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1. Sternbe a. creativity/ task commitment/ above-average

Nature and Needs of the Gifted

with Lisa Van GemertGifted Youth Specialist, Mensa

I've always known I was gifted, which is not the easiest thing in the world for a person to know, because you're not responsible for your

gift, only for what you do with it. – Hazel Scott

Welcome! I respect your choice to share this day with me, and I promise to do my best to make it worth your time. In this handout, you will find (hopefully) lots of resources and ideas. I am interested in your thoughts and experiences, so I hope you will be brave and share your ideas today.

Before we start, could I ask you to please take a moment and respond to the statements below? Thank you for being willing to put some skin in the game! This will NOT be collected, so please feel free to be honest!

ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10, 10 BEING THE STRONGEST AGREEMENT, PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE STATEMENTS:

I feel like my educational needs were fully met in school. ______

At least part of why I became a teacher was to reach children on a personal level. _____

I feel fully able to meet the needs of my gifted students with the time and resources and training I have. ______

I sometimes feel impatient or bored at professional development sessions, even though I am always trying to improve my teaching practice. _______

I am looking forward to the session today. ______

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Part 1: Theories and Models of GiftednessPlato origins of intelligence theory

Galton Hereditary Genius; nature over nurture

Mill mind is a blank slate; nurture over nature

Cattell science meets intelligence; anthropometric testing

Binet French psychologist who developed idea of IQ

Terman first longitudinal study of gifted; major impact on way we viewed gifted children

Spearman general intelligence (g-factor)

Sternberg Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Renzulli creativity/ task commitment/ above-average ability

Gardner multiple intelligences

Willingham not so fast

Roeper Type 1: The SuccessfulType 2: The ChallengingType 3: The UndergroundType 4: The DropoutsType 5: The Double-labeledType 6: The Autonomous Learner

NAGC Definition: Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains.  Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).

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Part 2: The Brain

Slide Rocket presentation available at http://bit.ly/brain10

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Thing 1: Welcome to your Brain

Thing 2: The Limbic System

Thing 3: Hippocampus

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What’s the question students and parents need to be asked?

RAS Activation Tips:

First, you can make subtle changes in teaching methods:

Vary the tone, speed or loudness of your voice. Move around the room as you talk. Gesture while you speak, using animated hand and arm movements or facial

expressions. Use a story to illustrate important concepts. Ask a question and then pause for at least five seconds rather than for a shorter

period. Use humor or an anecdote.

Thing 5: Why the Star Wars queen is causing fights on your campus

Thing 6: RAS

Thing 4: Amygdala

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Use topic-related visual aids as you talk such as photographs, cartoons or charts.

You can change the activities you use to further involve the audience:

Get the students to participate in short review activities. Ask the students to stand and stretch if they have been sitting for some time. Get them to draw simple diagrams on a whiteboard to represent what they

have learned. Ask them to discuss a question about the material you have delivered. Use quiz games.

You can also change the physical environment of the venue:

Change the layout of chairs from theatre style to classroom style or to round tables.

Add aromas such as lavender, citrus or apple to create a different atmosphere. Peppermint!

Play background music that either energizes or relaxes your audience. Decorate the classroom. Avoid sensory deprivation tanks that never alter.

Adapted from: Sharon Bowman. The Ten-Minute Trainer, pp. 145-146.

Read more about how educators can harness the RAS http://bit.ly/RAShandout

Why do students need to know this?

Thing 7: You Can Build a Better Brain

Thing 8: Stress is a really BAD IDEA

Thing 9: Importance of Dopamine

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Why do students need to feel successful to be successful?

Do I understand the why behind these ideas: chunking? set/clean up?

Read More:Moonwalking with Einstein by Josh Foer (Penguin 2011)Sparking Student Synapses 9-12 by Rich Allen and Nigel Scozzi (Corwin Press: 2012)Engaged Learning by Richard VanDeWeghe (Corwin Press: 2009)Any of the “How the Brain Learns” books by David Sousa (Corwin Press)How to Rewire Your Burned-Out Brain: Tips from a Neurologist: http://bit.ly/LQEp20 How to Plan Instruction Using the Video Game Model: http://bit.ly/LDw1sq Neuroscience for Kids website: http://bit.ly/LNqw6P Handout for students: http:// bit.ly/LLYWsM

Part 3: Nature and Culture

Cheetah Allegory: http://bit.ly/tolancheetah

Thing 10: The Brain Loves Patterns

Thing 10.2: The Role of Memory

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Asynchrony: http://bit.ly/petersasynch

Group Work Without Going Wild

1. Lead by example.Let your students see you collaborating with colleagues. No one else on your campus doing exactly what you’re doing? Reach out to find like-minded teachers. Share with your kids what you created together.

2. You can build it. You have the technology.Use the easy tech tools that enable students to create presentations together (Prezi.com) and mind map collaboratively (http://www.mind42.com). These aren’t the only options, but they’re a great place to start. Group work isn’t always a physical togetherness.

3. Never assume. You’ve got to teach the skills they need.The actual skills of working in a group must be taught before students can simply be set free to work in groups or very little “work” will be done. Ask yourself Do your students know how to…Listen when someone else is talking?Ask questions when they don’t understand?Explain something with a how and a why?Share reasoning, not just opinion?Be concise?Take turns?Come to a consensus?

4. Divide with deliberation.Groups should be created by the teacher rather than ad hoc. One way to balance groups is to rank students from highest to lowest and divide in two (students 1-15 would then be on one list, students 16 – 30 on the other). The teacher would then partner student 1 with student 16, student 2 with student 17, and so forth. Groups of four would look like this: 1, 2, 16, 17; 3, 4, 18, 19. If you use groups larger than four your quiet ones will never say a word. Set multiple group options up ahead of time.

5. Whole group instruction is a strategy, too. Don’t just work in small groups because you think that’s what administrators want. Administrators want good teaching, and sometimes that is whole group instruction. Be thoughtful in your consideration of how you are going to group for each stage of instruction – don’t just choose by default.

Some options:whole groupsmall groupsteacher-student conferenceindividual workblending (into a group, back to individual, into a conference, back to group, etc.)

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Creating Team Identity: Choose your team configurations deliberately and not on the spur of the

moment. Create teams of 2, 3, 4, and 5 students. More than five is problematic. Decide how you will handle absent students in advance. When you utilize the team for the first time, have them create a team identify

by finding shared likes and dislikes (see chart below) and then create a name from those. For example, a team that all liked pizza and Monopoly and gum but not liver or American Idol could name themselves the “Monopoly on Pizza” or the “Liver-hating Gum Chewers.” They don’t need to use EVERY like or dislike in the name – just a couple. You don’t need to offer all the options in the chart every time, either. Just giving a couple of categories is fine.

Alternately, you can generate random names from various and sundry things like topic, color, and location for free here http://bit.ly/randomnamegen

You can do this for the entire class to help create a team identity within the classroom.

Categories We All Like None of Us LikeTV ShowFoodMovieSongGame Color SnackCandy

Strategies for Forming Groups (from Mel Silberman of Active Learning)

1. Grouping Cards. Code groups using a colored dot (red, blue, green, and yellow for four groups), decorative stickers (different stickers in a common theme for five groups, such as lions, monkeys, tigers, giraffes, and elephants), and a number (1 through 6 for six groups). Randomly place a number, a colored dot, and a sticker on a card for each student. When you are ready to form your groups, identify which code you are using and direct the students to

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join their groups in a designated place. You may want to post signs indicating group meeting areas to make the process even more efficient.

2. Puzzles. Purchase six-piece children's jigsaw puzzles or create your own by cutting out pictures from magazines, pasting them on cardboard, and cutting them into your desired shape, size, and number of pieces. Select the number of puzzles according to the number of groups you want to create. Separate the puzzles, mix up the pieces, and give each participant a puzzle piece. When you are ready to form the participants into groups, instruct the participants to locate others with the pieces to complete a puzzle.

3. Finding famous fictional friends and families. Create a list of famous fictional family members or friends in groups of three or four. (Examples are Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, Wendy; Alice, Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter; Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent.) Choose the same number of fictional characters as there are students. Write one fictional name on each index card. When you are ready to form groups, ask the students to find the other members of their "family."

4. Birthdays; Ask students to line up by birthdays and then break into the number of subgroups needed for a particular activity.

5. Playing cards. Use a deck of playing cards to designate groups. For example, use jacks, queens, kings, and aces to create four groups of four. Use additional number cards, if necessary, to accommodate a larger group. Shuffle the cards and deal one to each participant, and then direct the participants to locate others with similar cards and to form a group.

6. Favors. Give each student a wrapped sugarless candy of a different flavor to indicate groups. For example, your groups may be categorized as lemon, butterscotch, cherry, and mint.

7. Toys. Select toys (get bags of cheap toys at the dollar store) of a common theme to indicate groups. For example, you might choose transportation and use cars, airplanes, boats, and trains. Each participant would draw a toy from a box and locate others with the same toy to form a group.

8. Handouts. Code the assignments or instructions with colored paperclips or dots. Students gather by color.

Want more?http://bit.ly/ssgroupshttp://bit.ly/kagan-listProductive Group Work: How to Engage Students, Build Teamwork, and Promote Understanding by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Sandi Everlove

GROUP WORK IDEAS

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Teams-and-Tournaments adapted from Motivating Students and Teachers in an Era of Accountability by Richard Sagoro Teacher assigns heterogeneous teams with mix of top, middle, low studentso Form team identity (see above).o Work on assignment with teammates.o For quiz/test, assign kids to ability-based tables.o Deck of cards with questions.o Roll dice to see who goes first.o Pick up card and answer question. If correct, keep card. If incorrect, card

returns to pile. Keep going until every card is won.

The Team Stands Alone adapted from Motivating Students and Teachers in an Era of Accountability by Richard Sagoro Teacher assigns heterogeneous teams with mix of top, middle, low students.o Form team identity.o Practice as teams.o Give test individually. o Points given for difference between average test score and current test score,

rewarding kids who significantly improve performance.o Bonus for perfect score.

Fan-N-Pick (Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategy)o Student 1 holds question cards in a fan and says, “Pick a card, any card!”o Student 2 picks a card, reads the question out loud and allows five seconds of

think time.o Student 3 answers the question.o Student 4 restates the answer.o For right or wrong answers, Student 4 checks and then either praises or

coaches.o For higher-level thinking questions which have no right or wrong answer,

Student 4 does not check for correctness, but praises and paraphrases the thinking that went into the answer.

o Students rotate roles one clockwise for each new round.o Note: if you have a group with only three students, combine pick & read and

tutor/praise (students 1 & 4)

Find My Rule (Kagan)o Teacher prepares identity cards, related to an overall theme and to each other

by a “rule” (one per student).o Teacher announces that students will need to form groups of a given size by

circulating throughout the room to locate students who have identity cards that are connected or related to their own by some commonality or “rule.”

o Teacher gives an example and checks for understanding.o Teacher passes an envelope containing all identity cards around the

classroom.o Students take one card each and circulate around the room to try and find

others who have identity cards that are related to theirs.

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o Once all members of the group have been found, the group will find a place to sit together.

o Group members will articulate the rule that connects all their identities and will try to guess the theme to which all the groups are connected.

Numbered Heads Together (Kagan)o Students count off numbers in their groups.o Teacher poses a problem and gives wait time (Example: “Everyone think

about how rainbows are formed. [Pause] Now make sure everyone in your team knows how rainbows are formed.”)

o Students lift up from their chairs to put their heads together, discuss and teach.

o Students sit down when everyone knows the answer or has something to share or when time is up.

o Teacher calls a number. The student with that number from each team answers question individually, using:

o response cardso chalkboard responseo manipulativeso dry erase boards

For more information on Kagan Strategies, see: Kagan, Spencer. Cooperative Learning. Kagan Publishing, 1994. www.KaganOnline.com

Four-step review:

1. Scan the handout and put a star next to three things you know you want to use/try/learn more about.

2. Put an "x" next to one thing you know will not work for you.

3. Put a happy face next to at least one thing you want to share with another teacher you know (can duplicate step 1).

4. Put an exclamation mark next to the thing you think you are MOST likely to use right away.

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Parent Support

• Davidson http://www.davidsongifted.org/• TAGT http://txgifted.org/• Mensa http://us.mensa.org/• SENG http://www.sengifted.org/• NAGC http://www.nagc.org/• Hoagies http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

Using Service Learning to build skills and relationships

What are the standards? Here are the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice

Meaningful Service Service-learning actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities.

Link to Curriculum Service-learning is intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.

Reflection Service-learning incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society.

Diversity Service-learning promotes understanding of diversity and mutual respect among all participants.

Youth Voice Service-learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning experiences with guidance from adults.

Partnerships Service-learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.

Progress Monitoring Service-learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, and uses results for improvement and sustainability.

Duration and Intensity Service-learning has sufficient duration and intensity to address community needs and meet specified outcomes.

(source: national youth leadership council)

Where are you going with it?

Down the left triangle, and up the right triangle.

(image from chrilatkinson.com)

Priority Take-Away: What is my call to action from this session?

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Toe in the water

Charities

Kiva (kiva.org) is a microlending charity in which you can donate the same $25 over and over as it is repaid. You can choose the person the loan goes to by a variety of criteria. Select loans with six-month repayment terms to be able to re-loan within a school year. Find out more about using Kiva in the classroom here: http://www.kiva.org/do-more/classroom. What makes it good for classrooms: interest-driven, small amount necessary to begin, strong analytics and curriculum connection.

African Wildlife Foundation (http://www.awf.org/ ) The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is the leading international conservation organization focused solely on Africa. Donations can be made to specific projects (mountain gorillas, black rhinos, etc.), or to the charity as a whole. What makes this good for classrooms: kids like animals; strong curriculum connection to

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do a chore without being askedwrite a nice notesmile at three peopledo something without complainingpick up any trash you see for an entire daydraw a picture for someonespeak kindly to someoneinvite someone to play with you or sit by

Water.org has become famous as Matt Damon’s charity of choice, but its appeal is far broader and deeper than celebrity. Water is a key resource issue, and this charity enables kids to connect the curriculum to the real world. What makes this good for classrooms: very little money makes an impact, it is easy to understand, it addresses one of the key public health issues of our time. Download this great infographic on water issues for free here: http://bit.ly/waterinfographic

Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/) and its new Read to Feed program (http://www.readtofeed.org/) invites donors to give a gift of a living animal (geese, $20; bees, $30, etc.). The gift is paid forward, enriching more than just the initial giver. What makes this good for classrooms: kids like animals, low cost, plethora of resources and curriculum applications. 

Random Acts of Kindness

Steps: Set stage Brainstorms ideas Identify goals/duration Track it on a board

More ideashttp://www.guerrillagoodness.com/http://mensafoundation.org/giftedspecialist

Up to your neck

fill-in-the-blank drives

food/clothes/school supplies/books (find wish lists on charity web sites)

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be an eagle

JPS’s wish list is here http://bit.ly/jpswish

Tarrant County Food Bank’s is here http://www.tafb.org/donate-food.html

Cook Children’s is here http://bit.ly/cookswish

letter-writing

Steps: Identify cause Find audience/responsible person Create stationery Learn basic business letter rules Write/mail letter Track responses

double-dip

http://freerice.com / http://freekibble.com http://www.freekibblekat.com

All the way under

make something

quilts, belonging bags, procedure pillows, alphabet books, etc.

look for ideas for larger projects on Eagle Scout project websiteshttp://awhitfield.tripod.com/project.htmlhttp://www.scoutorama.com/project/http://www.myprojectfinder.com/

Resources:

Revolutionary Optimists – Calcutta slum video http://vimeo.com/39745941

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charitynavigator.com rates charities (stick with those earning four stars) based on a number of criteria and lets you search based on interest.

K-12 Service Learning Toolkit: bitly.com/slearning:

Abstract: The materials in this toolkit contain information about the 5 core components of a service-learning project: investigation, planning and preparation, the service activity, reflection, and demonstration/celebration. Also included are the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice.

The Kid’s Guide to Social Action by Barbara A. Lewis

Abstract: This is a practical, though dated, how-to guide for teachers to help guide students in social action. It has a social conscience viewpoint, so it’s fairly political. The ideas, resources, and forms are worth looking at.

Part 4: Perfectionism

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Content NotesTypes of Perfectionists (Adelson and Wilson)

Academic Achievers Aggravated Accuracy Assessors Risk Evaders: all or nothing Controlling Image Managers: I

could have it if I wanted to Procrastinating Perfectionists: if it

stays in my mind, I can’t failConsequences of Perfectionism:

neglect of other interests fear underachievement decreased social acceptance extrinsic motivation low self-esteem anxiety limited social interaction limited risk taking negative thinking stress

Healthy high standards manifest: mastery orientation capability of relaxing based on personal standards pleasure from working hard

Unhealthy perfectionism: based on external evaluation motivated by low self-esteem unsatisfied with high level of

effort incapable of relaxing

Big Idea: Excellent is good enough

Strategy: 1 – 5

Big Idea: It’s the journey, and it always wasBig Idea: Don’t be your own worst enemy.Mindset (Carol Dweck)Perseverance (polar explorers)Grit (Angela Duckworth)Strategy: Role of Goal DisengagementStrategy: Teach how to avoid self-talk mistakes

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Strategy: Teach how to avoid illogical beliefs

Strategy: Ask questions (don’t tell).

Strategy: Model strategies to deal with stress

Big Idea: Just do it

Big Idea: Be a Weeble and a Bozo

Big Idea: Failure is a perfectly acceptable option

Strategy: Fail Forward

Strategy: The Power of a 99

Strategy: Amish mistake

Strategy: provide support in dealing with failure

Practice predictions:

Strategy: just jump

Strategy: Is it my problem or does it belong to someone else?Barbara Clark’s Model for problem resolution

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Extra Resources to Explore

Books:

Letting Go of Perfect: Overcoming Perfectionism in Kids by Jill Adelson Ph.D. 

Too Perfect: When Being in Control Gets Out of Control by Jeannette Dewyze 

What to Do When Good Enough Isn't Good Enough: The Real Deal on Perfectionism: A Guide for Kids  by Thomas S. Greenspon Ph.D. 

Freeing Our Families From Perfectionism  by Thomas S. Greenspon 

Miscellaneous:

Make motivational posters here: http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php

Post about Perfectionism on: http://www.giftedguru.com/?p=328

Movie: Meet the Robinsons (Disney, 2007)

Ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything,That’s how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen “Anthem”

Slide Rocket presentation available: http://bit.ly/perfectnomore

Ithaka As you set out for Ithakahope the voyage is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops,angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:you’ll never find things like that on your way

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as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,as long as a rare excitementstirs your spirit and your body.Laistrygonians and Cyclops,wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter themunless you bring them along inside your soul,unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope the voyage is a long one.May there be many a summer morning when,with what pleasure, what joy,you come into harbors seen for the first time;may you stop at Phoenician trading stationsto buy fine things,mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,sensual perfume of every kind—as many sensual perfumes as you can;and may you visit many Egyptian citiesto gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.  Keep Ithaka always in your mind.Arriving there is what you are destined for.But do not hurry the journey at all.Better if it lasts for years,so you are old by the time you reach the island,wealthy with all you have gained on the way,not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.Without her you would not have set out.She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

(C.P. Cavafy, Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Edited by George Savidis. Revised Edition. Princeton University Press, 1992)