualitatively different from
  those available in the regular classroom in order
  to provide opportunities for them to realize
  their abilities and potential.

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Myths FactsAbout Gifted Learners

• Developed by the CHAMPS Project 2005
• For Mississippi Gifted Programs

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First things firstWhat does gifted really
mean?

• Intellectually gifted is generally defined by MS
  public schools as possessing an IQ of 120 or
  higher (95th percentile with standard error of
  measure).
• An IQ of 120 indicates superior intelligence.
• Only 5 of the population have an IQ of 120 of
  above.

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The public is sympathetic to the plight of the
gifted.

• MYTH
• Gifted individuals are often perceived as being
  blessed with greater than average intelligence
  and are burdened with unreasonable expectations
  from others. There is no gifted poster child.

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It is unfair and undemocratic to give special
services to the gifted.

• MYTH
• Gifted education is, in fact, about meeting the
  academic and affective needs of students whose
  abilities and knowledge exceed what is being
  taught in the regular classroom.

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The intellectually gifted differ as much from the
average as do the mentally challenged.

• FACT
• Gifted learners are as far from normal as
  traditional special needs children. Their
  learning needs are as different as students who
  are placed in special education.

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A high IQ is a good predictor of real world
accomplishment.

• MYTH
• A high IQ only indicates an individuals capacity
  for learning and intellectual threshold. Real
  world success requires task commitment,
  motivation, education, and often, pure luck.

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Gifted students tend to be physically weak and
unhealthy.

• MYTH
• Gifted students differ in physical strength and
  health as much as the general population.

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An individuals IQ score is the same throughout
his/her lifetime.

• FACT
• At approximately the age of 16, mental age, like
  height, stops increasing. IQ generally remains
  stable throughout ones lifetime.

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Gifted kids are enthusiastic about school and
academic work and make good grades.

• MYTH
• Gifted students are often bored in school and
  will choose the easiest path to an A. Many
  gifted kids act out in school and perform poorly.

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Gifted children are smart enough to learn on
their own.

• MYTH
• Gifted children require the same professional
  education and emotional support as other
  children, but that support must be appropriate to
  their needs.

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The gifted are popular and successful persons.

• MYTH
• Gifted individuals often have difficulty relating
  to their peers. Many gifted students are chronic
  underachievers who do not reach their potential
  in school or in life.

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Gifted children are usuallyfrom upper middle
class professional families.

• MYTH
• Giftedness is distributed equally among all
  strata of the population. Children from a higher
  socio-economic status may be more easily
  identified using traditional verbal IQ tests than
  their less affluent peers.

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Gifted students should be encouraged to
directtheir own learning.

• FACT
• Gifted students should not be required to study
  information they have already mastered. Often,
  gifted kids are capable of self-directed
  learning, guided by a facilitator, that allows
  them to explore a concept at a deeper level.

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Accelerating gifted learners causes them social
and/or emotional harm.

• MYTH
• Acceleration places highly gifted learners with
  their intellectual peers, provides greater
  challenge, and helps reduce boredom and
  underachievement.

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Gifted students should serve as examples to
others and always be encouraged to help other
students.

• MYTH
• Gifted kids are not perfect students and should
  not be held to unreasonable standards of
  perfection. They should be encouraged to help
  other students as much as any other learner in
  the classroom but should not be used as junior
  teachers.

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Gifted students from racial and ethnic minorities
and of low socio-economic status are less likely
to be identified.

• FACT
• Relying on teacher recommendation and verbal IQ
  measures will overlook many gifted learners who
  are from diverse and/or underprivileged
  backgrounds.

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Beginning with puberty, gifted girls are more
likely to be underachievers than gifted boys.

• FACT
• By late elementary school, girls learn that being
  smart may intimidate or offend their peers and
  often compensate by masking their intelligence.

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Gifted students are self-directed.

• MYTH
• Motivation and self-discipline are not equated
  with intelligence. Gifted learners may have less
  motivation than their peers because learning has
  always been easier for them.

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Gifted students are naturally creative and rarely
need encouragement.

• MYTH
• Gifted children, like all children, are unique
  individuals and differ in their abilities,
  talents, and personalities. Intelligence should
  not be equated with creativity or motivation.

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A Bright Child vs. A Gifted Child
Note the Difference

• Asks the questions
• Is highly curious
• Is mentally and physically involved
• Has wild, silly ideas Plays around, yet tests
  well
• Discusses in detail, elaborates
• Shows strong feeling and opinions
• Already knows
• Prefers adults to peers
• Thrives on complexity
• Is keenly observant
• Is highly self-critical

• Is interested attentive
• Completes assignments
• Answers the questions
• Top of group
• Listens with interest
• Learns with ease
• 6-8 repetitions for mastery
• Understands ideas
• Good memorizer
• Enjoys sequential presentation
• Is alert receptive
• Is pleased with own learning
• Enjoys peers school

Source Janice Szabos, http//www.tag-tenn.org
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Different LearnersLearn Differently
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Many Gifted Students are VisualSpatial Learners

• Visual-spatial learners think in pictures rather
  than in words.
• They learn best visually. They learn all-at-once,
  and when the light bulb goes on, learning is
  permanent.
• They do not learn from repetition and drill. They
  are whole-part learners who need to see the big
  picture first before they learn the details.
• They are non-sequential, which means that they do
  not learn in the step-by-step manner in which
  most teachers teach. They arrive at correct
  solutions without taking steps, so show your
  work may be impossible for them.

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VisualSpatial Learners

• May have difficulty with easy tasks, but show
  amazing ability with difficult, complex tasks
• Tend to be organizationally impaired and
  unconscious about time
• Are often gifted creatively, technologically,
  mathematically or emotionally. 
• They also are very creative, dramatic, artistic
  and musical.

You can tell you have one of these children by
the endless amount of time they spend doing
advanced puzzles, completing mazes, counting
everything, building with any materials at hand,
designing scientific experiments, or taking
everything apart to see how it operates.
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Resources for Gifted Education
These books are available for check-out See your
school Gifted Teacher or Librarian

• The Gifted Kids Survival Guide
  by Judy Galbraith, M.A.
• The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids
  by Sally Yahnke Walker, Ph.D.
• A Parents Guide to Gifted Children
  by James T. Webb, Ph.D.
  

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Gifted Web Sites

• http//www.gifted.uconn.edu     National
  Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
• http//www.gifteddevelopment.com     Gifted
  Development Center, Dr. Linda Silverman
• http//www.hoagiesgifted.org     Information for
  parents, students, teachers, and administrators
• http//www.nagc.org     National Association for
  Gifted Children
• http//www.magc.org    Mississippi Association
  for Gifted Children
• http//www.ericec.org     CEC/ERIC Clearing
  House     Information for parents and teachers
• http//www.prufrock.com     Books for teachers,
  parents, and students

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MPSD Resources for Information
(1) MPSD Website/Department/Gifted -Summary of
surveys given to all stakeholders in the Spring
of 2009 -Explore and Art Quest Referral
Information -Accessible sites for our Scope and
Sequence (2) MPSD Policy Manual, pages
IDDC1-IDDC6 -Revised District Gifted Policy
(3) MPSD Gifted Brochure Brochures are
available to all staff