Unwrapping the Gifted

So what do the KIDS think?

This year I am President-Elect of Montana AGATE, our state’s gifted & talented assocation. In that capacity, I’m in charge this year of organzing our annual conference, which will take place in a couple of weeks. The past few weeks I have been putting together the program and schedule, and decided to use the opportunity to give voice to gifted children. Actually, my first idea was to “sprinkle” some thought-provoking quotations (like the ones I included in a post a while back) throughout the program, but then I thought, “why not include some statements from the kids, too…” A couple hundred teachers will be reading the program as they select which sessions they want to attend, and I figured this might be a great opportunity to prompt some thinking…

I created a survey of sorts for my students to fill out and gave them the option to contribute. I told them how fewer than half of Montana’s schools have gifted programs and how many of the teachers coming to the conference will be coming from schools that don’t yet have gifted programs but are in the process of trying to get one started. “There are kids like you at those schools. This is a chance for you to let their teachers know what school is like for kids who learn like you do.”

The survey was simply a series of sentence beginnings and the kids finished the statements. (They each chose their own psuedonym, too.) These are their contributions that I included in the conference program:

“I like to be challenged because it makes my mind think really hard and I end up learning something.” Judie, age 8

“I like to be challenged because it makes me feel like I’m actually doing something instead of sitting around going, ‘Dur!’” Jelly, age 9

“I like to be challenged because that’s when I do my best.” Addeline, age 9

“I like to be challenged because if it wasn’t challenging I would probably not learn anything and I would drop out of high school.” Binary, age 10 (age in base 2: 1010)

“I need to be challenged but I’m not good at everything.” Mindy, age 10

“I like to be challenged because I like to be all that I can be.” Nicole, age 11

“I like to be challenged because it helps me not have to learn things I already know.” April, age 11

“I like to be challenged because I want to know more about things so that I can help people.” Moe, age 12

“I like to be challenged because I like to know that I can do more than what I thought I could.” Jadey, age 13

“I like to be challenged because it makes me think harder and gives me obstacles.” Daisy, age 13

“You’ll never learn anything unless you’re challenged in the first place.” Di, age 15

“I like to be challenged because then I am able to learn more. I retain knowledge better when I have to work hard for it.” Locke, age 17

“I like to be challenged because it stimulates my brain.” Britney, age 17

“I like to be challenged because it makes me feel like I will be able to progress the human race.” Thor, age 17

“I like to be challenged because when I overcome a challenge, I feel proud of myself. I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and the best part is that I’ve acquired more knowledge in the process!” Mariposa, age 18

“My teacher teaches fun science.” Nate, age 7

“My teacher is inspiring.” Cotton, age 8

“My teacher is the best!” Tina, age 8

“My teacher barely ever calls on me because she knows that I know the answer.” Pudge, age 9

“My teacher cares and helps me when I am stuck.” Maddison, age 9

“My teacher helps me strive to do my best.” Madaline, age 9

“My teacher understands that I need a challenge sometimes.” Mindy, age 10

“My teacher challenges me but has trouble with such a wide range of students.” Troy, age 11

“My teacher tries to challenge people as much as she can.” Nicole, age 11

“My teacher expects me to be good at everything.” Zell, age 11

“My teacher can tell when I need a challenge and she gives me alternative assignments.” Maniac, age 12

“My teacher doesn’t understand that some of us are on a whole other level.” Ivan, age 15

“My teachers are supportive.” Britney, age 17

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I feel like I don’t have to listen.” Shane, age 7

“When my teacher teaches something I already know, I just listen and do it again.” Laura, age 7

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I sit quietly and try to listen politely.” Scott, age 9

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I have problems paying attention.” July, age 10

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I ask if I can do something else.” Mindy, age 10

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I just try to not go crazy.” Ronald, age 11

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I ask deeper questions.” Troy, age 11

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I try to not blurt out the answers.” Mack, age 11

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I do all the stuff she wants me to do, but later I tell her I’ve already learned it and I need a challenge.” Shilah, age 11

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I read and get in trouble for ‘not paying attention.’” Zell, age 11

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I sit back, relax, and finish it at the last moment.” Moe, age 12

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I take a rocketship to the moon with my best friends and only come back when the teacher calls on me.” Juho, age 12

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, it is okay the first couple of times, but then after about the seventh time I start to get mad.” Caboose, age 12

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I usually start my homework because why waste time on something I already know.” Ivan, age 15

“When the teacher is teaching something I already know, I am annoyed and furious. If it is a slight review to bring to life new curriculum, I am obedient, but otherwise I am likely not to do the repeat work and then receive punishment for my excess knowledge. Curse bureaucracy!” Dantey, age 16

“School is best when it is time for Math.” Tina, age 8

“I like school best when my teacher understands me.” Percy, age 9

“School is best when I actually learn.” Binary, age 10 (age in base 2: 1010)

“School is best when we take the CRT’s.” Sofie, age 10

“School is best when I’m challenged.” Nicole, age 11

“School is best when we are taking tests because the room is quiet.” Mary, age 11

“I wish school was all day until dinner.” Wallis, age 8

“I wish school was a little more challenging.” Donald, age 11

“I wish school was only learning new things.” Colton, age 11

“I wish school had more programs for the faster kids.” Waldo, age 12

“I wish school was full of humans that didn’t care so much about nonsense like sports and celebrities.” Thor, age 17

“I want to learn algebra in school.” Fred, age 8

“I want to learn how to teach teachers to make school harder.” Zebriska, age 9

“I want to learn how to run an aquarium, drive a rocket, and dig up bones without completely destroying them.” Jelly, age 9

“I want to learn how to be an obstetrician.” Rosebud, age 9

“I want to learn how to play the electric guitar.” Pudge, age 9

“I want to learn more about strategic thinking.” Addeline, age 9

“I want to learn how to make electronics.” Shilah, age 11

“I want to learn quicker than the teacher teaches.” Albert, age 11

“I want to learn about my Native ancestors and the past.” Azeakia, age 11

“I want to learn the way that’s best for me.” Nicole, age 11

“I want to learn how to build a computer.” Charlie, age 12

“I want to learn how to be successful but not socially awkward due to my intolerance of certain humans.” Thor, age 17

“I want to learn more than what my school has to offer.” Locke, age 17

“Other kids don’t understand that I skipped a grade.” Brandy, age 8

“Other kids don’t understand my way of learning.” Alan, age 9

“Other kids don’t understand me.” Nicholas, age 9

“Other kids don’t understand why I try to challenge myself.” Troy, age 11

“Other kids don’t understand that I am my own person and am proud of that.” Gregory, age 11

“Other kids don’t understand that I don’t care about their domestic problems, like popularity and image.” Thor, age 17

“Without GT, I wouldn’t have some hard work in Life.” Laura, age 7

“Without GT, it would be a sad, lonely world.” Brandy, age 8

“Without GT, I would be bored to the gourd.” Madeline, age 9

“Without GT, my brain would melt.” Patricia, age 9

“Without GT, I would most likely die of boredom rather than of old age or a disease, and I wouldn’t learn anything new very often.” Jelly, age 9

“Without GT, I would go berserk I would be so bored.” Zell, age 11

“Without GT, I wouldn’t be able to vent and de-stress.” Roxy, age 12

“Without GT, there would be a greatly reduced potential for learning.” Locke, age 17

“I like it when my teacher winks at me.” Laura, age 7

“I like it when my teacher compliments me.” Alma, age 9

“I like it when my teacher does funny stuff.” Karan, age 10

“I like it when my teacher lets me learn.” Binary, age 10 (age in base 2: 1010)

“I like it when my teacher gives me something HARD to work on!!” Mary, age 11

“I like it when my teacher appreciates something I’ve done that’s out of the ordinary.” Roxy, age 12

“I like it when my teacher comes up with new ideas.” Lucky, age 12

“I like it when my teacher pushes me.” Juan, age 14

“I like it when my teachers are surprised by what I can accomplish.” Dantey, age 16

“I like it when a teacher is willing to teach beyond the standard curriculum. ” Locke, age 17

“Without my advanced math class, I couldn’t learn that much. I would have to be at the same level as the other kids and not know my plusses.” Kim, age 6

“Give us choices. Don’t force us to have a blue crayon. We can figure out for ourselves what works.” Megan, age 10

“Sometimes I get a bad grade because I don’t pay attention because the teacher repeats herself 1,000,000,000 times.” Nicole, age 11

“If I could change school, I would change the grading system so that it represented how much a student actually knew and had learned rather than whether or not the student was willing to jump through hoops.” Locke, age 17

What do the gifted children in your life have to say? Ask them!

Posted by Tamara Fisher at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Do you realize what you’re saying‽‽‽

I have a pet peeve. Well, my sister would tell you that I have more than one pet peeve … but when it comes to the education of gifted children, there’s something that really irritates me. I have a few examples that will help me to explain and illustrate…

A month or two ago, a tiny article appeared deep in an area newspaper with the headline, “Chancellor wants math, science program for elite high schoolers.” The article stated that the chancellor at Montana Tech (an excellent engineering, math, science, and mining school) is considering creating a residential program for about 40 of Montana’s top math and science students. They would be dual enrolled in high school and college for the two year program. The students would be selected based on test scores, interviews, and recommendations, and would have to be Montana residents at least 15 years old. An anonymous donor is willing to help significantly with the program’s costs.

While many, if not most, of you live in states where Governor’s Schools and other such similar options are available for some of your gifted students, nothing of the sort exists here in Montana. To my knowledge, this would be the first option of its kind in my state.

I excitedly read the little article until I came upon the last paragraph. And that’s when my ears started steaming: “Concerns include the effect on local school districts if their top students transferred to the program at Tech. Districts’ financial support is based partly on the size of enrollment, and outstanding students often help to boost schools’ composite scores on standardized tests.”

MmHmm…!

It’s been over a month since I first saw the article and cut it out, and my heart still races in anger when I read that!!!

Never mind their education. Never mind their RIGHT TO LEARN. Never mind what’s best for the child. Just make sure the school looks good. Yeah – that’s what’s most important…

Sadly, even in my own amazing district, similar comments have been made. About nine years ago, one of my 4th graders moved rather suddenly to another Montana town part-way through the school year. This was pre-NCLB and back when Montana only tested kids in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. When I expressed my dismay and sadness that she had left without being able to say good-bye, another teacher said, “You’re tellin’ me! We were really counting on her to help raise our test scores this year.”

Is that really all that she was valued for? These children do not exist to make us look good!

Not long ago, another one of my 4th grade students chose to attend a private school for a short time, but she soon returned to our school after one semester. When I expressed how happy I was that she was back (and she was thrilled to be back), a certain someone grumbled, “Yes, but since she wasn’t here for the first half of the year, her test scores won’t count for us.”

It makes me want to cry. Can’t we be thrilled that she chose to return, no matter when that return occurred? Can’t we value these kids for who they are, not for what impression their test scores say about us?

I have nine 5th graders this year whom we have subject-accelerated in math. Every day they spend one class period in a 6th grade classroom taking 6th grade math. A couple weeks ago, these kids asked me which CRT math test they would be taking this spring… the 5th grade test or the 6th grade test. They all wanted to take the 6th grade Math CRT because, after all, that’s what they’ve been learning this year. But no – since they are technically 5th graders, they have to take the 5th grade test. When I told a teacher about how bummed out they were by this, she said, “No! We need their scores in the 5th grade!”

Ladies and gentlemen - Do you realize what you’re saying‽‽‽

When any of us as school officials make these kinds of comments, especially when it is a “first reaction” statement, the strong impression given is that our biggest value of these students is their good test scores and the benefits said scores bring to the image of our schools. If that is why we want to keep these kids in our schools, then frankly, we are using these kids for our own gain.

Ask any gifted kid and you’ll find out that that’s not the only time and way they feel used in our schools.

Time and time and time again, teachers pair up gifted, high achieving, and advanced students with struggling students. The going philosophy is “Group work? Make the groups heterogeneous so the top kids can help the struggling learners.” If a gifted student finishes early with an assignment, what do we tell him to do? “You may help the other kids.” Excuse me, but who is the teacher in the room? Whose JOB is it to do the teaching? Is it the responsibility of a quick little eight-year-old? NO. That quick little eight-year-old’s job is to LEARN, not to teach.

About a month ago, I was at a training session where the presenter gave us an activity to do that involved each group randomly selecting a hypothetical classroom scenario from a packet of scenarios. My group (all three of us from the field of gifted education) never completed the activity because we were totally derailed by the inappropriateness of the classroom scenario we happened to select. It read, in part, “The teacher has previously grouped the students into pairs. In each case, a higher-performing student is paired with a lower-performing student. The higher-performing student reads the passage to model correct form for the lower-performing student. The lower-performing student then reads the passage.”

Which student is learning in this scenario? Which student is not learning something new, but, rather, is being used as a surrogate of the teacher?

This presenter travels all over the country training teachers for a particular program. How many thousands of teachers have been trained with that example and given the impression that it is therefore best practice? *sigh* And sadly, how many gifted students, day in and day out, find themselves used in such a manner? It frightens me to contemplate. (Anyone wanting to read the vast literature available on appropriate grouping practices with gifted children can get a great start here.)

A long time ago, I advocated for the offering of advanced or honors classes in a particular subject area in one of our schools. The response from one of the teachers was, “But if you take all of those kids out and put them together, then who’s going to be the ‘spark’ that gets the class discussions going in the remaining classes?”

(ARGH!!!!!!!!)

Um… how about the teacher?

These children have a right to learn! If we don’t stretch them, they aren’t learning anywhere near what they are capable of learning. If we rely on them for shiny, golden test scores, if we rely on them to help us teach the other kids, if we rely on them to get a class discussion going … then for whose benefit do they sit in our classrooms every day‽‽‽

Posted by Tamara Fisher at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)