Amber and I visited our New Orleans/Mandeville friends for four days a couple weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to write an entry about it.
First, we want to thank our friends, Rocky and Julie, for providing us with a great place to stay. We’ve known them since their youngest boy and my oldest, Adam were in school together in kindergarten and first grade at Lieder Elementary in Houston, moving to Louisiana as 2nd graders. (Both boys are out of college and happily employed and were educated in the gifted program in St. Tammany).
Amber (who is leaving tomorrow for a Masters program in International Relations in Paris, France) made arrangements to meet up with Justin, who completed college in three years and is employed as an auditor in the banking industry. He graduated a year after our boys from the same program. I’m always impressed with his knowledge of fine food and wine after working as a waiter in some of the best restaurants in the New Orleans area.
Our second lunch date found us at Coffee Rani’s in Mandeville talking about what it was like to grow up gifted. Kristen and her mom just returned from a SENG convention. Her mom manages a preschool and now looks out for giftedness with the little ones in her charge. Kristen completed her college early, started a masters in PA but found it to be not what she expected and is back in town while she calculates her next goal in life. The cafe was completely emptied of its lunch crowd by the time we disengaged.
Being labeled gifted, as most educators and parents know, can good and bad, based on the individual’s experience and life circumstances. Our mother/daughter lunch came to the conclusion that our girls were better off in the gifted program because they were challenged intellectually but their social/emotional issues weren’t really addressed. We also discussed how going to a large public college was like being thrown back into regular classes, even if you were enrolled in the Honors College. Amber made the comment that it seemed like the smaller college was more gifted-friendly. That was her experience anyway.
But the shocker for these girls was how the real world treated them now. They had realized that the grown-up, real world could care less if you are gifted or not. (Quite a wake up call for the young adults and one stated by my son in an earlier conversation.) After discussing the status of many of their classmates (one doing drugs and playing in a rock band, one working at a daycare in a fitness center, one working in Alaska in the oil fields, etc.), we came to the conclusion that what mattered the most was what one does with their giftedness. We noted that all these classmates are still driven to digest knowledge yet choosing jobs that seem to be unrelated to their giftedness. If you are ever around any of the individuals, you will notice that their intensity is still present.
I can look at all this from the viewpoint of a mom and an educator. Most well-meaning educators and specialized programs miss the mark when it comes to knowing just what the gifted child needs for their intellectual and social stimulation. Although St. Tammany has a well-developed full day gifted program, it fell short in the social/emotional area. We came to the conclusion that any gifted program must pay attention to the social and emotional needs of the student in order to best prepare them for future obstacles. Parents needed to be fully informed and supported in learning about the difficulties and joys of raising a gifted child. We also realized that children must be provided opportunities to develop tenacity or ’stick-to-it-ness’ when faced with difficult situations. The bulldog mascot of their high school came to my mind as we talked.
We had lunch with another mother/daughter friend. This time, our discussion took a turn to the future and opportunities. This class mate had just returned from a trip to Morocco within her nursing program. We discussed how the US has so much compared to other parts of the world. I couldn’t help but thinking how we take our opportunities for granted rather than work for the greater good of our world as we talked.
Lunch with our daughter’s best friend’s family, Brennan, was also a joy. It was so cool to learn that he was selected to introduce Hillary Clinton at a recent speaking engagement at his college back east. This was the guy in high school who challenged the rules at every turn but did it with the expertise of a fine surgeon. He knew just how far to go to make the administration of the school look silly while staying out of serious trouble. He’s going on to law school soon. If I ever meet him in court, I want to be on his side!
Our last lunch was with Bobby. Bobby was the only one that we met during our stay that was not educated in the gifted program in St. Tammany, rather he was in the gifted program in New Orleans. He started at Tulane but because of Katrina, his degree plan was discontinued. He finished his Computer Science degree in Missouri and is back now seriously considering a career with the NOPD. Another guy I would want on my side.
I’m so proud of all my son and daughter’s classmates in all their adventures after their ‘gifted’ education because I know that each one is making a contribution to their world in their own way. I also realize that it’s not enough to be gifted in our world. It’s not enough to provide accelerated or enriched programs one day, two days or even five days a week for our children. We must also provide them with opportunities to struggle, to fail under controlled situations, to overcoming obstacles and to understand what it truly means to be just a little different.
Kelly over at The Apple has found several sites where students can use their smarts to help someone else. I wanted to pass along her findings. I had used FreeRice in my classroom and found it to be very useful for those early finishers. The students are eager to surpass each other in their donations so they always tried to do their best. Teachers and grownups like to see how smart they are too! Enjoy!
Below is a posting from my friend Stacia. This group does great things for the profoundly gifted population in the Houston area. Some of my readers may find this information helpful, so I’m posting their announcement here. You can also find more opportunities for the Houston area gifted on my Gifted Minds, Texas page.
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It is that time of year! We have lots of great things planned for this fall’s profoundly gifted co-op. We will continue to meet at the Vineyard Church in Clear Lake. We will continue all our Zome building fun! Instead of colloquia, the kids will be working on oral history projects. We want the co-op to offer a good mix of science as well as humanities. The older kids will be working together to create an oral
history of growing up gifted. They will learn how to interview; videography; ethics and law (copyright and liability), etc. The younger kids (likely 7 and under) will create an oral history project around man’s first walk on the moon. They will learn to interview and create an oral history and learn the how to document these interviews.
We will add sign language from 4:45-5:30. If you would like to participate in sign language, please be prompt. If you are late, it disrupts the class. If you are not interested in sign language, please arrive promptly at 5:30 for class.
We are going to ask the minimum age for participation be five years old.
The group settings are set to “no attachments” so if you are interested in participating in the co-op; please e-mail me and I will send you the appropriate forms.
The cost for the semester is $60 per child. This includes all supplies and necessary equipment. We do not offer sibling discounts at this time. We have worked very hard to keep the cost as low as possible for everyone to participate and this makes it difficult to offer a sibling discount.
Deadline for registration is September 1, so we have time to adequately plan. The tentative schedule is as follows:
September 10 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm Zome - Bubbles
September 24 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm oral history project- Intro, Apollo 8 anniversary audio documentary and other products, discuss open-ended questions, develop questions
October 8 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm Zome - Perimeter & Area, Fences problem
October 22 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm oral history project - legal issues, etiquette, develop questions
November 12 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm Zome - Picasso & Math
November 19 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm oral history project - conduct oral histories
December 10 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm Zome - Finding Tau
December 17 4:45-5:30pm sign language
5:30-7:00pm oral history project - conduct oral histories
As always, if you have friends who would benefit from the co-op please pass this on. Stacia Taylor, 832-476-3887
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I cruise the TAGMAX mail list because I’m interested in the issues that are important to gifted parents as they navigate the social and emotional issues of the gifted child. These parents know what the want in an academic setting and are quite knowledgeable on curriculum and programs. In one of the exchanges the program at: Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School University Scholars Program caught my eye. More specifically, their understanding of the needs of the gifted student in the classroom. On their FAQ page, I found the following points:
* Gifted Learners can become mentally lazy, even though they do well in school.
* Gifted Learners can become “hooked” on the trappings of success.
* Gifted Learners may become perfectionists.
* Gifted Learners may fail to develop a sense of self-efficacy
* Gifted Learners may fail to develop tenacity in the face of obstacles.
* Gifted Learners may not develop study skills.
* Gifted Learners may fail to develop strong peer relationships.
* Gifted Learners may struggle with tasks that require cooperative work.
Any school that says it is there for the gifted learning needs address these issues in their program. I personally experienced all of these issues with my gifted learners as an educator. I struggled with the lazy learner by insisting that they ‘go deeper’ with their interpretations and detail, to adopt good study skills and work in cooperative groups as well as the host of other issues these points bring up.
Further, a teacher of the gifted MUST have the support and tools necessary to help these learners. Not an easy task - and many schools fail. Much of my last teaching assignment was taken up with educating the student on their emotional issues. This was obviously missing as indicated by their performance and behavior. It wasn’t until the last months of the school year did the students begin to respond by turning in quality work by the deadline. I spent an entire school year of dealing with non-academic issues so the student could learn to learn. And this is happening all over the world to our teachers and our most valuable minds!
If you have some hints or tips to share on how to manage these issues, please share them!
This is the video I made at a recent workshop sponsored by the Office of International Outreach and Dept. of Educational Technology at Texas A & M. We used Microsoft Moviemaker or Apple’s VideoCue for the video portion, and Audacity for the audio. All these programs are readily available on your computer or for download.
I began the workshop with a factual piece about the local lighthouses but as the workshop progressed I understood the value of using the medium for storytelling. Ultimately I realized how valuable the process would be to the gifted learner. Yesterday, I found an article looking why humans tell stories in the Scientific American Mind, Aug/Sep 2008 issue titled, “The Secrets of Storytelling” which only solidified the importance of storytelling with the quote, “The imaginary world of stories may serve as a proving ground for vital social skills.” The author provided research that suggested that children who listened to stories developed empathy and ability to read other people’s emotions.
Back to my production. My writing underwent four total rewrites and edits before I was happy with it. It is usually quite difficult to get a student to put this much work into a written piece but the result is so worth it. (The National Writing Project has lessons that focus on the rewriting/editing process that appeal to children.)
Two side notes: I recently found that the New Canal Lighthouse actually fell in Dec. 2005 and had to be completely dismantled so my information is not quite accurate on that point. Also, I hope that I covered the complicated copyright issues correctly.
Thanks to Martha Green and her staff for researching and assembling the workshop!
This school has the right idea! First Baptist Church of Lake City’s First Academy provides the structure and curriculum to students and parents just like any other school but is doing it in a different way. Providing choice. Savvy parents can use the school facilities or homeschool. Parents know what they want for their gifted children, most public school programs aren’t providing it. More and more, parents are looking into digital delivery of the content. Think of the advantages. Students learn at their own pace under the watchful eyes of a professional educator or the loving parent. The learning can happen at school or at home. Professional educators and administrators navigate the regulations and requirements for the parents. Schools need less in the way of actual classrooms. Are there other schools setting up a program with choice? I’d like to know about them.
Dave and I just got back from our two week vacation visiting relatives, friends and acquaintances. This trip started out relaxing, and then just stayed that way. One of the neatest things we did was floating down the North Platte River near Laramie, Wyoming. My uncle is the best! He is a Fish Biologist for the Wyo Game and Fish. Dave teased him that he had one of the neatest offices in the world, especially when you consider that it includes all the lakes and rivers in the region. On our float, we saw numerous deer, ducks and geese. We floated under a mature bald eagle and a juvenile bald eagle who just stared at us. The most interesting thing we saw was something that looked like a cross between a muskrat and beaver. My uncle is showing the pictures that I took to a wildlife biologist for identification.
We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with my grandfather, who will turn 95 in a few days. Dave got him to chuckle with the comment, “I’d like to see the guy who buys a truck with 120,000 miles hauling dead animals.” (Inside joke, I guess you would have to be there.)
We also learned that his mother got to take control of a plane with some Air Force guys she knew when she was a young woman back in the 30’s. Everyone thought is was my grandma, until I asked “What was Mom’s name?” Apparently, her Air Force friends also flew from Alaska to come to her funeral and that made a big impression on my grandfather.
Dave had a fantastic time at his 30th class reunion. About 40 classmates showed up for some part of the festivities. Dave got a sunburn during the golf tournament, visited with his closest buddies and ate a really good steak cooked on a huge open fire at a chuck wagon dinner. We adopted my sister-in-law’s son, Keagan, for the weekend. What a great kid! Gifted, for sure!
The last few days of the trip involved some heavy-duty relaxing. Dave’s aunt and uncle have a place on Seminole Lake. First of all, forget everything you know about lakes. This one has NO TREES! Only bushes. This was quite a shock for me having camped as a kid in the Rockies in Colorado.
Dave’s mom and step dad also joined us at the lake. I had never been fishing on a boat. Growing up, we only fished from the shore. Dave’s mom caught the biggest Walleye! My fish-intuition told me that I’d be lucky if I fished. I was. I caught seven fish, outnumbering Dave by two. Dave’s uncle deftly skinned the fish and his aunt cooked them. Walleye is a pretty good eats!
If you haven’t gotten enough about the trip, stop by my Flickr account for pictures. I’d love to hear about your summer adventures!
Returning to Earth: I also just finished a three day workshop at Texas A & M. Every time I am out on that campus, I am impressed with the programs and people. I started to explore the idea of working on a doctorate within their gifted program if things don’t work out for a teaching position.
That’s when I figured out that my summer is flying past…..fast…..
I love it when I visit a friend’s blog and find something neat to try out. My friend, Nancy (who just got back from the New Orleans Writing Marathon and is on my teacher blog list in the side bar as “Nancy”) keeps a great web log. She seems to stumble upon some cool little gadgets and Wordle is one. This is right up my alley! I’ve fiddled around with words and art on a page since my oldest was three months old. My closet is full of the school newsletters that I’ve done both with and without the help of technology. Oh yea, I remember when I had to type or copy, cut and paste clip art and articles to create attractive newsletters! (This is the new version of ‘I had to walk ten miles to school in a foot of snow’ story to tell my grandkids.) In any case, I used my del.icio.us bookmarks to create my own Wordle art.
Another thing I did that comes under the Fun category is setting up a MySpace page. Actually, I set up one way back during Spring Break and actually forgot about it until this evening as I was chatting with my niece in Arkansas. So here is the site address: http://www.myspace.com/teachagiftedkid.
I helped E find his ring! It may seem like a little thing to you but to E it wasn’t. The ring his grandmother gave him had flown off his finger onto the SW Colorado forest floor late in a “capture the flag” style game during our week long archeology field trip. Two classmates and I looked for about 20 minutes at dusk with no luck. I promised E that we would try again the next morning. It would be our last chance before returning to school. During this trip, it seemed that each student had their own ‘need’. For D, it was a slow reveal of his true self to others who think like him. For M, it was to be accepted by the crowd. For A, to show she was all grown up. For E, it was just to find that ring.
Most all the bags were packed and sitting by the bus parked in front of the lodge early the next morning when E reminded me about the promise I made the night before. He and I made our way up the path into the underbrush and looked for the marker we had chosen the night before and we began our search. Amazingly, I found the ring within about a minute of arriving. How we missed it, I will never know. E was relieved and happy. I could also feel his trust in me as his teacher had risen 100% that morning. He could tell that I truly cared about him.
This year, out of all the lessons coming out of the classroom, building trust with the class was the one for me. (Each year seems to have its lesson for the teacher.) Trust is wrapped up in the little things we do from day to day in our classroom. It’s fetching that special type of card stock paper for a project, remembering to bring in an ingredient for a recipe, smiling, chatting, following through with promises, and a zillion other things.
During a conversation the first week in May, a co-worker mentioned that sometimes it takes him nearly half the school year to build trust with his new class of students. It became clear that this was the issue in my class. This group of children was taking longer than most to develop that certainty that I was going to lead them, teach them and expose them to learning situations without embarrassing them, without stretching them too far beyond their needs or belittling them when something goes wrong. A big chore for any professional!
After some fits and starts, I can say it took well into February when the students began to trust me. Situations, attitudes, perceptions, stresses along with school culture and teacher experience all played a role in our slow development. The last part of the school year was the most productive for my students in many ways other than just in their class projects and assignments. We had quality discussions, inside jokes, playful fun. All these things the students will remember more than any lesson on grammar or ancient history that I taught.
It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been spending most of my extra time in a car carpooling back and forth with my husband to work. It’s the time of the year in the field of education that one thinks about their plans for the fall. Should I continue teaching or not? For some, the decisions is pretty easy, for me it’s always a big decision. I elected to make education my field of choice and have all the credentials to be considered ‘highly qualified’. But with finding out I have been dealing with several mild but annoying health issues for the past 20+ years hasn’t helped make the decision any easier.
The other day I conferred with the new Principal at my school about the conundrum. I remember mentioning that I needed to ‘manage the stress’. My husband pulled up just as our meeting was over and we started our hour long journey back home.
I’m up at 2 am in the morning with a neck and back ache writing this entry waiting for the medicine to kick in. The reason: the five car collision that Dave and I was in right after the meeting with the Principal. It was on the feeder road just before entering the Interstate. We were completely stopped, the car directly behind us was completely stopped. I don’t know the status of the third car, but the fourth car hit the third, third to second, second to us. By the time the momentum got to us, we just got a good bump with no damage. The car behind us got a back dent in the fender area. The other three cars were totaled and had to be towed.
I just sat in the front seat of our car after the accident and marveled at the thought that anyone could manage stress.
