Linda Lenzi - Coordinator of Gifted Services and Patty Ferrell - Gifted Coordinator at the JCESC wish you a healthy, happy 'Holly Daze' with a productive New Year to follow!
As a reminder, our next GERD meeting will be held on February 19, 2014.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Merry Christmas!
Linda Lenzi - Coordinator of Gifted Services and Patty Ferrell - Gifted Coordinator at the JCESC wish you a healthy, happy 'Holly Daze' with a productive New Year to follow!
As a reminder, our next GERD meeting will be held on February 19, 2014.
Gifted News from the JCESC
See the links for the latest news on the Gifted Operating Standards which will not be decided until after the new year.
Gifted Operating Standards
The gifted operating standards battle will continue into the new year. Technically, to follow the JCARR (Joint Committee Agency Rule Revision) process, the State Board of Education was required to pass a draft of operating standards at the December meeting. However, with continued questions about the impact of the governor's veto language on funding accountability and more questions about potential state board member conflicts of interest, the vote on the draft has been delayed. It is unclear what the plan is to move forward. For more information about the operating standards and what you can do to help, please read the Gifted Advocacy Updates each week at www.oagc.com/?q=AdvocacyAlert . The last update was on 12.11.13. The next new update will not be posted until after the new year.
Gifted in the News
Several articles and opinions have been written in the last week or two regarding gifted education. Please go to www.oagc.com/?q=advocacyupdates for links to these articles.
Gifted Operating Standards
The gifted operating standards battle will continue into the new year. Technically, to follow the JCARR (Joint Committee Agency Rule Revision) process, the State Board of Education was required to pass a draft of operating standards at the December meeting. However, with continued questions about the impact of the governor's veto language on funding accountability and more questions about potential state board member conflicts of interest, the vote on the draft has been delayed. It is unclear what the plan is to move forward. For more information about the operating standards and what you can do to help, please read the Gifted Advocacy Updates each week at www.oagc.com/?q=AdvocacyAlert . The last update was on 12.11.13. The next new update will not be posted until after the new year.
Gifted in the News
Several articles and opinions have been written in the last week or two regarding gifted education. Please go to www.oagc.com/?q=advocacyupdates for links to these articles.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Who Done It?!?
Check out this website:
http://www.whodunnit.com
Each mystery is a report written in the 1st person perspective about a fictional crime. Your students read the investigation while role-playing as private detectives, and then either write about, or discuss, the possible culprit. Only then do you reveal to them the "resolution" for the case. You'll be amazed at how much your students love these reading assignments.
http://www.whodunnit.com
Each mystery is a report written in the 1st person perspective about a fictional crime. Your students read the investigation while role-playing as private detectives, and then either write about, or discuss, the possible culprit. Only then do you reveal to them the "resolution" for the case. You'll be amazed at how much your students love these reading assignments.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
2013 Summer Opportunity for Gifted Students
Summer Opportunities
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Creativity as an Elusive Factor in Giftedness
Creativity as an Elusive Factor in Giftedness
Joyce VanTassel-Baska , Ed.D.
College of William and Mary
Published in the April 2004 issue of Update, the electronic magazine of the School of Education at the College of William and Mary.
Creativity is an elusive factor in its relationship to giftedness. Many writers have alluded to the necessary but insufficient component of high intelligence to activate creativity and the reality that many high IQ people are not creative. So what is creativity and how do we foster it in children and young adults? Views of creativity have evolved through several decades of research and application of creative thinking strategies. Psychological views of creativity have centered on the Freudian which espouses that creativity emerges from suppressed desires, to the Maslovian which equates creativity with the state of self-actualization, to the Rogerian which views creativity as the capacity to relate to others in nonjudgmental ways. Other views of creativity, most notably Ariete's (1976), see it as a social construction operating in open and permissive societies. Specific research in creativity has tended to focus on trait theories that define the creative personality as the basis for creative action. Characteristics like independence, risk-taking behavior, freedom from social conventions all make up the traits of such a personality. Other research has examined the processes through which individuals function creatively. These processes include the Torrance components of fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality as well as various iterations of creative problem-solving models that purport to move students through various skills in order to develop a creative product.
More recent research has focused on creativity as best judged by products of individuals and groups that are both original and relevant to one's culture at a given point in time. Even when products may not be accepted at a given point in time, their originality may emerge and be appreciated by new generations of consumers. Carlyle once said that history is the essence of innumerable biographies. As a culture, as a human society, we define ourselves by the contributions of those who create. Examples of this approach abound--we have named Einstein as the man of the millenium with Edison, Roosevelt, and Ghandi as runners-up. Such behavior is interesting in that it reveals our sustaining belief in the contribution of the individual, not the the institutions nor the families that allowed the individual to develop and perform in their arena of expertise. Moreover, we typically award acclaim after a period of time has passed, since we cannot really understand creative contributions in the moment and especially their import and implications.
The educational philosopher Smith (1990) has observed that thought proceeds in privacy and that it is only through human artifacts that we can come to know what thought does. This point is apt when thinking about how we have come to study creativity as an analysis of its products. We know that someone has been creative when their product is judged of high quality and original within a given domain. Simonton (1999) suggests that the products must be prolific if an individual's work is to be judged creative over time. Csikszenmihalyi (1996) further suggests that the creative product has to be valued by the culture and field that produces it, implying that creative individuals must also be good marketers of their work or find other agents who will do it for them. Traditionally, creativity has been viewed as an easy process, something that people with certain traits were able to do while others without those traits could not. As our views of creativity have become more informed, we have come to appreciate the role of hard work and revision in the process. Osche's work (1993) is instructive in this regard. After reviewing all of the literature on creativity, she decided the single criterion that mattered the most was the willingness of creative people to work hard and put in the extra time necessary to turn out a quality product in a given domain. Ericsson's (1996) work on chess players and athletes further supports this contention. His stance, based on a number of studies, is that practice, not innate talent, is what separates creative producers from merely competent technicians. And Simonton's (1999) contention that quantity alone predicts quality adds to the understanding of the process as anything but magical.
In the area of education, we are frequently stymied by the need to make judgments about student evidence of creativity and many times feel the need not to judge but rather to accept any product as an example of creative response. This dilemma raises the issue of thinking about creativity at several levels and rendering judgments accordingly, the issue of big C versus little c.
Research on good teaching suggests that feedback is crucial to student improvement, yet at least one researcher on creativity argues against evaluative judgment. Collins and Amabile (1999) have noted the problems with providing both positive and negative feedback to potential creators on their products as it may interfere with their internal capacity to move the product and other manifestations of their work forward to a new level. Perhaps educators might take the middle ground by providing feedback on the processes that underlie the work while still not judging the overall product. For example, to assess a student's research project, one might comment on the process for selecting the problem, the use of search tools to review the literature, and the instrumentation selected to study the problem. Such feedback should serve to assist the student in deepening an awareness of the research process itself, while still acknowledging the integrity of what the student has done. So creativity is elusive precisely because like intelligence it has many different manifestations, conceptions, and interpretations. For example, some people see only individuals who shift paradigms within fields and disciplines as creative while others see everyone as creative. We appear to be successful only in judging it by products that frequently reach us retrospectively. Finally, predicting who will be creative in adulthood from childhood traits and even behaviors has proved difficult, even in our studies of prodigies which provide the best snapshot into the issue at early ages.
The trait view
While the trait view of creativity is less accepted as a way to judge who is creative than the product orientation just discussed, it still has salience in studying the lives of individuals retrospectively. Studies of eminence, for example, support the presence of the following characteristics in the personality of people who have made major contributions to their society. These individuals typically possess:
While the role of traits in creative individuals may be only partially explanatory for their successful products, skills can be taught to aid individuals in their quest to be more creative in a given area (VanTassel-Baska, 1998). Some of these are stages in the creative process, while others truly do constitute specific areas of worthwhile application on a regular basis. The early work of Wallas (1926) was instructive about the stages of the creative process. He noted that preparation was a critical first stage. This corresponds to research on the talent development process in any field which suggests learning as much as possible about a field, including the tools, processes, and attitudes associated with it. The second stage is referred to as the incubation stage where the individual is engaged in solid work on a problem but needs unconscious help in moving to solution. This stage frequently involves getting away from a problem and having it continue to sit at the periphery of consciousness. The third stage of the process is illumination where the individual creator suddenly realizes the right solution or the elegant way to resolve a dilemma, sometimes referred to as the eureka syndrome. Finally, there is a need for the verification stage. Is the answer really plausible? Does it hold up to the cold light of reasoned judgment? This final stage must also be negotiated by the creative person, and appropriate adjustments and refinements made. These stages have been studied the most in the lives of creative scientists, and it is easy to see the analogue to the classic process that is employed in such work. However, the process in general appears to be highly applicable to other areas of endeavor as well.
Other ways of casting the skills involved in creativity revolve around those that comprise the creative problem-solving model. Articulated first by Osborne in 1963, it is a model that involves the constant interplay of creative open-ended thinking with convergent, or narrowed to one-answer, thinking. Typically the model employs several stages and usually includes an initial problem-finding stage that seeks to brainstorm all the different things a problem might be, then to provide illustrations and examples of each option, and finally to come out with a strong problem definition statement. This stage is followed by a period of fact-finding in which the problem is explored through relevant search tactics to uncover more information about how it has been studied, what current findings are, and where the gaps appear to be in crafting a proposed new solution. The third stage of the process typically involves solution-finding. Again the creative strategy of brainstorming is helpful as there is a need to generate many ideas about potential solutions. Such an approach is quickly followed, however, by now trying to create a comprehensive synthesis of the best ideas posed. The last stage in this process involves the creation of an action plan or some other document that serves as a blueprint for making the problem resolution a part of the real world, of moving the ideas into the cultural mainstream. The knowledge of these skills and the ability to evoke them with a degree of automaticity appears to be helpful to spawning creativity in several fields. Yet the caution remains that, as some studies suggest, these skills must be modified to fit specific problems within specific domains, and therefore must only be seen as a broad heuristic within which creative people might adapt their own idiosyncratic versions of the process.
Environmental influences
The creativity literature has explored the home environments of eminent people as well as prodigies in an attempt to understand the role that early environments and parenting play in the process. In general there appear to be strong advantages accruing from exposure to enriched home environments where intellectual pursuits are valued and early talent development may take place. Yet for high creatives, the home environments appear to be more emotionally detached (Albert, 1980).
A second environmental factor that appears to undergird creativity is the presence of some kind of adversity in the individual's background. In the lives of many eminent individuals, that adversity is represented by early parental loss, death of siblings in childhood, disabling physical conditions, and early deprivation. It appears that such circumstances, while causing permanent distress to many, for creative people become the fuel for creative work in that the trauma is worked out in a creative expressive way.
The role of education in the lives of creative people is an interesting area of environmental support. It appears that just the right amount of education is facilitative but that too much may prove to be detrimental. This seeming contradiction to knowing a lot about your field stems from a concern for too much conventional learning in an area where the ideas of others become so crystallized as to block innovative thinking in the domain. Simonton's (1999) work, for example, suggests a curvilinear relationship between education and creativity. There is also evidence that much of the learning of high creatives is obtained independently of traditional schooling. Autodidacticism may be the norm among this group where the impetus, nature, and extent of learning is self-governed. Another environmental influence worthy of citing is that of marginality. It is not coincidental that many of America's best writers, poets, actors, and scientists come from the margins of the society, places where the perspectives may be unconventional to begin with and where the vision may be more creatively shaped. Women and minorities are two marginal groups whose contributions in the last 25 years to many fields have been astounding. If we carefully assess the contributions of immigrants to this country, we see another marginalized group that has produced at very high levels. While being an outsider may be psychologically difficult, it can provide the material necessary to advance the thinking in a field and to keep traditions at bay.
Definition
Based on our understanding of the traits, processes, and environmental conditions that support creativity, what is a reasonable definition of the phenomenon? I would suggest that it is the capacity to develop original, high-quality products in a domain that are judged so by the relevant peer group in that field at a given point in time. Yet creativity, with a big C, requires the test of time to assess the overall contribution of any given product.
The Development of Creativity Given our understanding of the phenomenon, what can parents and schools do to promote creative capacities in students? There are six goals which we may focus on to promote such behaviors. They include the following:
1) To develop intellectual risk-taking through expression and valuing of differences and through selecting activities of interest from a list of alternative ideas and perspectives;
2) To develop high level convergent and divergent skills through employing educational models like CPS and problem-based learning that require and promote such skills;
3) To develop deep knowledge in a domain by exposing students to major areas of thought and encouraging deep learning in those for which there is both interest and aptitude;
4) To develop strong communication skills in written and oral contexts by requiring student work in both modalities and providing feedback on the effectiveness of the work for communication to an audience;
5) To develop personal motivation and passion by broad exposure to the culture and following up and supporting expressions of strong interest linked to values and occupational predispositions in and out of school contexts;
6) To nurture creative habits of mind by broad-based reading, perspective-taking, and the introduction of novelty. In the educational realm there are a number of models available to help develop these skills and dispositions. They would include the CPS model already cited along with newer approaches, such as the use of concept mapping, problem-based learning, reasoning and thinking models, research models, and guidelines for meaningful project work. The goals suggested should be systematically applied to each area of learning in the schools to maximize student engagement and learning as well as be applied to current world issues, problems, and ideas encountered in real life and best modulated through the home environment. Conclusion The idea of creativity is more exotic than its reality which requires a harmonious confluence of variables in order to support its development. Yet it represents an important ideal for both how to work effectively and how to live well. In work, it is useful, to paraphrase Henry Moore, the sculptor, to have something you bring every insight to every day and know that you can't quite get it right, even as you devote your life to the enterprise. In life, it is useful, as Steven Covey suggests, to find those activities that help us center ourselves, that help us learn, and that help us develop our humanity and its potential. Understanding creativity, it would appear, can assist with both of these tasks if we approach it with an attitude of commitment, curiosity, and caring. Bibliography Albert, R. (1980). Family positions and attachment of eminence: A study of special family positions and special family experiences. Gifted Child Quarterly, 24 (2),87-95.
Arieti, (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books
Collins, M. A. & Amabile, T. (1999). Motivation and creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.) Handbook of Creativity (p. 297-312). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Csikszenmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Collins.
Ericsson, K. A., & Lehman, A. C. (1996). Expert and exceptional performance: Evidence of maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annual Review of Psychology,47, p373-305.
Osborne, A. (1963). Applied Imagination. New York: Scribners.
Osche, R. (1990). Before the gates of excellence: The determinants of creative genius. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Simonton (1999). Origins of genius. New York: Cambridge Press.
Smith, F. (1990). To Think. New York: Teachers College Press.
VanTassel-Baska, J. (Ed.).(1998). Excellence in educating gifted and talented learners (3rd ed.). Denver, CO: Love.
Wallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. New York: Harcourt Brace-Jovanovich.
This article printed from Hoagies' Gifted Education Page, http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/. Original URL is www.hoagiesgifted.org/creativity_as_eluxive_factor.htm
Joyce VanTassel-Baska , Ed.D.
College of William and Mary
Published in the April 2004 issue of Update, the electronic magazine of the School of Education at the College of William and Mary.
Creativity is an elusive factor in its relationship to giftedness. Many writers have alluded to the necessary but insufficient component of high intelligence to activate creativity and the reality that many high IQ people are not creative. So what is creativity and how do we foster it in children and young adults? Views of creativity have evolved through several decades of research and application of creative thinking strategies. Psychological views of creativity have centered on the Freudian which espouses that creativity emerges from suppressed desires, to the Maslovian which equates creativity with the state of self-actualization, to the Rogerian which views creativity as the capacity to relate to others in nonjudgmental ways. Other views of creativity, most notably Ariete's (1976), see it as a social construction operating in open and permissive societies. Specific research in creativity has tended to focus on trait theories that define the creative personality as the basis for creative action. Characteristics like independence, risk-taking behavior, freedom from social conventions all make up the traits of such a personality. Other research has examined the processes through which individuals function creatively. These processes include the Torrance components of fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality as well as various iterations of creative problem-solving models that purport to move students through various skills in order to develop a creative product.
More recent research has focused on creativity as best judged by products of individuals and groups that are both original and relevant to one's culture at a given point in time. Even when products may not be accepted at a given point in time, their originality may emerge and be appreciated by new generations of consumers. Carlyle once said that history is the essence of innumerable biographies. As a culture, as a human society, we define ourselves by the contributions of those who create. Examples of this approach abound--we have named Einstein as the man of the millenium with Edison, Roosevelt, and Ghandi as runners-up. Such behavior is interesting in that it reveals our sustaining belief in the contribution of the individual, not the the institutions nor the families that allowed the individual to develop and perform in their arena of expertise. Moreover, we typically award acclaim after a period of time has passed, since we cannot really understand creative contributions in the moment and especially their import and implications.
The educational philosopher Smith (1990) has observed that thought proceeds in privacy and that it is only through human artifacts that we can come to know what thought does. This point is apt when thinking about how we have come to study creativity as an analysis of its products. We know that someone has been creative when their product is judged of high quality and original within a given domain. Simonton (1999) suggests that the products must be prolific if an individual's work is to be judged creative over time. Csikszenmihalyi (1996) further suggests that the creative product has to be valued by the culture and field that produces it, implying that creative individuals must also be good marketers of their work or find other agents who will do it for them. Traditionally, creativity has been viewed as an easy process, something that people with certain traits were able to do while others without those traits could not. As our views of creativity have become more informed, we have come to appreciate the role of hard work and revision in the process. Osche's work (1993) is instructive in this regard. After reviewing all of the literature on creativity, she decided the single criterion that mattered the most was the willingness of creative people to work hard and put in the extra time necessary to turn out a quality product in a given domain. Ericsson's (1996) work on chess players and athletes further supports this contention. His stance, based on a number of studies, is that practice, not innate talent, is what separates creative producers from merely competent technicians. And Simonton's (1999) contention that quantity alone predicts quality adds to the understanding of the process as anything but magical.
In the area of education, we are frequently stymied by the need to make judgments about student evidence of creativity and many times feel the need not to judge but rather to accept any product as an example of creative response. This dilemma raises the issue of thinking about creativity at several levels and rendering judgments accordingly, the issue of big C versus little c.
Research on good teaching suggests that feedback is crucial to student improvement, yet at least one researcher on creativity argues against evaluative judgment. Collins and Amabile (1999) have noted the problems with providing both positive and negative feedback to potential creators on their products as it may interfere with their internal capacity to move the product and other manifestations of their work forward to a new level. Perhaps educators might take the middle ground by providing feedback on the processes that underlie the work while still not judging the overall product. For example, to assess a student's research project, one might comment on the process for selecting the problem, the use of search tools to review the literature, and the instrumentation selected to study the problem. Such feedback should serve to assist the student in deepening an awareness of the research process itself, while still acknowledging the integrity of what the student has done. So creativity is elusive precisely because like intelligence it has many different manifestations, conceptions, and interpretations. For example, some people see only individuals who shift paradigms within fields and disciplines as creative while others see everyone as creative. We appear to be successful only in judging it by products that frequently reach us retrospectively. Finally, predicting who will be creative in adulthood from childhood traits and even behaviors has proved difficult, even in our studies of prodigies which provide the best snapshot into the issue at early ages.
The trait view
While the trait view of creativity is less accepted as a way to judge who is creative than the product orientation just discussed, it still has salience in studying the lives of individuals retrospectively. Studies of eminence, for example, support the presence of the following characteristics in the personality of people who have made major contributions to their society. These individuals typically possess:
- An array of interests. These individuals have a broad information base established through personal interest that then allows them to make connections across areas of knowledge to a greater extent than their peers.
- Open to novel, complex, and ambiguous stimuli. Creative individuals remain child-like in their perceptions of the world, genuinely curious, and willing to explore new and different avenues of investigation.
- Capable of defocused attention. This characteristic relates to the ability of creative individuals to scan the environment for data or stimuli that might fit with their work. This ability may be analogous to the synectics process in creative thinking where students are encouraged to describe relationships between two seemingly disparate objects like a doorknob and a plate.
- Flexible in respect to cognition and behavior. Creative individuals remain playful with ideas and their manifestations rather than rigidly locking in on a line of thought.
- Introverted. These individuals enjoy solitary pursuits, working alone many times because their energy comes from inside, not from other people.
- Independent, autonomous, unconventional, and iconoclastic. This quality speaks to their lack of being easily swayed by majority opinion or outside views and allows them to take unpopular stances on issues or unconventional views.
While the role of traits in creative individuals may be only partially explanatory for their successful products, skills can be taught to aid individuals in their quest to be more creative in a given area (VanTassel-Baska, 1998). Some of these are stages in the creative process, while others truly do constitute specific areas of worthwhile application on a regular basis. The early work of Wallas (1926) was instructive about the stages of the creative process. He noted that preparation was a critical first stage. This corresponds to research on the talent development process in any field which suggests learning as much as possible about a field, including the tools, processes, and attitudes associated with it. The second stage is referred to as the incubation stage where the individual is engaged in solid work on a problem but needs unconscious help in moving to solution. This stage frequently involves getting away from a problem and having it continue to sit at the periphery of consciousness. The third stage of the process is illumination where the individual creator suddenly realizes the right solution or the elegant way to resolve a dilemma, sometimes referred to as the eureka syndrome. Finally, there is a need for the verification stage. Is the answer really plausible? Does it hold up to the cold light of reasoned judgment? This final stage must also be negotiated by the creative person, and appropriate adjustments and refinements made. These stages have been studied the most in the lives of creative scientists, and it is easy to see the analogue to the classic process that is employed in such work. However, the process in general appears to be highly applicable to other areas of endeavor as well.
Other ways of casting the skills involved in creativity revolve around those that comprise the creative problem-solving model. Articulated first by Osborne in 1963, it is a model that involves the constant interplay of creative open-ended thinking with convergent, or narrowed to one-answer, thinking. Typically the model employs several stages and usually includes an initial problem-finding stage that seeks to brainstorm all the different things a problem might be, then to provide illustrations and examples of each option, and finally to come out with a strong problem definition statement. This stage is followed by a period of fact-finding in which the problem is explored through relevant search tactics to uncover more information about how it has been studied, what current findings are, and where the gaps appear to be in crafting a proposed new solution. The third stage of the process typically involves solution-finding. Again the creative strategy of brainstorming is helpful as there is a need to generate many ideas about potential solutions. Such an approach is quickly followed, however, by now trying to create a comprehensive synthesis of the best ideas posed. The last stage in this process involves the creation of an action plan or some other document that serves as a blueprint for making the problem resolution a part of the real world, of moving the ideas into the cultural mainstream. The knowledge of these skills and the ability to evoke them with a degree of automaticity appears to be helpful to spawning creativity in several fields. Yet the caution remains that, as some studies suggest, these skills must be modified to fit specific problems within specific domains, and therefore must only be seen as a broad heuristic within which creative people might adapt their own idiosyncratic versions of the process.
Environmental influences
The creativity literature has explored the home environments of eminent people as well as prodigies in an attempt to understand the role that early environments and parenting play in the process. In general there appear to be strong advantages accruing from exposure to enriched home environments where intellectual pursuits are valued and early talent development may take place. Yet for high creatives, the home environments appear to be more emotionally detached (Albert, 1980).
A second environmental factor that appears to undergird creativity is the presence of some kind of adversity in the individual's background. In the lives of many eminent individuals, that adversity is represented by early parental loss, death of siblings in childhood, disabling physical conditions, and early deprivation. It appears that such circumstances, while causing permanent distress to many, for creative people become the fuel for creative work in that the trauma is worked out in a creative expressive way.
The role of education in the lives of creative people is an interesting area of environmental support. It appears that just the right amount of education is facilitative but that too much may prove to be detrimental. This seeming contradiction to knowing a lot about your field stems from a concern for too much conventional learning in an area where the ideas of others become so crystallized as to block innovative thinking in the domain. Simonton's (1999) work, for example, suggests a curvilinear relationship between education and creativity. There is also evidence that much of the learning of high creatives is obtained independently of traditional schooling. Autodidacticism may be the norm among this group where the impetus, nature, and extent of learning is self-governed. Another environmental influence worthy of citing is that of marginality. It is not coincidental that many of America's best writers, poets, actors, and scientists come from the margins of the society, places where the perspectives may be unconventional to begin with and where the vision may be more creatively shaped. Women and minorities are two marginal groups whose contributions in the last 25 years to many fields have been astounding. If we carefully assess the contributions of immigrants to this country, we see another marginalized group that has produced at very high levels. While being an outsider may be psychologically difficult, it can provide the material necessary to advance the thinking in a field and to keep traditions at bay.
Definition
Based on our understanding of the traits, processes, and environmental conditions that support creativity, what is a reasonable definition of the phenomenon? I would suggest that it is the capacity to develop original, high-quality products in a domain that are judged so by the relevant peer group in that field at a given point in time. Yet creativity, with a big C, requires the test of time to assess the overall contribution of any given product.
The Development of Creativity Given our understanding of the phenomenon, what can parents and schools do to promote creative capacities in students? There are six goals which we may focus on to promote such behaviors. They include the following:
1) To develop intellectual risk-taking through expression and valuing of differences and through selecting activities of interest from a list of alternative ideas and perspectives;
2) To develop high level convergent and divergent skills through employing educational models like CPS and problem-based learning that require and promote such skills;
3) To develop deep knowledge in a domain by exposing students to major areas of thought and encouraging deep learning in those for which there is both interest and aptitude;
4) To develop strong communication skills in written and oral contexts by requiring student work in both modalities and providing feedback on the effectiveness of the work for communication to an audience;
5) To develop personal motivation and passion by broad exposure to the culture and following up and supporting expressions of strong interest linked to values and occupational predispositions in and out of school contexts;
6) To nurture creative habits of mind by broad-based reading, perspective-taking, and the introduction of novelty. In the educational realm there are a number of models available to help develop these skills and dispositions. They would include the CPS model already cited along with newer approaches, such as the use of concept mapping, problem-based learning, reasoning and thinking models, research models, and guidelines for meaningful project work. The goals suggested should be systematically applied to each area of learning in the schools to maximize student engagement and learning as well as be applied to current world issues, problems, and ideas encountered in real life and best modulated through the home environment. Conclusion The idea of creativity is more exotic than its reality which requires a harmonious confluence of variables in order to support its development. Yet it represents an important ideal for both how to work effectively and how to live well. In work, it is useful, to paraphrase Henry Moore, the sculptor, to have something you bring every insight to every day and know that you can't quite get it right, even as you devote your life to the enterprise. In life, it is useful, as Steven Covey suggests, to find those activities that help us center ourselves, that help us learn, and that help us develop our humanity and its potential. Understanding creativity, it would appear, can assist with both of these tasks if we approach it with an attitude of commitment, curiosity, and caring. Bibliography Albert, R. (1980). Family positions and attachment of eminence: A study of special family positions and special family experiences. Gifted Child Quarterly, 24 (2),87-95.
Arieti, (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books
Collins, M. A. & Amabile, T. (1999). Motivation and creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.) Handbook of Creativity (p. 297-312). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Csikszenmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Collins.
Ericsson, K. A., & Lehman, A. C. (1996). Expert and exceptional performance: Evidence of maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annual Review of Psychology,47, p373-305.
Osborne, A. (1963). Applied Imagination. New York: Scribners.
Osche, R. (1990). Before the gates of excellence: The determinants of creative genius. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Simonton (1999). Origins of genius. New York: Cambridge Press.
Smith, F. (1990). To Think. New York: Teachers College Press.
VanTassel-Baska, J. (Ed.).(1998). Excellence in educating gifted and talented learners (3rd ed.). Denver, CO: Love.
Wallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. New York: Harcourt Brace-Jovanovich.
This article printed from Hoagies' Gifted Education Page, http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/. Original URL is www.hoagiesgifted.org/creativity_as_eluxive_factor.htm
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Advocacy Update
Just came across Linda's desk late afternoon...
Advocacy Update - November 4, 2013 - A Move Toward Consensus on Gifted Operating Standards. Last week, Chairman C. Todd Jones of the State Achievement Committee emailed a new draft of the gifted operating standards to state board members. While the draft is not public yet, Mr. Jones graciously provided a copy. His stated goal several times has been to move toward committee consensus as much as possible before the committee votes. The new draft is largely based on the 9.5.13 draft with some significant changes. While definitely a step in the right direction, the OAGC board has some significant issues with several of the provisions. The most significant are:
1. A sunset of minimum caseload and time requirement provisions in June of 2015, before the state knows whether the new output measures are appropriate or not.
2. No funding accountability, with OAGC highly opposes.
3. Removal of the requirement that districts provide gifted coordinator services even while restoring some of the coordinator credentials.
4. The introduction of a waiver based on district performance. OAGC is not necessarily opposed to a waiver, but as written, it is overly broad and too forgiving of districts in years where they performed below "A" level work.
OAGC believes that compromise language could be drafted to address many of these provisions so that perhaps all sides could move toward consensus.
The Achievement Committee is scheduled to discuss the new draft and other changes on Monday, November 11at the State Board of Education. While Chairman Jones hopes for a consensus vote at the time, it is still unclear whether a draft will also be put before the full board on Tuesday, November 12. The board meeting is being held at the Columbus Convention Center during the Ohio School Board Association convention. Traditionally, the board does not like to have a full agenda during the November meeting so they can meet with board members and others. When more information becomes available, it will be posted.
Also, please be aware that a new bill has been introduced in the Senate that will allow districts to charge fees to students for dual enrollment courses. Sponsor testimony will be this week. Stay tuned for more information as this bill moves forward.
Advocacy Update - November 4, 2013 - A Move Toward Consensus on Gifted Operating Standards. Last week, Chairman C. Todd Jones of the State Achievement Committee emailed a new draft of the gifted operating standards to state board members. While the draft is not public yet, Mr. Jones graciously provided a copy. His stated goal several times has been to move toward committee consensus as much as possible before the committee votes. The new draft is largely based on the 9.5.13 draft with some significant changes. While definitely a step in the right direction, the OAGC board has some significant issues with several of the provisions. The most significant are:
1. A sunset of minimum caseload and time requirement provisions in June of 2015, before the state knows whether the new output measures are appropriate or not.
2. No funding accountability, with OAGC highly opposes.
3. Removal of the requirement that districts provide gifted coordinator services even while restoring some of the coordinator credentials.
4. The introduction of a waiver based on district performance. OAGC is not necessarily opposed to a waiver, but as written, it is overly broad and too forgiving of districts in years where they performed below "A" level work.
OAGC believes that compromise language could be drafted to address many of these provisions so that perhaps all sides could move toward consensus.
The Achievement Committee is scheduled to discuss the new draft and other changes on Monday, November 11at the State Board of Education. While Chairman Jones hopes for a consensus vote at the time, it is still unclear whether a draft will also be put before the full board on Tuesday, November 12. The board meeting is being held at the Columbus Convention Center during the Ohio School Board Association convention. Traditionally, the board does not like to have a full agenda during the November meeting so they can meet with board members and others. When more information becomes available, it will be posted.
Also, please be aware that a new bill has been introduced in the Senate that will allow districts to charge fees to students for dual enrollment courses. Sponsor testimony will be this week. Stay tuned for more information as this bill moves forward.
Websites for Parents
The National Research Center on Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, investigates, develops, and disseminates new methods for identifying and teaching gifted students. The NRC/GT, located at the University of Connecticut, is run collaboratively with the University of Virginia and Yale University, and works in conjunction with more than 300 public school district research study sites.www.gifted.uconn.edu
The National Association for Gifted Children
(NAGC) is an organization of parents, educators, other professionals and
community leaders to address the unique needs of children and youth. Membership
includes a subscription to Parenting for High Potential, a
magazine with articles geared to the development of talent.
You can search State Resources for Gifted Education and Individual
State Gifted Organizations on the NAGC website by clicking on the heading
"Gifted By State."
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is
the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving
educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with
disabilities, and/or the gifted.
www.cec.sped.org
www.cec.sped.org
The Association for the Gifted (TAG)
organized in 1958 by The Council for Exceptional Children, helps professionals
and parents work with gifted children.
www.cectag.org
www.cectag.org
The mission of National Society for the Gifted and
Talented is to advance the development of gifted, talented, and high
potential youth, in the United States and abroad, through opportunities,
advocacy, and exemplary programs and practices.
www.nsgt.org
www.nsgt.org
The Association for the Education of Gifted
Underachieving Students (AEGUS) provides a forum for ideas and
interventions aimed at helping twice-exceptional students reach their full
potential.
www.aegus1.org The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has extensive resources for highly gifted students (and their parents). You can access articles by selecting "Browse by Topic" or "Search GT-Cybersource" from the "Resources" header in the pull-down top bar menu bar.
www.davidsoninstitute.org
www.aegus1.org The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has extensive resources for highly gifted students (and their parents). You can access articles by selecting "Browse by Topic" or "Search GT-Cybersource" from the "Resources" header in the pull-down top bar menu bar.
www.davidsoninstitute.org
Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted
(SENG) focuses primarily on the adults (parents, educators, etc) in the lives of
gifted children. SENG provides information on identification, guidance, and
effective ways to live and work with gifted individuals.
www.SENGifted.org
www.SENGifted.org
Hoagies' Gifted Education Page is a resource
guide for the education of gifted children with links to many gifted education
resources available on the Internet.
www.hoagiesgifted.org
www.hoagiesgifted.org
Gifted-Children.com: Identification, Encouragement, and
Development (GCC) is an on-line parents' newsletter with networking
and information dedicated to making a difference in the education of children
with special talents and abilities.
www.gifted-children.com
www.gifted-children.com
Great Resources for Discovering and Encouraging Interests:
EduHound: Everything for Education K12: www.eduhound.com
Filamentality "Learning Web": www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil
The Academy of Achievement: www.achievement.org
EduHound: Everything for Education K12: www.eduhound.com
Filamentality "Learning Web": www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil
The Academy of Achievement: www.achievement.org
Information ascertained from: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/parents/parentws.html
Internet Field Trip
Seven links to intriguing articles from around the web! Tolkien, backwards
prompts, hexaflexagons, teaching art, and flipped classroom research.
- Listen to J.R.R. Tolkien read from The Hobbit!
- Backwards Writing Prompts: give them the ending!
- Vi Hart’s amazing Hexaflexagons video.
- From Katie Haydon, How to Inspire Children with Your Radioactive Spider Superpower!
- Great post on teaching kids to appreciate art from @drdada
- The Role of Teacher Perspective in Educating Gifted Students, from #gtchat
- Research on flipped classrooms. The Atlantic’s Post-Lecture Classroom: How Will Students Fare?
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
See the Creativity!!
Artist Scott Weaver had already begun
work on this insanely complex kinetic sculpture, Rolling through the
Bay, that he continues to modify and expand even today. The elaborate
sculpture is comprised of multiple “tours” that move ping pong balls through
neighborhoods, historical locations, and iconic symbols of San Francisco, all
recreated with a little glue, some toothpicks, and an incredible amount of
ingenuity. He admits in the video that there are several toothpick sculptures
even larger than his, but none has the unique kinetic components he’s
constructed. Via his website Weaver estimates he’s spent over 3,000 hours on the
project, and the toothpicks have been sourced from around the world.
Check out the following webpage and the Vimeo after the pictures to see the amazing masterpiece he created. Toothpick Masterpiece
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Gifted Children's Bill of Rights
From Del Siegle - 2007-2009 NAGC President
Provided as a service of the National Association for Gifted Children
Copies of this Bill of Rights are available online at www.nagc.org
Provided as a service of the National Association for Gifted Children
Copies of this Bill of Rights are available online at www.nagc.org
Bill of Rights
You have the right...
...to know about your giftedness.
...to learn something new every day.
...to be passionate about your talent area without apologies.
...to have an identity beyond your talent area.
...to feel good about your accomplishments.
...to make mistakes.
...to seek guidance in the development of your talent.
...to have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends.
...to choose which of your talent areas you wish to pursue.
...not be gifted at everything.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Unwrapping the Gifted - Medical Misdiagnosis in the Gifted
Below is a link to a blog by Tamara Fisher from September 4, 2013. She posted a new entry about misdiagnosis of gifted students.
Check out the link to read the blog entry:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/09/medical_misdiagnosis_in_the_gi.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2
Check out the link to read the blog entry:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2013/09/medical_misdiagnosis_in_the_gi.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2
Friday, September 6, 2013
Interesting Quote
"If you are continually asked to jump over a bar that requires little to no effort, how long will it be before you will not be able to jump any higher?"
Carol Ann Tomlinson
Carol Ann Tomlinson
Friday, August 30, 2013
List of Books with Gifted Characters
Below is a list of books with gifted characters that was prepared by Leanne Ross:
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
Yolanda's Genius by Carol Fenner
Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Here's To You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie Tolan
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinella
Gifted by Beth Evangelista
Gifted: A Novel by Nikita Lalwani
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
I Hate Being Gifted by Patricia Hermes
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
GERD Meeting
For the new school year 2013-2014, our first GERD meeting will be held on September 25, 2013 at the Jefferson County Educational Service Center computer lab. We will begin at 8:30 a.m. and finish up at 3:00 p.m. We will break for lunch from 11:30-12:45 on your own. There are several choices in the near vicinity to the office to accommodate you.
Please bring any materials you would like to use to create a unit for differentiation. The unit will be housed on a Weebly that you can create in the computer lab. If you have a Weebly already created, you will have time to add this new unit in a new page and ample time to enhance your already existing pages.
Email pictures to yourself that you would like to add to your Weebly, or bring a flash drive with the pictures on it. You will be able to brainstorm and share ideas with fellow GERD members as well.
A formal invitation email will follow for those teachers chosen by the districts to attend this years' GERD meetings.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
American Artists Children Should Know
Trying to learn about all American artists might be a bit too much for kids -
even for adults. However, art historian Brad Finger has come up with thirteen
American artists he thinks children should know about. Two pages are devoted to
each artist, providing a brief biography, a description of their art, and why
their art is important. You might not recognize all the artists, but after
reading this book, you and your child will know why each is included in the
list.
This book covers over 75 American artists and helps children develop an appreciation for them through an art activity for each artist. For example, for Hans Hoffman, an abstract expressionist painter, the book offers an activity for kid to create a painting of "Energetic Color Blocks." If you want to see more of what the book has to offer, you can visit the book's Web site. It has a few activities from the book and some that aren't in the book, as well as some links to more information for each of the four chapters:
- Winslow Horner
- Mary Cassatt
- John Singer Sargent
- Edward Hopper
- Georgia O'Keeffe
- Alexander Calder
- Mark Rothko
- Joseph Cornell
- Louise Bourgeois
- Jackson Pollock
- Jacob Lawrence
- Andy Warhol
- Jasper Johns
This book covers over 75 American artists and helps children develop an appreciation for them through an art activity for each artist. For example, for Hans Hoffman, an abstract expressionist painter, the book offers an activity for kid to create a painting of "Energetic Color Blocks." If you want to see more of what the book has to offer, you can visit the book's Web site. It has a few activities from the book and some that aren't in the book, as well as some links to more information for each of the four chapters:
- Early American Art
- New American Ideas
- American Art Explodes
- American Art Onward
Monday, July 8, 2013
Summer Reading Recommendation
Gifted Grownups
Marylou Kelly Streznewski’s Gifted Grownups is the result of a 10 year study of 100 gifted adults. This group of grownups demonstrates that giftedness is not necessarily a path to happiness or success. We often hear that gifted kids “will be fine” and don’t need special programs, but Gifted Grownups shows the lifelong value of differentiating for our students and equipping them with confidence and self-understanding.From Byrdseed.com
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Apps to Motivate Young Readers
For every kid who is caught hiding beneath his covers with a flashlight and a novel at midnight, there is another who has to be begged and pleaded with to read. And the latter might need a little extra—shall we call it encouragement?—to become a great reader. To help, we've rounded up a list of the top apps that not only teach essential reading skills but also motivate kids—even the most book-phobic—to read, read and read some more.
Apps For Early Readers
Word Bingo: Who doesn't love a good game of BINGO? This fun app teaches kids basic sight words while they play.
Super Why: With some help from some superhero readers, your kid will get a jump start on reading by playing these fun, interactive reading games. 
ABC Go: Have a planes, trains and automobiles fanatic at your house? Well, then this is the app for you. Full of fun pictures, new vocabulary words and fun things-that-go games, this app will inspire and teach your future pilot or racecar driver.
ABC Wildlife: Or if your kid is more Jane Goodall than NASCAR driver, try ABC Wildlife where pictures of animals are paired with new vocab words and fun reading games.
Bob Books: The ultimate books for early readers are now an app, complete with stories, word games and images that will motivate your kids to practice reading.Apps for Elementary School Readers
Bookboard: Readers of all levels and ages are given specially selected literature to read. The best part? The more kids read, the more books are unlocked, opening up their eyes to new books every day. 
Snap Reading: More than 150 leveled, interactive e-books are paired with fully scripted lesson plans, related activities and more.
GeoWalk 3D World Factbook: Some kids resist non-fiction reading—unless, of course, it's all wrapped up in a fun app with a spinning globe that spits out fascinating facts at random.
Story Builder: With a library of sound recordings and the ability to record their own voice, this app will get the creativity flowing in any aspiring storyteller or fictionista.
Mad Libs: Who didn't love Mad Libs as a kid? And now, Mad Libs have gone digital. Trust us, by the time your kid is done with this app, he'll never wonder again what the difference is between an adjective and an adverb.Apps For Middle School and High School
Kindle: This is kind of an obvious choice, but we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that kids who have access to books—and lots of them—are more likely to read than kids that don't. And with the free Kindle app, your kid will have access to millions of books.
High School Bites: Based on the bestselling youth fantasy novels The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, this game-based app lets teens score points as they duel with slayers and try to survive school.
Shakespeare: The works of William Shakespeare are brilliant, poignant, compelling, fascinating and…. well, they're tough to read. This app makes them a bit easier with a searchable glossary, concordance and more.
iThoughtsHD: iThoughtsHD isn't exactly a reading app, per se, but it does allow kids to carefully organize the information they are reading for easy reference and enhanced comprehension.
Free Books: With more than 25,000 classic pieces of literature available for free with this app, your students will be motivated to read at least one.
Literary Analysis Guide: We admit that this app was probably intended for those of us who proudly call ourselves literature geeks, but it has tons of useful stuff for the general student population, including simple tools to help kids track and comprehend literary components
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
7 Habits Of Highly-Effective Teachers Who Effectively Use Technology
7 Habits Of Highly-Effective Teachers Who Effectively Use Technology
1. They always start with the why
2. They are malleable and can easily adapt
3. They embrace change
4. They share
5. They think win-win
6. They are thorough and think ahead
7. They actively care
See the following website for further details:
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers-who-effectively-use-technology/
1. They always start with the why
2. They are malleable and can easily adapt
3. They embrace change
4. They share
5. They think win-win
6. They are thorough and think ahead
7. They actively care
See the following website for further details:
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/7-habits-of-highly-effective-teachers-who-effectively-use-technology/
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
"The Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things"
There's a type of gifted kid who is simply filled to the brim with "did you know" trivia. If you know a student like this, then have Ian from Byrdseed has a book recommendation for you! "The Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things" explains how objects, customs, and sayings got their start.
http://www.byrdseed.com/for-the-trivia-obsessed/
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Gifted Resources
| Teacher Websites | |
| National Association for Gifted Children | This association has information on gifted education for teachers and parents. |
| American Association for Gifted Children | This association has information on gifted education for teachers and parents. |
| ERIC: Gifted | Educational Resources Information Center. This is a page of links to information on gifted education and dual exceptionalities. |
| More links | Gifted and Talented Link suggestions made by Susan Winebrenner, the auther of Teaching Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom. |
| Professional Training for Teachers of Gifted and Talented | Tips and resources for teachers of gifted students. |
| Do Gifted Students Have Special Needs? | Article by Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., a leading researcher in gifted education. |
| Fostering Academic Creativity in Gifted Students | Learn about teaching creative thinking skills to gifted students. |
| Gifted and Talented Articles | This page provides links to articles on teaching and parenting gifted children. (Variety of pertinent topics.) |
| Hoagies' Gifted Education Page | This is a great site for resources on educating or parenting gifted children. |
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Summer Camp Options to Share with Parents
| Arts and Humanities Summer Camps
Is your child creative? Does she like to paint or draw? Play music? Or maybe even compose music? Is your child interested in literature or philosophy? Those topics are among the many your child could focus on in one of these summer camps.
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| Math and Science Summer Camps
Some kids are more interested in math and science than they are with the arts and humanities. No problem! There are plenty of camps for them too. Kids can focus on math, science, and technology - including robotics and video game design!
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| Earth Science Summer Camps
Most people can easily imagine camps that would focus on the humanities, the arts, math, and science. But not everyone thinks about camps that focus on the environment and ecology. If your child loves learning and the Earth and its creatures, this kind of camp might be just the right thing.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Internet Field Trip, April 2013
Nine resources from around the web, originally shared on Twitter. Follow at:@ByrdseedGifted.
- Modern pictures of Paris paired with photos from the same spot 100 years ago
- Can you boomerang a football? Yes, if you’re 75 feet tall!
- Awesome thoughts about conversations with students
- 14 More Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent
- Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling
- The 149 Rocks stuck in Chicago’s Tribune Tower (Thanks to Katie)
- Some wonderful LEGO insect creations!
- Awesome advice for our students from an astronaut, in comic form!
- A post-Easter treat: Peeps Diorama Contest winners
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Ten Things NOT TO SAY To a Gifted Student
Bright kids are not better, yet they are different; and because they are, they face
different issues." (Schuler, 2003)
According to Schuler, there are two prevailing yet paradoxical myths about gifted children and adolescents:
Myth 1: They do not have problems; somehow they can handle difficulties on their own.
Myth 2 : Some of their characteristics are perceived as pathological.
Adapted from workshop presentation given by Dr. Nancy Heilbronner, University of Connecticut, CONFRATUTE CONFERENCE for Gifted 2009
TEN THINGS NOT TO SAY TO A GIFTED STUDENT
10. "Don’t be silly . . . why are you so afraid of everything?" According to Dabrowski, gifted children have heightened sensitivities in several areas, some of which are imagination and emotion. Imaginations can spin facts into "what if" scenarios sometimes drawing incorrect or illogical conclusions. They are very conscious of global issues and can feel helpless as far as being able to do anything about it
9. "You should try to make more friends!" Gifted children have varying needs for socialization; some need more, some can be happy with a good book and one or two friends. Often social, emotional, intellectual and physical abilities may develop at varying rates. Let them be the guide, perhaps there is no need Offer Enrichment opportunities May need several different peer groups ie. Intellectual, emotional, social
8. "No more questions!" Sometimes gifted students are forever asking
questions; sometimes not at the most appropriate times. Asking good questions and knowing how to find answers is an essential part of intelligence
Sometimes gifted students get the message that it is not okay to be that curious. Home, friends, and even schools sometimes subtly interact to
discourage children from asking too many questions, from being too smart, from wanting too much. Parking lot…questions answered in half an hour?
"1,2,3.." Ask three people before you ask teacher (good for all)
7. "You’re so smart, smart, smart! We love you!" When approval is linked with performance, child feels that people love them because they are smart, not because of who they are (particularly dangerous for female student and can actually lead to under-achievement). Student starts to feel like imposters, attributing success to luck rather than talent.
recognize things out-side the classroom (sports, humour, being a good friend)
Praise effort
6. "You’re good at so many things—you can be anything you want!" Many gifted students exhibit multiple talents and are reluctant to give up any activity. Well meaning parents and teachers support multipotentiality because they believe it makes the child a better candidate for university applications.
By the time students get to high school, they NEED to focus, help them narrow their choices based on one or two passions "Major accomplishment in most fields requires a devotion of concentrated time and energy"
5. "Don’t you want to be a doctor?"
We often want the best for our students but we have to be careful not to pigeon-hole students into things that WE think are good for them. It doesn’t have to be the word "doctor"; we need to help them under-stand gifts and interests they possess, not gifts you want them to develop. Encourage them to try new activities through various opportunities. If a passion develops, support it!
Be an opportunity maker, facilitator or guide, rather than a director.
4. "You’re so smart! This should be easy for you!"
There is an as-sumption that gifted kids are good at everything. Not all are! Sometimes they are very good in some areas and not in others.
Advocate for these students, particularly when teachers or
others might say "…there are kids way smarter in my class" or "…are you sure they are gifted?" Consider the needs of students who are GLD
3. "Why don’t you draw the lines straighter?" Rigidity in expectation sometimes quashes creativity. Encourage academic and creative risks . It’s about improvement with attempts "colouring outside the lines" can bring about interesting rewards
2. "It’s not your fault!" Sometimes it IS their fault and they have to take responsibility. Get all the facts, both sides of the story. Do not judge
Importance of recognizing both successes AND faults/failure. Focus on improvement
1. "If it’s hard, you can always stop." Encourage students to STAY IN THE STRUGGLE ; to deal with successes and failures.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Who Doesn't Like Pi?
March 14 is Pi Day. You know what pi is, right? It's the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. So why is March 14 designated as Pi Day? Because March 14 is 3/14 and Pi is 3.14! It doesn't seem like much of a holiday to celebrate - unless you love math, and we know that mathematically gifted kids do! Here are some fun ways for them and the whole family to pay tribute to pi.
About.Com For Gifted Children has some wonderful ideas to share. Click on the following link for more information:
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/holidaysspecialdays/a/Fun-Ways-to-Celebrate-Pi-Day.htm?nl=1
The number Pi is a fascinating number. It is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and it is found pretty much everywhere. Obviously, Pi will show up in work with circles, arcs, gears, and pendulums, but it also shows up in areas that you wouldn't think would have anything to do with circles.
Also check this out for books about Pi:
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/Books/tp/Books-About-Pi.htm?nl=1
About.Com For Gifted Children has some wonderful ideas to share. Click on the following link for more information:
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/holidaysspecialdays/a/Fun-Ways-to-Celebrate-Pi-Day.htm?nl=1
The number Pi is a fascinating number. It is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and it is found pretty much everywhere. Obviously, Pi will show up in work with circles, arcs, gears, and pendulums, but it also shows up in areas that you wouldn't think would have anything to do with circles.
Also check this out for books about Pi:
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/Books/tp/Books-About-Pi.htm?nl=1
Monday, March 4, 2013
Some Favorite Online Resources
These are links to organizations at the state and national levels. They are associations that work with families and educators to promote the best interests of gifted children.
Ohio Association for Gifted Children (OAGC)
www.oagc.com
National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
www.nagc.org
Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
http://hoagiesgifted.org/
GT World
http://www.gtworld.org
Ohio Association for Gifted Children (OAGC)
www.oagc.com
National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
www.nagc.org
Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
http://hoagiesgifted.org/
GT World
http://www.gtworld.org
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Unwrapping the Gifted
Below is a list of webinars that may be of interest to you.....many are FREE! Check them out! This list came from an online article from Education Week Teacher.
Upcoming Gifted Education Webinars
Are you looking for an easily-accessible and free or reasonably priced way to gather research-based information about gifted learners? These webinars in the coming weeks, many of them presented by widely-recognized experts in the field, are a fabulous option. Additionally, if you can't watch one "live," in most cases registration allows you to access it after-the-fact at a later time.
January 30, 7:00 PM Eastern - Unlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting High Achievement of Low-Income, High-Ability Students This FREE webinar, presented by National Association for Gifted Children President Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Carol Horn of Fairfax County Schools (VA) will discuss findings in NAGC's recent report of the same title about gifted learners in low-income environments. Among the topics covered will be ways to support high-ability, low-income children, psychosocial issues unique to these learners, and effective models and practices for developing their talent and nurturing their academic success.
February 5, 7:00 PM Pacific - Assisting Gifted Students in Developing Self-Regulation Available through the University of California at Irvine Extension Office, this FREE webinar presented by Richard Cash (private consultant) will focus on assisting young gifted children to develop self-regulation strategies (of emotion and behavior) which will in turn help them reach their full potential.
February 6, 7:00 PM Eastern - Bloom's Taxonomy as Easy as Pie: Infusing Critical Thinking Within the Common Core Presented by Susan Dulong Langley of Framingham Schools (MA), this NAGC webinar will assist teachers in analyzing essential elements of Common Core standards and thereby developing tiers of instruction to meet the varying learning needs in their classrooms.
February 12, 7:30 PM Eastern - Addressing the Unique Challenges of Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners Presented by Joy Lawson Davis (University of Louisiana, Lafayette), this webinar, brought to you by SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) will focus on issues faced by underrepresented gifted children and solutions teachers can employ to address the needs of exceptional learners from minority populations.
February 12, 7:00 PM Pacific - Meeting the Needs of the Gifted Learner in the Common Core Classroom Via UC-Irvine, this FREE webinar presented by Rhonda Cameron (Orange County Dept. of Ed., CA) will show teachers ways to fully differentiate the Common Core so as to better meet the learning needs of gifted learners (and all learners).
February 13, 7:00 PM Eastern - Adapting the Writing Common Core for Gifted Learners This NAGC webinar, presented by Claire Hughes of the College of Coastal Georgia and Debra Troxclair of Lamar University (TX), covers information for teachers about how the Common Core English Language Arts standards can be adapted and differentiated for advanced learners in the area of writing. Both presenters are among the authors of NAGC's new book, "Using the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts With Gifted and Advanced Learners."
February 19, 7:00 PM Pacific - Making GATE Work Without Funding This FREE UC-Irvine webinar presented by Gina Danley (Santa Maria-Bonita Schools, CA) will provide insights and ideas for how schools and districts can maintain and offer gifted programming in times of lean or disappearing budgets.
February 20, 7:00 PM Eastern - Un"Common" Creativity: Infusing Creative Thinking Across The Common Core Susan Dulong Langley returns for this NAGC webinar full of ideas and strategies for infusing creative thinking skills together with the Common Core.
February 21, 7:30 PM Eastern - Grappling with Giftedness: A Lifelong Challenge A SENG webinar, Ellen Fiedler (Northeastern Illinois University) will share insights about possible unresolved affective issues related to their giftedness that may still be impacting gifted adults. Characteristics of gifted adults and their impact on "giftedness across the lifespan" will also be covered.
February 26, 7:00 PM Pacific - Tech Tools to Differentiate and Engage Gifted Learners This final FREE UC-Irvine webinar, presented by Sean Williams (University of La Verne), highlights various Web 2.0 tools that teachers can use to engage and differentiate their gifted and advanced learners.
[A credit option is also available for the UC-Irvine webinars. Contact Lisa Kadowaki in the UC-Irvine Extension Office for more information. Her email is at the bottom of the 5th Annual GATE Webinar Series Flyer.pdf.]
February 26, 7:30 PM Eastern - Understanding Intensity: Practical Applications for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors This SENGinar, presented by Michele Kane (Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago), is designed to provide insights about the heightened sensitivities and intensities of gifted youth and how the adults in their lives can help them understand and develop their social and emotional aspects.
February 27, 7:00 PM Eastern - Implementing the Common Core State Standards with Various Program Models in Gifted Education Another of NAGC's spring webinars, join up on this night to learn from Alicia Cotabish (University of Central Arkansas) and Bronwyn MacFarlane (University of Arkansas at Little Rock) about the relationships between gifted program models and the Common Core State Standards. Also included will be examples of how to implement the CCSS in mathematics for gifted learners.
March 13, 7:00 PM Eastern - Creativity and Complexity in Math and Science Presented by Cheryll Adams (Ball State University, IN), this NAGC webinar will offer characteristics of students who are gifted in mathematics and science, along with modifications "to provide more creativity, complexity, depth, and abstractness for students gifted in mathematics and science."
March 26, 7:30 PM Eastern - Still Gifted After All These Years--Lifespan Intensity and Gifted Adults This final spring SENGinar, presented by Patricia Gatto Walden (Institute of Educational Advancement), will cover innate social and emotional traits of giftedness, misunderstandings that parents and teachers often have regarding them, and ways parents and teachers can nurture gifted children's health and well-being.
[Many SENGinars offer APA credit for psychologists. Visit this page for more information.]
[SENG is also offering free webinars to 30 U.S. schools this spring. Visit this page for information on how to apply.]
March 27, 7:00 PM Eastern - Educating Primary Gifted Students: Analyzing Nonfiction Books with a Focus on Higher-Level Skill Development This NAGC webinar, presented by Kimberley Chandler (College of William & Mary, VA), examines the use of non-fiction text with primary grade learners and provides strategies for how to assist young learners in analyzing, inferring, and summarizing the information in non-fiction. Extensions for research projects, writing activities, and questioning strategies will also be highlighted.
[Site licenses are available for all NAGC WOW webinars. Visit this page for more information.]
Happy learning, everyone! :o)
January 30, 7:00 PM Eastern - Unlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting High Achievement of Low-Income, High-Ability Students This FREE webinar, presented by National Association for Gifted Children President Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Carol Horn of Fairfax County Schools (VA) will discuss findings in NAGC's recent report of the same title about gifted learners in low-income environments. Among the topics covered will be ways to support high-ability, low-income children, psychosocial issues unique to these learners, and effective models and practices for developing their talent and nurturing their academic success.
February 5, 7:00 PM Pacific - Assisting Gifted Students in Developing Self-Regulation Available through the University of California at Irvine Extension Office, this FREE webinar presented by Richard Cash (private consultant) will focus on assisting young gifted children to develop self-regulation strategies (of emotion and behavior) which will in turn help them reach their full potential.
February 6, 7:00 PM Eastern - Bloom's Taxonomy as Easy as Pie: Infusing Critical Thinking Within the Common Core Presented by Susan Dulong Langley of Framingham Schools (MA), this NAGC webinar will assist teachers in analyzing essential elements of Common Core standards and thereby developing tiers of instruction to meet the varying learning needs in their classrooms.
February 12, 7:30 PM Eastern - Addressing the Unique Challenges of Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners Presented by Joy Lawson Davis (University of Louisiana, Lafayette), this webinar, brought to you by SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) will focus on issues faced by underrepresented gifted children and solutions teachers can employ to address the needs of exceptional learners from minority populations.
February 12, 7:00 PM Pacific - Meeting the Needs of the Gifted Learner in the Common Core Classroom Via UC-Irvine, this FREE webinar presented by Rhonda Cameron (Orange County Dept. of Ed., CA) will show teachers ways to fully differentiate the Common Core so as to better meet the learning needs of gifted learners (and all learners).
February 13, 7:00 PM Eastern - Adapting the Writing Common Core for Gifted Learners This NAGC webinar, presented by Claire Hughes of the College of Coastal Georgia and Debra Troxclair of Lamar University (TX), covers information for teachers about how the Common Core English Language Arts standards can be adapted and differentiated for advanced learners in the area of writing. Both presenters are among the authors of NAGC's new book, "Using the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts With Gifted and Advanced Learners."
February 19, 7:00 PM Pacific - Making GATE Work Without Funding This FREE UC-Irvine webinar presented by Gina Danley (Santa Maria-Bonita Schools, CA) will provide insights and ideas for how schools and districts can maintain and offer gifted programming in times of lean or disappearing budgets.
February 20, 7:00 PM Eastern - Un"Common" Creativity: Infusing Creative Thinking Across The Common Core Susan Dulong Langley returns for this NAGC webinar full of ideas and strategies for infusing creative thinking skills together with the Common Core.
February 21, 7:30 PM Eastern - Grappling with Giftedness: A Lifelong Challenge A SENG webinar, Ellen Fiedler (Northeastern Illinois University) will share insights about possible unresolved affective issues related to their giftedness that may still be impacting gifted adults. Characteristics of gifted adults and their impact on "giftedness across the lifespan" will also be covered.
February 26, 7:00 PM Pacific - Tech Tools to Differentiate and Engage Gifted Learners This final FREE UC-Irvine webinar, presented by Sean Williams (University of La Verne), highlights various Web 2.0 tools that teachers can use to engage and differentiate their gifted and advanced learners.
[A credit option is also available for the UC-Irvine webinars. Contact Lisa Kadowaki in the UC-Irvine Extension Office for more information. Her email is at the bottom of the 5th Annual GATE Webinar Series Flyer.pdf.]
February 26, 7:30 PM Eastern - Understanding Intensity: Practical Applications for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors This SENGinar, presented by Michele Kane (Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago), is designed to provide insights about the heightened sensitivities and intensities of gifted youth and how the adults in their lives can help them understand and develop their social and emotional aspects.
February 27, 7:00 PM Eastern - Implementing the Common Core State Standards with Various Program Models in Gifted Education Another of NAGC's spring webinars, join up on this night to learn from Alicia Cotabish (University of Central Arkansas) and Bronwyn MacFarlane (University of Arkansas at Little Rock) about the relationships between gifted program models and the Common Core State Standards. Also included will be examples of how to implement the CCSS in mathematics for gifted learners.
March 13, 7:00 PM Eastern - Creativity and Complexity in Math and Science Presented by Cheryll Adams (Ball State University, IN), this NAGC webinar will offer characteristics of students who are gifted in mathematics and science, along with modifications "to provide more creativity, complexity, depth, and abstractness for students gifted in mathematics and science."
March 26, 7:30 PM Eastern - Still Gifted After All These Years--Lifespan Intensity and Gifted Adults This final spring SENGinar, presented by Patricia Gatto Walden (Institute of Educational Advancement), will cover innate social and emotional traits of giftedness, misunderstandings that parents and teachers often have regarding them, and ways parents and teachers can nurture gifted children's health and well-being.
[Many SENGinars offer APA credit for psychologists. Visit this page for more information.]
[SENG is also offering free webinars to 30 U.S. schools this spring. Visit this page for information on how to apply.]
March 27, 7:00 PM Eastern - Educating Primary Gifted Students: Analyzing Nonfiction Books with a Focus on Higher-Level Skill Development This NAGC webinar, presented by Kimberley Chandler (College of William & Mary, VA), examines the use of non-fiction text with primary grade learners and provides strategies for how to assist young learners in analyzing, inferring, and summarizing the information in non-fiction. Extensions for research projects, writing activities, and questioning strategies will also be highlighted.
[Site licenses are available for all NAGC WOW webinars. Visit this page for more information.]
Happy learning, everyone! :o)
Friday, January 4, 2013
Internet Field Trip, January 2013
Happy New Year!! Check out the following link for information on an internet field trip:
Internet Field Trip, January 2013
Seven intriguing links around the internet: daily superhero drawings, international power outlets, substitutes for snow, engineering video games, photos of Mt. Everest, Hamlet as a choose your own adventure novel, and the square root of 2.
Internet Field Trip, January 2013
Seven intriguing links around the internet: daily superhero drawings, international power outlets, substitutes for snow, engineering video games, photos of Mt. Everest, Hamlet as a choose your own adventure novel, and the square root of 2.
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