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.
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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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!
It’s holiday time and I’ve caught another cold (fourth since Thanksgiving). This really puts a damper on all my plans to be so productive during my holiday break from teaching. Reading and sleeping have been about the only productive thing that I’ve done the past two days. I’m halfway through a huge novel called “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett. Being plopped right smack dab into the early middle ages following the building of a stone cathedral is much better than dealing with a cold!
Just today, I felt good enough to sit down to the computer. I’ve been just cruising around, visiting some favorite blogs, trying out some new blogs. I even visited my own (leaving your own blog alone so long in cyberspace is not good) and I noticed a comment left by Michelle at http://www.michellehix.blogspot.com/. She has a really cool site with a few neat widgets on it. The best one is Shelfari and, of course, with me being a teacher of English, I could not pass on it!
I have to get my son to figure out why the widget won’t load up in my sidebar. It’s probably something very simple but it’s New Year’s Eve and I don’t want to bug him. He’s out with friends getting ready to celebrate the new year. My daughter is out in Jackson Square in New Orleans, my husband went to our friends in SW Houston, my sister is in Times Square and I’m sitting in front my laptop with my box of kleenex. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
Another interesting toy that I’ve had time to play with is Google Reader. Now, I can keep up with the news and actually have something interesting to add to casual conversations without becoming a news-junkie like a few people I know.
Somehow, I feel like the little kid who got all these toys for Christmas but ended up playing in the cardboard box that the new washer came in. These two ‘toys’ were free (actually not quite free. I ((my husband)) paid for the internet connection, the electricity, the kitchen table, the lemonade in the Pizza Hut Fred Flintstone glass we bought when we were going out together 25 years ago….I think you get the picture.)
Anyway, here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year and lots of new ‘toys’
Angie
I once heard the analogy that visiting a classroom for a day is like looking at the tip of an ice burg just above the surface of water. I feel like have now broken the surface of the water and am peering down below in the clear blue water. I’m seeing just how much I have to learn about teaching such a wide range of individuals. The challenge now becomes one of providing quality educational experiences for at least four different levels of learners. It is a daunting challenge for a fifth year teacher and an ominous challenge for anyone without education training or background; one that should not be undertaken alone.
Luckily, there is research being done on a continual basis in the field of gifted education. Also helpful are the links to resources online, information available at public libraries and bookstores and other experienced educators. I was speaking to a parent of a profoundly gifted student the other day when I reiterated something I experience while working and living in Louisiana. Changes are not made by one individual alone. Many must group to together, all using the resources and research available to create the best environment to educate our children. Not only does this benefit the gifted, but it should also benefit ALL children. It has happened and it can happen again.
The Davidson Institute provides a monthly email highlighting what’s being done now in gifted education. The last email provided links to the gifted and talented programs in two states: Pennsylvania and Louisiana. Apparently, the Davidson Institute has found that only these two states mandate the IEP as a vehicle to provide appropriate education for the gifted child. Pennsylvania boosts a 50 year involvement in the field, and from my own experience, Louisiana has at least a 25 year involvement. The use of the Gifted IEP provides an open communication for the school and parent to meet and discuss how best to meet the needs of the child. The best educational environment is chosen for the student from what is available in the system. In the area that I taught, north of New Orleans, those choices ranged from Inclusion, Resources, Enrichment, and Self Contained.
So my blog entry went from the classroom to the gifted education in the United States. Are we just breaking the surface on this important part of educating a child? Are we ignoring the good that some states are doing because we think our ‘process’ is better? Are we actually looking at the ice burg below the surface or the distorted reflection of the burg through the surface of the water? Are we taking an honest look at how best to meet the needs of these unique children? We have to be honest with ourselves and realize how daunting the challenge is and continue to use all the resources available.
Here are some blogs containing viewpoints about the recent article about educating our gifted students. Please take the time to read through the comments at the end of the article as well and make some comments of your own on how you would suggest the system be ‘fixed’.
I spotted this link while visiting my friend’s website (Nancy) and thought I would try it out. I can see where this can become a very useful site for educators. Off the top of my head, a teacher could use it to give instructions on a particularly confusing homework assignment or give verbal directions for a classroom project. Thanks to Nancy to bringing it to my attention. There’s a great big world out there on the internet!
While I am on the subject of being proud….my sister sent me this photo of Dwight and his co-workers on the USS Truman. Dwight’s been with this ship for a number of years now and is a more senior guy. I believe that his current 3 week tour (May 2007) is one of several short cruises he’s made. He’s also had several 3 month cruises over the past years. He looks too happy to consider retiring from the Navy but that may be his plan in the near future.
At the same time, being a Navy wife and mom is not an easy thing to do. Kudos to my sister (who is ten years younger than me). She’s really grown and matured over the past years! She and Dwight have three great kids, one will graduate high school next year.
Say what you want about the government that leads this country, but you have only to say “Thanks” to the men and women who work daily to preserve our and others freedoms!
Dwight is sitting to the right of the picture. If you click on the picture, it will direct you to my Flickr account where you can wave your mouse pointer over the crew to locate exactly which one he is. A note will pop up when you are correct.
Ten days in Paris during April! What a fantastic time to plan a visit. We had so many wonderful experiences and came back with a new appreciation for our culture and French culture. Visit my flickr account to see more pictures and comments about our visit. Email me if you want to know some good places to visit! Also, many thanks to the State of Louisiana for providing Amber with tuition these past three years. Because of their investment, she can translate from French to English and back again with ease. Let’s hope she uses this skill in her future to better the world!
So my son has suggested that I get my site linked to the best search engine for blogs on the ‘net, Technorati. <a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/ieqn4skein” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>
What’s really cool about that is he has a friend of a friend who just got on at Technorati. The fellow used to live in Baton Rouge and he used to teach elementary school.
Don’t know if this will be a good thing or a bad thing. Well, here goes….
