tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32096960224456115282024-03-05T01:43:45.241-08:00Madelaine's IdeasMadelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-1192202077561336012019-06-03T13:33:00.000-07:002019-06-03T13:43:54.546-07:00Myth....busted<br />
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There are so many myths about giftedness out there. Some are factually incorrect, some are just silly, some can be easily brushed off, but some can be hurtful and confusing for gifted kids and their families. I asked my MindPlus classes what, if any, myths about giftedness they had heard, how these myths affected them, and what they think in response to myths. Buckle up, here we go...<br />
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- gifted kids are walking calculators (<i>go on, give us a hard maths problem, NOT!... not all gifted kids are into maths, and even those who really are don't so much like solving equations on the spot)</i><br />
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- gifted kids know everything (<i>everything???.... really???....what does 'knowing everything' even mean? It just isn't possible to know 'everything' and it's not fair to expect something impossible from gifted kids</i>)<br />
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- gifted kids have an advantage over everyone else <i>(nope, we don't, some gifted kids learn faster and more easily than other kids, but not all, but sometimes this isn't an advantage at all)</i><br />
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- gifted kids are nerds (<i>although I self-identify as a nerd, I do this positively, it's not an insult unless you are using it as one, which you almost always are</i>)<br />
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- gifted kids are good at everything (<i>so often we hear, you're gifted, you should find this easy, but you know what, we aren't magically good at everything. We have strengths and difficulties, like everyone else)</i><br />
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<i>- </i> if you aren't good at (spelling, maths, writing, whatever), you can't really be gifted <i>(again, being gifted does not mean we are automatically good at everything, please don't give us an extra hard time about what we are not good at)</i><br />
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<i>- </i>gifted girls aren't as gifted as gifted boys <i>(well that's just incredibly sexist isn't it... girls and boys are obviously different, but we are all kids, and here at MindPlus, we are all gifted kids)</i><br />
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- gifted kids are all the same (<i>just like everyone else, each gifted person is unique, they have their own strengths and weakness, their own interests, their own friends, family and pets. We do have some things that are in common with other gifted kids, but we are each our own person)</i><br />
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<i>-</i> gifted kids aren't sporty (<i>well what did we just say about all gifted kids being different, come on folks, sports and giftedness aren't like opposite ends)</i><br />
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<i>- </i>giftedness is a learning disability <i>(well, it's a learning difference, but not a disability, but like disabilities, giftedness needs some care and attention)</i><br />
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- giftedness is common <i>(no, statistically giftedness occurs in about 10-20% of ANY population)</i><br />
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- giftedness is like autism <i>(again, no, autism is a different thing to giftedness. Sometimes the two can be be together in a person though)</i><br />
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- gifted kids only come from rich families <i>(gifted kids come from all sorts of families)</i><br />
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- giftedness should be doubted <i>(why?... if someone rightly identifies as gifted why would you doubt that and try to prove the person wrong somehow? Is that really ok?)</i><br />
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Once we start uncovering some of these myths and talking about them, we can start really working towards understanding the varied needs of our gifted kids and supporting them to grow.<br />
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This blog is part of the 2019 Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tour. </div>
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-1958679440987910442019-05-22T20:20:00.001-07:002019-05-27T18:51:12.352-07:00I believe... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Gifted Awareness Week 2019</b> is all about myth-busting and I am happy to blog my thoughts again in celebration of this auspicious week and this fascinating theme.<br />
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What a great opportunity we, those of us in the gifted education community, have to highlight myths and truths about gifted learners, giftedness and gifted education. The difficulty I have is where to start with this? There are SO MANY myths about gifted learners. If you hop on over to <a href="https://madelainesideas.blogspot.com/2019/05/mythbusted.html" target="_blank">Myth-Busted</a> you can read about the myths that gifted students say they are contending with every day, and what they think about these myths.<br />
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For me, as a teacher of gifted students, as a parent of gifted kids, as a gifted adult, the one, all-encompassing, over-arching, epic mother-ship of a myth that I want BUSTED once and for all is anything that starts with this:<br />
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This seemingly innocuous phrase is often put at the front of mythical statements like:<br />
-<i> I believe</i> every child is gifted<br />
- <i>I believe</i> giftedness represents a fixed mindset<br />
- <i>I believe</i> I've never met a 'truly' gifted kid<br />
- <i>I believe</i> gifted children don't exist, they just have pushy parents<br />
- <i>I believe </i>that all children should be treated the same<br />
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Adding <i>I believe</i> to statements that negate the existence of giftedness doesn't make those statements alright!<br />
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<b>'Believing' in giftedness isn't an option. </b>It isn't an option to not 'believe' in the existence of trees, for example. More specifically in education, it isn't an option to 'believe' in medically diagnosed conditions that may impact on learning like ADHD or ASD. It isn't an option to 'believe' in other conditions that impact on learning, diagnosed by experts, like dyslexia or dyscalculia. It isn't an option to say that a child who is deaf simply has a fixed mindset about their hearing.<br />
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When we talk about learners with differences, it isn't acceptable to say 'I don't believe in dyslexia' or 'I don't believe I've met anyone who <i>really </i>has ADHD'.... So why on earth would anyone think it's acceptable to say 'I don't believe in giftedness'?<br />
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There core issue stemming from this 'belief' myth is that it serves as a barrier for our gifted learners. This barrier that prevents them accessing educational or social provisions that will support them as learners and young people growing up in our world.<br />
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Let's be conscious of this 'belief' myth, and BUST IT! It's not really that hard to move from 'belief' to 'evidence'. We live in the time of evidence-based practice, not belief-based practice, so let's turn to the large international body of research and theory that has developed over time that outlines, amongst other things:<br />
- who gifted learners are<br />
- what their common characteristics are and what these mean for practice<br />
- what we can do to support their intellectual, social and emotional needs<br />
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The newly revamped <a href="https://gifted.tki.org.nz/" target="_blank">TKI Gifted</a> site is a huge store-house of national and international research and theory and can act as a great starting place for moving from the myth of 'belief' toward evidence-based knowledge and practice for our gifted learners.<br />
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This blog is part of the 2019 Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tour</div>
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<br />Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-12506459753797248902018-05-27T13:55:00.000-07:002018-06-13T23:04:18.984-07:00Celebrating Success - From the Horses' Mouths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Celebrate Gifted Aotearoa NZ: Catalysts of Success is a great theme for Gifted Awareness Week 2018. It's positive, hopeful, reflective and fun! </span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">This theme combines some interesting ideas, and I asked my</span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;"> </span><a class="x_OWAAutoLink" href="https://nzcge.co.nz/our+services/mindplus?src=nav" id="LPlnk919311" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank">MindPlus</a><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;"> classes (one-day-a-week specialist programme for gifted learners, part of the </span><a class="x_OWAAutoLink" href="https://nzcge.co.nz/new+zealand+centre+for+gifted+education" id="LPlnk449364" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank">New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education</a><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">) what they thought about this theme for Gifted Awareness Week</span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">. So here come some ideas from the horses' mouths... </span></div>
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<span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Firstly, <b class="">celebrating</b>. </span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Gifted Awareness Week is indeed a week of celebration for those of us who are connected to gifted education, as learners, parents, teachers, or as interested parties. It gives us all of a specific time and reason to recognise and feel proud of our gifted learners. Having this specific time helps us to get past some of the reasons why gifted learners (and perhaps also their parents) can be reluctant to celebrate their success. Here are some of the things my students said: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “Sometimes my success isn't recognised as success by other people." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “People think I'm just bragging." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "I might sound arrogant, or over-confident, or cocky when I share my successes with others." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "It can be embarrassing, frankly." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “There never seems to be a good time." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “When I'm really successful, it's so rare, that I forget to take time to celebrate." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “Lots of things I do are really successful, so it's just really a big deal." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “What other people think is successful is not what I think are my successes."</span></div>
<span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class=""><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;"><b><span class="">Success,</span> </b>though, is a more complex idea, one with layers of meaning. </span></span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">So again, from the horses' mouths:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Success is a </span><i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">feeling: </i><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It’s about being happy about what you have done."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It’s a feeling inside your brain, like a chemical reaction."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “A reason to be proud." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “A sense of achievement."</span><br />
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<span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Success is an </span><i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">outcome: </i><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It’s an outcome of your actions, your work."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It's accomplishing your dreams or thoughts."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “Having something you worked towards and wanted."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “Something you are happy about achieving."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Success is a </span><i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">process: </i><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It's from what you do... you have to work to be successful."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ “It's not just the end of something."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">And most importantly, for almost all of my students, </span><i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">success is something personal to you</i><i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;">.</i><span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;"> Many students said that what they considered a success may be different from what anyone else thought - they shared many stories of successes that could be considered unconventional, surprising, or even unimportant to those around them. Many also said that their successes may be completely unrelated to school. </span><br />
<span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;"><b class=""><br /></b></span></span>
<span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;"><b class="">Catalysts </b>of success are reasonably easily identified by </span></span><a class="x_OWAAutoLink" href="http://gagnefrancoys.wixsite.com/dmgt-mddt" id="LPlnk602714" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank">Francoys Gagne</a><span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;"> in his </span></span><a class="x_OWAAutoLink" href="http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b64a15_d990e509038044d6a59b648bb9e2c472.pdf" id="LPlnk87200" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank">Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2.0)</a><span class="" style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 12pt;"><span class="" style="font-size: 15px;">, divided into intra- and inter-personal factors, growing up, and good old-fashioned serendipity. Here's what gifted learners said about what helped or hindered their success:</span></span><br />
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<i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">People</i><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "Success can be helped by anyone with knowledge."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "My success is helped by family and friends, especially friends who are like you."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "Success can be helped along by people around you and yourself." </span><br />
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<i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">School/Learning</i><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "Success is helped by school (sometimes)."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "My success isn’t helped by anything that happens at my school."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "The right kind of teaching."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ "Getting what you need for your learning."</span><br />
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<i class="" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal, "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif, serif, EmojiFont; font-size: 15px;">Inside myself</i><br />
<span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">⁃ Again, most importantly, most students identified intrapersonal catalysts, things from within themselves, as critical supports for their successes. Plenty of ideas here around d</span><span class="" style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">etermination, persistence, hard work, being interested, making your own decisions, having choices, and doing things your way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">When I sat with students and their thoughts, some very clear ideas jumped out at me:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Students found it hard to celebrate their own successes publicly, worrying about seen as arrogant o</span><span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">r braggy. For me, this means we need to make sure our class and school cultures warmly embrace and celebrate success for all students. Gifted Awareness Week gives us all the perfect opportunity to do this! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Students see their successes linked to emotions, likely reflecting their characteristics as gifted learners. For me, this is a great reminder to 'tune in' to the rich, deep emotional world of gifted learners. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Students see their success as coming largely from within themselves and due to their own efforts. For me, this means that students need the time and space to heavily invest in their own 'success-making' endeavours, their own projects and self-determined goals. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">Students identified that they needed particular people (knowledgeable people and like-minded peers) and particular help (the right kind of teaching, getting what you need) to support their success. As parents and teachers, we would be wise to listen to what students say they need to support their success, and provide this when it's needed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">During Gifted Awareness Week in 2018, take time with the gifted folk around you to ask them about their successes, and to celebrate!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #212121; font-family: , "segoe ui" , "segoe wp" , "tahoma" , "arial" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"; font-size: 15px;">This blog is part of the 2018 Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tour. </span><br />
<img height="236" src="https://www.giftedchildren.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GAW-2018.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-17073634892113307122017-06-10T17:15:00.000-07:002017-06-11T14:47:22.277-07:00The Diverse Doctor<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJRc-ooE2ObXJgAUoz3thjjUS9JCX5xC4bjYTO72-4zMU2IJuG66g97r_rt_xKHBMIuz5fCOizxGciWLa_dug5RCUWxzjWvcDuXuKjQkIa-592o6lDWny9Aa2ZhH-rEIE8x9_-9nL5LmU/s1600/GAW.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJRc-ooE2ObXJgAUoz3thjjUS9JCX5xC4bjYTO72-4zMU2IJuG66g97r_rt_xKHBMIuz5fCOizxGciWLa_dug5RCUWxzjWvcDuXuKjQkIa-592o6lDWny9Aa2ZhH-rEIE8x9_-9nL5LmU/s320/GAW.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /> <br /> In the weeks and months leading up to Gifted Awareness Week this year, I've been immersing myself in a new fandom, that of Doctor Who. I've enjoyed (thanks to Netflix) the different regenerations of the Doctor, his various companions, his adventures and travels and troubles, and mostly I've enjoyed his musings about life and humanity. So merging my new interest (obsession?) with Gifted Awareness Week I thought it apt to look at lessons about diversity from Doctor Who and think about how these might apply to the very real context of gifted education in New Zealand. <br /><br /><b><i><br /> Lessons in diversity from Doctor Who: </i></b></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcG4JFBCVRmwakicsxORV-xb5iTyAM-7SjvQf9QLWafGXNv7wALG6F4GskaxizsTreQUIq71QoRTxuqvSwQvKcAxxScPgpw1ysmO5cbmjSDPKWcuLsqUDizO_zNudnv-JNkWh1a57iI0P/s1600/dr+who+1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcG4JFBCVRmwakicsxORV-xb5iTyAM-7SjvQf9QLWafGXNv7wALG6F4GskaxizsTreQUIq71QoRTxuqvSwQvKcAxxScPgpw1ysmO5cbmjSDPKWcuLsqUDizO_zNudnv-JNkWh1a57iI0P/s1600/dr+who+1.jpg" /></a> <br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image credit: Flickr user: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorwhospoilers/">Doctor Who Spoilers</a>, licensed for use<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> CC BY 2.0</a></span></i><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><b><i>- an awareness that life exists in many variations</i></b></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Doctor takes many forms. He understands, at the most fundamental level, that he himself is the very embodiment of diversity. From this understanding, he is then aware, from his travels in time and space, that life takes many forms. Some life forms are intent on causing harm, some are peaceable but incompatible with other life forms, and some are just trying to make their way in the universe (Hitch-Hiker's Guide style). The Doctor understands that life is diverse, never uniform or homogenous. In the same way, we was teachers need to understand that giftedness is diverse - it can exist across all ages and stages of life, across all social groups, all cultures, all genders, and in concert with any number of other conditions. Giftedness can take different forms, can make itself known in different ways, and can have different outcomes. Gifted learners are as diverse a group as any other learners. <br /></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHyXUg_kNtD2RonBqGrmP5m7_YEc_z8XfZefDaNnwi_YsLV2x9yIHuERQMGWcZ2kNXzLXEQ3RjScYNNWYrenbcOs5VV1ppxffvagv_WyiHvQcLRSznJU6ATY50geRh5byE36EmmNhlgX9/s1600/dr+who+2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHyXUg_kNtD2RonBqGrmP5m7_YEc_z8XfZefDaNnwi_YsLV2x9yIHuERQMGWcZ2kNXzLXEQ3RjScYNNWYrenbcOs5VV1ppxffvagv_WyiHvQcLRSznJU6ATY50geRh5byE36EmmNhlgX9/s320/dr+who+2.jpg" /></a> <br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image credit: Flickr user: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Materialscientist">Materialscientist</a>, licensed for use<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> CC BY 2.0</a> </span></i><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><b><i>- an acceptance of all of these variations of life</i></b><br />Here we see the Ood, an alien species who pop up from time to time in Doctor Who. Despite their odd appearance, the Doctor, as always, actively accepts each and every life form as valid, worthwhile and important. Even when the life forms he counters go against his very firmly held non-violence policy, even when the life forms seem trivial, even when the life forms are unseen, he continues to accept all life as important. He lives and breathes that acceptance through his deeds and his words. He has a constant translation field around himself and his TARDIS to help with mutual understanding of language, and when this doesn't work (which is surprisingly often) his efforts to make himself understood and to understand other life forms prevail. Most importantly, I think, the Doctor demands that all life forms are treated fairly and reasonably by all other life forms. This does not mean that all life forms are treated equally, and nor does he demand or expect equality. In the same way, as teachers we need to build on our awareness of all the variations of giftedness and actively accept all these variations. 'Actively' here means to learn more about, to ponder ways to engage and excite gifted learners, to help them to extend their strengths, and to seek out new opportunities for all gifted learners. We must make the effort to understand and be understood, to work in genuine partnership, and to treat all gifted learners fairly (not equally).</span><br /><br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uZ1KQlf3mIXpNYT1CCsZri4FGiSi32FYf_MR0GUpg8xX7cudQbVMY_t0hAmsg3lFLdP1SZZr0LVxtpdYoDjFfM8gpvW0cSTevXuBSYwaYMi4oSbAyEr4DPW9Ucrvvd7HSDOP2RywcJI9/s1600/dr+who+3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uZ1KQlf3mIXpNYT1CCsZri4FGiSi32FYf_MR0GUpg8xX7cudQbVMY_t0hAmsg3lFLdP1SZZr0LVxtpdYoDjFfM8gpvW0cSTevXuBSYwaYMi4oSbAyEr4DPW9Ucrvvd7HSDOP2RywcJI9/s1600/dr+who+3.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image credit: Flickr user: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorwhospoilers/">Doctor Who Spoilers</a>, licensed for use<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> CC BY 2.0</a> </i></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>- a desire to help others understand all of the above</i></b><br />Here we see the Doctor with some of his companions, the Ponds. He actively makes super-human efforts (or in his case super-not-human efforts) to help others, his companions, supporters or adversaries in equal measures, understand that life is diverse and to accept this diversity. Through all of his travels he is helping those with him or against to recognise the value of all life forms, of all our differences, and of all our similarities. Once we as teachers are aware of and accept giftedness in all its variations, we are in a strong position to help others understand, working alongside and with other teachers to help them also reach a place of awareness and acceptance of all the variations of giftedness. <br /></span><br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbfm_EyYtF9MPZTfOfV3060zFCCdg1zj6HdI6a8AqIgv5Mglpn7CRN52kKdY3LmX5JmYfTRrrnF86AWRP0SGMip6RqUYDVQdly34qyFVDqGKfPTqw_L-qCBQYtcwBUScgZJYTrhJuNvlnu/s320/dr+who+4.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image credit: Flickr user: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorwhospoilers/">Doctor Who Spoilers</a>, licensed for use<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> CC BY 2.0</a> </span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>- self-understanding leading to other-understanding, and other-understanding leading to self-understanding </i></b><br /><br />In this picture we see the Doctor in three of his forms, each seeking to understand the each other as one struggles with making a decision about using an 'ultimate' weapon. The Doctor takes great care to understand himself, in all his forms, and then uses that understanding to feed into his understanding of others. This becomes a self improving cycle, with his understanding of others then feeding into his understanding of himself. Understanding diversity can only begin from a position of self-awareness. For gifted learners to understand and accept themselves, they must be supported in their developing self-understandings, relating these understandings to others and then back to themselves. <br /><br /><b><i><br /> And finally, from MindPlus students... </i></b><br /><br />We talked about diversity in my MindPlus classes this past week. When the word diversity arose, one student asked 'what's that supposed to mean?' and another answered 'that everyone and everything is different', then another added 'and that's actually OK'... which is exactly what Doctor Who would have said! Gifted learners ARE diverse learners, so let's learn from Doctor Who... be aware of their diversity, accept their diversity, help others to understand, and help gifted learners to understand themselves. <br /> <br /><br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_1cEcYLhXbVUzDB5XlL-fe1FvZ4kzC87e6vz2zV0iGFwXqgwPkDU8z3wE9jANTd1gSDJk6zMFuujYciopabsy5prLAr7r6KEN3ReQTf4HEp63FaJSS-mFalPz_LPSGgF3jBXyzm4Z5i4/s320/blog+tour.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br />#Gifted Awareness Week Blog Tour 2017 <br /><br /><br /> *Doctor Who, TARDIS and all related names, images, etc. are property of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.* </span></div>
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-67742641180851885732016-06-08T19:25:00.001-07:002016-06-08T19:27:19.758-07:00A Message on a Post-It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not long ago in my <a href="http://nzcge.co.nz/OUR+SERVICES/MindPlus?src=nav" target="_blank">MindPlus</a> class, we were
talking about being gifted and what that means for us. Instead of talking,
one student quietly wrote on a post-it ‘I don’t really feel like I fit in at
school’ and stuck it on the wall. This innocuous little post-it kick-started a
torrent of ‘me too’ comments and we talked at length about this meant. Whilst fitting in is not the same as a sense of belonging, the two can go hand-in-hand. Children talked about not feeling 'right', not fitting with others, being misunderstood, being different, not being able to be themselves, and not meeting others like them as factors that contributed towards their sense of not belonging. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a teacher, a parent, and a human, I felt devastated for these
young people carrying the burden of not fitting in, not feeling part of things, not belonging. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wondered what it was that made them feel so ill at ease? </span><span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wondered w</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hat steps we could take to enhance belonging in our classrooms?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some of my ponderings brought me back to the three key words of this blog tour, <b>accepted, included, connected.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Accepted</b> – To belong, our gifted tamariki need to be accepted by all. Their differences, along with the individuality of all children, should be celebrated. Acceptance begins with gifted children, their parents, teachers and peers understanding the concept of giftedness. Specialist input can help us as teachers, as well as our gifted students, come to understand this better. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Included</b> - To belong, our gifted tamariki need to have their intellectual and social needs met, whatever the setting, and in this way, they can feel included. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Specifically working to understand and meet the needs of gifted children will help them to feel included, and thus to belong. Again, specialist input can help with identifying and providing for gifted children. </span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Connected </b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">- To belong, our gifted tamariki need to find a place where they feel they fit, to find a peer group of those with like-minds or similar interests. This sense of connection to similar others enhances belonging across settings. Specialist programmes can bring together groups of gifted children, as can well designed school programmes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If as teachers we worked on accepting, including and connecting our gifted children, will their sense of belonging be enhanced? Will the post-it messages change?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Proud to be part of the Gifted Awareness Week 2016 Blog Tour</i></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo credit Flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanhochman/14638033407/in/photolist-oivKmk-qCh7GT-qvyPua-kR9oZt-8zxuXn-9mq7H9-oDcsdo-5eLK2r-9fBHYt-nuURRo-8YV4K5-oeYpCH-dBd8Rf-kKPBSS-9Vk8NS-q1mdoF-kwGSDZ-7cSb1j-dDwovw-qrEzjs-e7M5Qx-kRawJq-getFvs-fdgXiR-5Tj7MG-getGqG-9RWUDD-kR9kG6-bCbzWz-8YVJ4b-bVJFVV-iNK4nX-d4ouN3-bwjtb3-9YoGVQ-pMdVmL-nuUSuA-8YV91s-pembtL-m8nbrT-a4YUoN-dB7FgD-r7JnrV-8YVHNu-jkAXKB-bpgGpd-9r3kfa-9r6iyE-iX2NhV-djcFWu" target="_blank">Dean Hochman, post-it notes</a>, licensed for <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">commercial use</a> CC BY 2.0</i></span></span></div>
Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-9510895591408495872015-06-10T16:23:00.001-07:002015-06-10T16:23:05.294-07:00Like-mindedness...inclusion...and us.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Associate Professor Tracy Riley’s recent research, shared in
a SENG article, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://sengifted.org/archives/articles/thinking-along-the-same-lines" target="_blank">Thinking Along the Same Lines</a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and to be further explored at the upcoming </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://nzagc-40th-anniversary.org.nz/" target="_blank">NZAGC conference</a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, puts like-mindedness in the spotlight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like-mindedness is an important part of gifted education. The
benefits of grouping gifted children together, creating like-minded
environments, are both intellectual and social. Intellectually, like-minded
students can work together at a faster pace, in greater depth, can challenge and
question each other in order to bolster their individual and collective learning. Research
by Adams-Byers, Whitsell and Moon (2004) found that gifted students saw the
academic advantages in learning with like-minded peers as being challenge, fast
pace, quality and depth of discussion, and lack of repetition of content. Sandra Kaplan highlights that in like-minded
groups, students can share perspectives and ideas that can be more readily
understood, without the need for protracted explanation. This sentiment was strongly
expressed by the students who shared their ideas about like-mindedness <b><a href="http://madelainesideas.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/colourful-and-complex-students-thoughts.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Socially, like-minded students can feel a sense of
connectedness to others who share similar experiences. A sense of ‘getting’
each other is experienced, and students experience a noticeable lack of teasing
in like-minded groups (Adams-Byers, et al., 2004). Sandra Kaplan (2014) reminds
us that social connectedness within like-minded groups stems from a deep well
of self-understanding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The intersection between intellectual and social benefits is also noted by Kaplan, who reminds us that students in like-minded groups feel as
though their contributions are <i>both </i>understood <i>and </i>valued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talking of connectedness, appropriately paced and
challenging material, valuing and understanding reminds me of the idea of
inclusion. <a href="http://inclusive.tki.org.nz/" target="_blank"><b>Inclusive Education on TKI</b>, </a>whilst sadly not acknowledging gifted
students under the remit of special education, note that “<i>At fully inclusive
schools, all students are
welcome and are able to take part in all aspects of school life. Diversity is respected and upheld.
Inclusive schools believe all students are confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners and
work towards this within the New Zealand Curriculum. Students’ identities, languages, abilities,
and talents are recognised and affirmed and their learning needs are addressed.”</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For gifted students, spending time
working exclusively in like-minded groups might be one way to ensure inclusion…
ensuring they become confident, connected, involved life-long learners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this talk of like-mindedness started a slightly
different train of thought for me – what about like-mindedness and adults? Should
teachers operate in a like-minded fashion? What would that like look? Imagine
this… specialist teachers plus regular teachers plus parents working together
as like-minds, with the child at the centre of our thinking. Working together in
ways that are fast-paced and challenging. Understanding and valuing each other’s
experiences and ideas. Connecting, ‘getting’ each other. Imagine the benefits
for that child, those children. Here, I believe, is the real power of
like-mindedness in gifted education – like-minded adults working for the
benefit of each gifted child in their care. I now ask you, how can you create your own
like-minded environment? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-72246646840112275172015-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:002015-06-10T16:25:13.757-07:00Colourful and complex... students' thoughts about like-mindedness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Working (effectively) with like-minded peers is an essential
element of the <a href="http://nzcge.co.nz/MindPlus%202015" target="_blank">MindPlus </a>programme. But what do children actually think and say
about working with their like-minded peers?... I asked two classes of gifted
children and here are their responses:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Learning with like-minded peers…</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s easier because we don’t have to explain
ourselves or our ideas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s not as hard as working with non-like-minded
peers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We can work together on the same things, or on
different things in the same ways<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We can help each other learn <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->You can understand each other <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We can learn from each other<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s just easier to work with like-minded peeps</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Communicating with like-minded peers…</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We don’t have to tackle ‘what does that mean?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->You can really properly listen to and think
about other people’s ideas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s waaay easier to communicate <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Connecting with like-minded peers… (socially and
emotionally)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We ‘get’ each other<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->You can connect with others<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We go through similar things<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s interesting to be able to talk to people
who are like you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->You learn better social skills from being with
people who are more similar than different<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->You can understand what other people are
feeling, and they can understand what you are feeling<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in summary, it’s a colourful and complex experience.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-35591096338329336952014-06-15T15:29:00.002-07:002014-06-16T00:09:25.774-07:00Mind the Gap<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">The recent
scoping report by consultants MartinJenkins, commissioned by Gifted Kids (now
New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education) identified a series of ‘gaps’ in </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-themecolor: text1;">service delivery for gifted children in New Zealand’s
schools (read more here: <a href="http://www.giftedkids.co.nz/Gaps+in+education+for+gifted+-+report+finds+-+Media+Release"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">http://www.giftedkids.co.nz/Gaps+in+education+for+gifted+-+report+finds+-+Media+Release</span></a>). These thoughts are echoed by the shared Position Statement</span></span><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> from <v:stroke joinstyle="miter">the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education, giftEDNZ and the NZAGC.
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-themecolor: text1;">When thinking about gaps
in relation to the education of gifted, one springs to my mind immediately – the </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">gap between potential and
achievement in our gifted </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">children. This gap saddens and angers me. To see gifted children languishing in the 'above standard' zone, perhaps a year above their chronological age, is simply wrong. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While
giftedness is not an automatic ticket to high achievement but our gifted
children absolutely and undoubtedly have the ability to achieve at exceptional
levels, many years above their chronological age. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If they aren’t doing this, we must stop and think very, very carefully
about why. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Reis (1998)
identified a</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-fareast-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-themecolor: text1;">
relationship between unchallenging or inappropriate curriculum in underachievement,
and Whitmore (1989) found a leading cause of under-achievement to be </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Environments that do not nurture
their gifts and may even discourage high achievement” (Whitmore, 1989). More
simply put, gifted children may not be working to their potential because they
are not being given educational opportunities that propel them towards that
potential. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s a lot
of chalk-face talk about enrichment and lateral extension as provisions for
gifted children. Despite many good intentions, I remain unconvinced that these piece-meal,
‘around the edges’ approaches are anywhere near sufficient to close the gap. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A bigger picture
view of what our gifted students need is required here – one that has genuine
intellectual challenge at the core of any provision for gifted students. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intellectually challenging content, tasks and
processes can be developed for all gifted students, at any ages, and across and
within all curriculum areas. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Challenging
strength based programming allows gifted children to really work towards their
potential. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other
common chalk-face conversation is about the limits placed upon us as teachers by
the New Zealand Curriculum and National Standards. Here I echo Sue Barriball's concerns about raising the ire of my colleagures, those in my profession, one that I have worked in for 20 years, but... I think blaming the limits of our curriculum or National Standards is an easy ‘out’. There is plenty of scope within both for us as teachers to develop genuinely
intellectually challenging programmes for our gifted children from school entry
onwards. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s be more creative, more adventurous, more ambitious as we create and negotiate curriculum
pathways that challenge our students, and start to close the gap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As teachers,
are we brave enough?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
Sources:<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-fareast-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Reis, S. M. (1998). Underachievement for some—Dropping out with dignity for others. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: AGaramondPro-Italic; mso-fareast-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-themecolor: text1;">Communicator, 29</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-fareast-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-themecolor: text1;">(1), 1, 19–24.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-fareast-font-family: AGaramondPro-Regular; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Smutney, J. (2004). Meeting the needs of gifted underachievers – individually! 2e Newsletter. Available here: </span><a href="http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10442.aspx"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Printer Friendly Version</span></span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span>Whitmore, J.
R. (1989). Re-examining the concept of underachievement. <i>Understanding Our
Gifted</i> 2(1) 10-12.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span> <strong><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Proud to be part of Gifted Awareness Week 2014 Blog Tour</span></strong><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://creatingcurriculum.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/blogtour21.png" sl-processed="1"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><img alt="Blog Tour icon and link." class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-205" src="http://creatingcurriculum.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/blogtour21.png?w=640" /></span></strong></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Find other #NZGAW Blog Tour posts at </span><a href="http://ultranet.giftededucation.org.nz/WebSpace/1104/" sl-processed="1" title="Blog Tour Itinerary"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">ultranet.giftededucation.org.nz/WebSpace/1104/</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia;">.</span></em></div>
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-42606618969731645272014-06-09T20:40:00.000-07:002014-06-09T20:40:23.319-07:00Gifted Awareness Week 2014 - 6 word stories<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg/200px-Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img alt="" border="0" class="thumbimage" data-file-height="2176" data-file-width="2901" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg/200px-Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg" height="150" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg/300px-Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg/400px-Bienenwabe_mit_Eiern_und_Brut_5.jpg 2x" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The cells in a beehive has six sides. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A guitar has six strings.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The atomic number for carbon is six.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are six geese a-laying. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And any good story has just six words. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My Tuesday class of year 4-6 students at <em>Gifted Kids</em> (New Zealand Centre of Gifted Education) have expressed their ideas about what being gifted is all about, briefly, through 6 word stories. What better way to communicate complex ideas. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You might take a minute to think about the deeper meanings here, about where these ideas come from, and about what we can learn from understanding what our gifted children think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's a selection that really captures the spirit of their thoughts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Getting straight to the point... </span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An individual with advanced intellectual ability.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Gifted? Me? High intellectual ability? Yes!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Intellectual ability, born with the person.</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And with deference to Lady Gaga...</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Baby, I was
born this way. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Being gifted
doesn’t come by mail. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">S<span style="line-height: 115%;">ee Mum,
it’s all your fault. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Don’t blame
me, blame my parents. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Giftedness is not something you are given, or taught to be... </span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">Can't teach it. Can't take away. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">Can’t be
taught, It just is. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">You can’t buy
or sell giftedness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Gifted: Something not taught in school.</span> <br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The idea of difference came through loud and clear: </span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: FangSong;">If
you are different never change. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Do not look
different than friends. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Unique and
different in every way. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You’re
different, please don’t ever change. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Think
different, f</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">eel
different, b</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">e different!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The idea of the kaleidoscope of giftedness, with thanks to NZAGC, also came up: </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Many different parts make up giftedness. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Gifted. A gift in many realms.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>And just some fun... </strong></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: FangSong;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bucket loads
of ability, personality, emotion. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ah! The
taste of sweet giftedness. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">P</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">ast fine, </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">Present good, </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Future
amazing!</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><em> </em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-shading-themecolor: background1;">Out of comfort, </span><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-shading-themecolor: background1;">into challenge zo</span><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-shading-themecolor: background1;">ne.</span></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<strong>Proud to be part of Gifted Awareness Week 2014 Blog Tour</strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://creatingcurriculum.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/blogtour21.png" sl-processed="1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img alt="Blog Tour icon and link." class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-205" src="http://creatingcurriculum.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/blogtour21.png?w=640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Find other #NZGAW Blog Tour posts at </span><a href="http://ultranet.giftededucation.org.nz/WebSpace/1104/" sl-processed="1" title="Blog Tour Itinerary"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ultranet.giftededucation.org.nz/WebSpace/1104/</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></em></div>
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-13938719755210178642013-12-13T20:44:00.000-08:002013-12-13T20:44:34.414-08:00End of year thoughtsThe end of the school year brings with it tiredness, relief, amazement at how we all survived, and time to draw breath, perhaps some time for some unforced critical reflection. The recent PISA results and the ensuing and no doubt ongoing debate also forces some critical thinking. I'm interested at the moment in how we organise the children in our care to optimise our time & energy for their learning -aka grouping. Ability or interest? Fixed or changing? Self or teacher determined? Some, all or none of the time?<br />
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I have been particularly interested in watching the social & emotional responses to grouping... Here's an example... Highly able, albeit somewhat reticent reader, in mixed ability reading group, feels like an outlier (uncomfortably so) but at the same time begins to express doubts about own reading ability, & therefore becomes reluctant to outwardly participate ie share ideas in discussion. Teacher assumes this lack of verbal participation is a significant lack of understanding so when re-grouping the class acts on this feeling in lieu of other data & in a return to ability grouping re-groups child at a lower level, confirming child's doubts.<br />
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This example highlights some concerns & possible ways to address these:<br />
- grouping is a powerful instructional & organisational tool to be wielded with care<br />
- consider who benefits most/least from grouping arrangements, as the purpose of a small group is surely to more tightly cater for collective learning needs<br />
- outliers are more likely to need 'different' arrangement of instruction to meet their needs<br />
- quality information should underpin decisions about grouping; frequent and on-going monitoring is essential<br />
- both intellectual and socio-emotional outcomes need to be considered as these are closely related<br />
- consider the benefits of specifically teaching children how to self-group, and be prepared to guid their efforts in understanding their own needs<br />
- where you are expecting children to collaborate within a grouped learning setting, ensure they have (or are specifically taught) the skills to do this<br />
- on a related theme, introverted children (representing perhaps 80% of gifted children) may be less able &/or less willing to participate in a collaborative task; consider how you can facilitate their learning on their terms<br />
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Happy thinking!<br />
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<br />Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-28881441590646783082013-08-04T18:24:00.000-07:002013-08-04T18:24:17.833-07:00Ch ch ch ch changesThanks Mr Bowie for providing a sound track for my thoughts! <br />
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I'm approaching the dawn of a new decade of my life, and it makes me think about this idea of change - how I've changed, how the world has changed, how I feel about change etc. That's all just middle of the night thinking, but clear-eyed daytime thinking has me looking at the idea of change in relation to our classrooms.<br />
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Hearing things like 'this has worked before, it'll work again'.... 'we always do poetry reading in term 3'... 'but there are only five different writing genre.... 'but that's the way we've always done it'... and most worringly of all 'but our curriculum says we have to'... suggests to me that CHANGE is not something that is practiced in our classrooms. <br />
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Are we as teachers afraid of change? Not the huge things, just little things. Are we now just so perfect that changing something would ruin the perfection? Are are too numbed or dumbed down from all the broohaha over National Standards? Or do we leave our fate to the great gods above us, letting them determine our changes, if any? What is it that makes us unadventurous? Or is it complacent and unworried? What makes us leave our creativity and curiosity at home each day? <br />
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Or are we creative and curious, adventurous and full of change? On the whole, from what I see and hear, I fear that we are not. <br />
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Change brings to mind some other ideas that I suspect teachers might be afraid of...<br />
- novelty (not as in toys, but as in the new-ness of things)<br />
- trying something new out for size<br />
- casting a critical eye over how we've always done things<br />
- even just knowing that just because we feel comfortable and things are ticking over nicely, things could still be just that little bit better<br />
- variety - routine is nice, but variety truely is the spice of life <br />
- making our students go 'what?' when we talk about what's coming up in the day (curiosity definitely will not kill those cats!)<br />
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Sometimes I think we need to take a big breath, be brave, and make some changes. Again, not huge things, just little things. <br />
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Change makes me<br />
- feel curious and full of wonder <br />
- feel nervous and probably a little uncomfortable<br />
- sharpen up a bit and engage my brain just that little bit more than before<br />
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Can't be all that bad can it?<br />
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This week I have committed myself to make some changes (just little things, not huge)<br />
- change my start of day routine (takes too long and is dull for me, so must be mind numbing for kids)!<br />
- change the way my kids work in the day <br />
- do something different in my programem - same goals, new journey to meet them<br />
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What will do to this week to make your classroom more curious, more wonder-full, that little bit more uncomfortable, that little bit sharper?<br />
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Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-32277345981193485612013-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:002013-06-17T14:57:44.760-07:00Gifted Awareness Week 2013 - Challenge, giftedness and what children thinkI'm not a natural or prolific blogger but for Gifted Awareness Week this year the theme happens to be challenge, which was the theme of my first ever blog post, last year. What I wrote then may or may not 'hold up', and is something of a personal note about challenge, but for Gifted Awareness Week I thought I would re-visit my ideas and add those of the students I teach... at <em>Gifted Kids, </em>a one-day-a-week programme catering for the unique needs of gifted students, primarily those from low-decile communities (see <a href="http://www.giftedkids.co.nz/">www.giftedkids.co.nz</a>). It is part of our mandate to support students to <strong><em>experience and embrace new challenges.</em></strong> Thank goodness!<br />
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With my young (years 3,4 and 5) and brand new class this year I was intrigued to watch their varying responses to challenging experiences. By 'challenging experiences' I mean new and unfamiliar things, difficult work, abstract work, a socially new and different environment, being pushed out of their comfort zone intellectually and socially etc - I don't just mean hard work.<br />
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Here are some things that children said about facing challenge: <br />
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<li><em>Challenge is when you think you can't do something</em></li>
<li><em>Challenge makes me feel sick and anxious, but then relieved when it's over</em></li>
<li><em>I feel confident about being challenged and proud of myself after facing a challenge</em></li>
<li><em>Challenge is when you have hard work to do at school</em></li>
<li><em>Being challenged makes me feel fascinated and in a world full of questions</em></li>
<li><em>Being challenged makes me feel terrified and I want to run away</em></li>
<li><em>As a result of being challenged, I learn more</em></li>
<li><em>After I face a challenge, I feel relieved and elated</em></li>
<li><em>Some people think 'challenge' mean MORE work, but that's not true</em></li>
<li><em>I feel 'flow' when I am being challenged</em></li>
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When faced with a range of challenging experiences and situations in the <em>Gifted Kids </em>day, some respond with obvious glee... delight, smiles, giggles, the odd quizzical look and raised eyebrow. They approach challenging situations with what can only be described in the most old fashioned of terms, with vim and vigour. <br />
Some respond with confusion, puzzlement, a thousand questions (some useful, some ridiculous!). These students approach their challenges with some grit, some concentration, some persistance (not in huge amounts, but definitely there).<br />
And some respond by going into shut down mode - eyes down, head down, refusal to engage, deflection, blankness, and sometimes tears and tantrums. These students didn't actually 'approach' their challenges at all. <br />
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Their responses certainly give me pause for thought. And the response to challenge absolutely determined the outcomes achieved by these students, in predictable ways... if you don't face a challenge, you don't learn from it. <br />
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My guesses about why students respond in such varying ways include:<br />
- <strong>do they face challenges (intellectual, social, physical, emotional) routinely? </strong>For me, this is number one. If you are not routinely challenged (in different realms), you cannot possibly develop the skills and strategies needed to cope in difficult situations. <br />
- do they see others face challenges? <br />
- are they aware of their own feelings when facing challenges?<br />
- have they developed, learnt, or at least been exposed to some useful strategies for facing challenges?<br />
- have they experienced both complete success and complete failure, and had the opportunity to reflect on the causes of these?<br />
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I don't have the answers, but I think and feel, very strongly, that we need to:<br />
- expose our gifted children to a range of genuinely challenging situations - frequently, gently and thoughtfully<br />
- help our gifted children to learn and use the skills and strategies needed to face challenges with glee! <br />
- ensure that 'challenge' is not restricted to the intellectual domain, and isn't restricted to 'more work'<br />
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<br />Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3209696022445611528.post-68865299860311201952012-09-18T00:53:00.000-07:002013-06-17T15:00:34.979-07:00A challengeThis is my new adventure in blogging... it may work out... it may not. Let's wait and see. <br />
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An idea on my mind lately is challenge. Actually mostly what's been on my mind is the opposite of challenge... the lack of challenge, the dross of 'at-level', and how scared we teachers seem to be of giving our students things that genuinely challenge them.<br />
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Take reading for example... why not give kids something to read that they can actually get their teeth into, why stick to the golden rule of 90-95% accuracy? Why not let kids struggle, just a bit, just for a while - would it hurt? Why are we so scared of giving kids hard stuff to read? What is the benefit of so-called lateral extension (in less PC terms, making kids read 'the whole level', or in even less PC terms, just not letting them go 'up')? Why just let them go for it? Imagine what that must feel like for a keen, capable reader... knowing there's a whole world of interesting books out there that you are not allowed to touch just in case you find them a bit tricky. How else can kids learn resilience, persistance, risk-taking, trying hard, toughing things out, puzzling things out... etc? Or discover new authors, new ideas, new worlds etc. <br />
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In my gifted classes I see two distinct groups of children - those who have been challenged, risen to the challenge, and have learnt how to embrace / tackle challenges with some skill and most importantly some gusto. Then there are those who haven't (for whatever reason) been challenged - these children generally shrink away from challenge, they are scared, unsure, uncertain, uncomfortable and they don't know how to manage those feelings. They variously dumb-down (so as not to implicitly ask for challenge), act-out (to resist challenge), shut-down (again to resist challenge), and in any way possible, don't rise to the occasion. <br />
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It annoys me profoundly, but on a personal level, I can sympathize. I can count of the fingers of one hand times when I felt challenged at school. Sometimes the challenge was simply the interest / novelty value in learning something new, but mostly it was only because the material was frightening(war, volcanoes, the holocaust, earthquakes etc) or the classroom was frightening (noisy, busy) or the kids in the classroom (too many of them) or even the teacher was <u>scary</u>, but actual intellectual challenge was absent. <br />
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So I remember in crystal clear detail how I felt (and what I did) when I faced what I think were my first ever intellectual challenges - in my first year at unversity. Newly turned 16, I was introduced to a more grown up world, with big words, big ideas, big opportunities and what was most exciting, a big library - all of it full of HARD STUFF!!!! I was terrified, felt sick, loved it, was obsessively excited and scared in turns, and loved all of it. What a shame I had to wait until university to experience challenge. In my second year I didn't manage the challenge that well, but managed to recover my composure soon after. <br />
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I always wonder about what my school life would have been like if I had experienced genuine challenge (not just feeling a bit interested a few times, or feeling scared quite a lot of times). Perhaps I might have learned to like school....? What a novelty THAT would have been!<br />
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<strong>So, my challenge is... be brave and add some challenge to your teaching life. You might just hit the spot with someone whose spot needs to be hit :) </strong><br />
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<br />Madelaine Armstrong Willcockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01496521231876046645noreply@blogger.com0