Douglas Parker's Blog

Posted by Douglas Parker

Future Studies, or Futurology is a study that attempts to hypothesize what will be taking place in the future by studying current and past trends in what has been taking place in the world. Gifted students are particularly good at thinking about the future and are motivated to help things go the right way.

Framing Future Studies for Gifted Students

Begin a classroom literary discussion using any apocalyptic story the students know about and enjoy. There have been any number of movies recently about asteroids blasting into the planet, and books about nasty viruses that enslave humankind. Even if the title is less than scholarly, it helps set the table for the next focusing discussion.

Next, ask the gifted students to think about the long-term consequences of the disaster, even if people were to survive the threat. What would the world’s drinking water supply be like? What would have happened to the animals, and more importantly, what happened to the animals that people eat to survive?

And, what would have happened to the crops?

Real Futurology Comes Alive

Explain to the students that people tend to think about systems as whole entities, so if everyone survives the fictional big tsunami from the underwater volcano, all will be well. In complex, interdependent systems, however, that is not always the case. So, if some disaster came along that threatened humankind, and we all somehow dodge the big bullet, the smallest of details like dead crops could spell disaster down the road.

Would the students agree that somebody should have thought about that ahead of time and done something about it? Fortunately, somebody did. Futurologists in Norway built a frozen vault to safeguard millions of seeds from disasters and wars.

That should kick start a healthy discussion.

Posted by Douglas Parker

I have written some articles on Future Studies and Futurism for Suite101 under the premise that this kind of emotional and intellectual stimulating can be extremely beneficial for gifted students. While I touched on the topic briefly, the other side of the coin is just as important in my mind.

What Happens in the Future?

The leadership of today can really become myopic in dealing with current issues, much less addressing those of the future. When it comes to gifted education, providing the resources and protection to nurture the country’s greatest intellectual ‘gifts,’ practically everything is left to the states and localities. In doing this, one of the victims of budgets that have been realigned down to zero dollars this year is gifted education and the thousands of boys and girls who have the potential within them to get our world back on track.

How is this possible? In a world that values instant success and achievement, it seems that our leaders are impatient with waiting for children to develop and are seeking all the answers now with the adults we already have. What other possible explanation could there be for a society that pays such little time and attention to the development of its young. Think back to the excitement of the early 1960s when there was such a fervent push for more math and science teachers when national resources were being poured liberally into education.

I have said repeatedly that gifted students are our greatest natural resource, and as such, what group is better prepared to think about the future and make plans that will benefit all humankind?

Posted by Douglas Parker

For many years before television became the staple of family entertainment, the radio played a pivotal role as the source for news and amusement. There is a big difference between television and radio, however. On television and in many cases in theatre and even in illustrated books the author’s ideas and interpretations about a character or a situation are depicted visually and the reader or viewer simply has to accept that visual image as the ‘correct’ likeness. However, in storytelling the listener needs a lot of imagination to be able to create the images of the people and the events in his or her mind. This takes a little more work, but if the story is told well the listener can have an extremely vivid experience.

Theater of the Mind

In radio, the expression was ‘theater of the mind,’ meaning that each listener was free to build the stage and actors any way imaginable as they listened to the words and sound effects coming from the big wooden box using only one sense - hearing. There were also numerous radio programs that told continuing stories much the same way that a television series would today.

As a focusing exercise, teachers should tell their gifted students about an evening in 1939 when CBS radio played an adaptation of H.G. Well’s science fiction classic The War of the Worlds. Instead of telling a traditional story, the director and narrator Orson Welles decided to present the tale by using news flashes that sounded real. So real, in fact that many, many people were fooled by the story and panicked because they were terrified!

The power of the spoken word is real, and stories are a great way to both entertain and to make a point for gifted students.

Posted by Douglas Parker

On Dec. 4, 1970 a new kind of politics was born in Washington, D.C. when William Ruckelshaus became the first Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, setting the stage for what has been come to be known as the Green Movement. While none of the gifted children in schools today were alive when that happened (and I suspect that neither were many of their teachers) the significance of the event can be brought to life through storytelling.

While this particular assignment helps form students who respect our environment and take positive steps to care for our planet, any good cause can be explored through storytelling as a vivid method for not only having the students use their advanced language arts skills, but also employing their creative intelligences to develop awareness about important issues in the world today.

Green Storytelling!

The objectives for this lesson are to have students explore the Green movement (a topic that will appeal to gifted students on several levels of interest) and to write a story that will introduce a character who has encountered an environmental issue and has used his or her abilities or earth-friendly resources to correct the situation.

There is no end to the possible list of environmental issues today. For example, students could choose to explore how building Green works to reduce or eliminate the negative influence of construction on the ecosystem and human health. For research on this topic, students can visit the U.S. Green Building Council as it strives to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation.

Posted by Douglas Parker

In storytelling the listener needs a lot of imagination to be able to create the images of the people and the events in his or her mind. This takes a little more work, but if the story is told well the listener can have an extremely vivid experience. For the gifted storyteller, it takes even more effort to find the words and sounds, the tone and articulation of voice, and sometimes the expressions and body language necessary to create the images in the listeners’ minds.

The Multiple Intelligences Used in Storytelling

The Multiple Intelligence Theory indicates that children can be intelligent in ways other than what can be measured on IQ tests, and several kinds of multiple intelligences are used when telling a story. The most common intelligence used would be Linguistic Intelligence, where written or spoken words are this child’s strength. These children like to read, talk, and write stories, and like to learn by verbal memory, hearing and reading, all of which would be a good fit with storytelling.

Another likely intelligence would be Interpersonal Intelligence, since storytelling is an interactive activity unlike acting. Working and socializing with other people and supporting the work of groups in accomplishing tasks, and communicating with others typifies this kind of intelligence in students.

While a case could be made for almost all of the multiple intelligences, children displaying Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence who enjoy sports and dancing and acting could stand out during storytelling enhanced with action, and students who learn through Spatial Intelligence by thinking things through, visual memory, engineering and wondering can create some imaginative tales for the class!

Posted by Douglas Parker

Allowing gifted students to study and work together, even if they are clustered together or spend only a few periods per week in a pullout class, can make a positive difference in their academic and social development. The two most common grouping methods involve using cluster groups in regular education classrooms, and performance and ability grouping pullout classes.

Despite the advantages, the question that almost always asked with grouping is if it is a form of tracking. It is not. Tracking refers to a process whereby all of the children are pigeonholed into the various skill and ability levels, or ‘tracks,’ for most or all of the subjects, and it becomes very difficult to move within those rank levels. Clustering or pullout classes involve only the gifted students, and only where and when the teacher deems it appropriate.

In many cases then, the real answer always comes back to the teacher trained in educating gifted children knowing what is best for an individual student, and maybe having some form of an IEP might help the cause. In public schools, individualized education refers to a student being assigned an IEP, or an Individualized Education Program or Plan. What some schools that value gifted education mean by Personalized Instruction, however, is that each student has a special relationship with an adult, either as an advisor or homeroom teacher that will work with him or her, his or her parents, and the school in making the best possible academic and social decisions about the learning environment. I have seen what kind of difference these dedicated teachers can make, and they would most likely agree that the best environment would include performance and ability grouping programs for their gifted students. It’s about doing the right thing.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Submitted for your consideration, imagine a place where rules don’t always apply. Portrait of a school, in any given town just down the street from any given town hall. A boy of no more than ten is taking a standardized test that when added with his classmates' work, will determine if his school receives the much-needed funding it desires to be able to pay its teachers. The boy also knows that if he does not perform well on the test, that he himself can be sent into a different dimension of pens and rulers for his schooling next year.

The hands on the clock seem to freeze into the beige background that was once a pristine, freshly painted white wall. But, that was years ago, and the money hasn’t been there to touch-up the dingy walls. The boy squirms in his seat as the numbers on the paper seem to be running together, and nothing is making sense in his young mind, until he suddenly has a moment of clarity and begins to smile.

The good teacher sat at the front of the class keeping a boldly optimistic smile on her face to encourage her students as they bravely push through their examinations. Her nightmare had begun years earlier when her progressive lesson plans for teaching young boys and girls how to decipher the mysteries of math had been shelved in favor of new texts that had been published by friends of the local politicians that pushed test-taking skills more than math manipulations. Math teachers are a special group of people - they have grown up loving and respecting the purity of thought and reason that math concepts embrace, but now…

Posted by Douglas Parker

Note: This is the second blog in a series of three critiquing the No Child Left Behind Act.

… math teachers had slipped into a new dimension of paper and scan sheets where instead of leading the boys and girls to the heights of their potential, they were struggling mightily to survive.

She had done the best she could with what little money they had, but her school existed in a state that held high standards for its students, and even though the children were on a par with those in states around hers, they simply couldn’t keep up with the yearly progress levels they were expected to make. And as a result, their funding had suffered.

Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but the teacher reminisced about when she was a little girl and her teachers had taken her by the hand to safely navigate the perils of long division and quadratic equations. Maybe some educational leader would come along and once again take her by the hand and guide her to the place where learning and reasoning were still valued.

But instead of a leader, it was the young boy who had put down his pencil and ventured forward to meet his teacher. She could tell that the boy had been upset by his reddened eyes, but then he presented as calm and assured.

“What is it, son,” the teacher asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the other students. “You know that the rules state that you cannot leave your seat during the test.”

“The answer does not exist here,” the boy answered. “You need a sense of belonging some place away from this school.”

“But, what must we do?” she asked a quivering voice.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Note: This is the third blog in a series of three critiquing the No Child Left Behind Act.

The teacher’s heart was suddenly filled with a sense of helpless dread, as she knew the young boy was correct.

“We must cross the threshold of statehood,” he replied, and by merely touching her hand, the class was suddenly transported to a neighboring state where the academic standards and expectations were far lower.

“I can finish my test now,” the boy said in an assured voice.

As the boy took his seat, the teacher’s mind was racing for a logical explanation for what had just happened; but there was none to be found.

The children all finished their tests at exactly the same instant, and as if by some powerful subterfuge, their exams were all scored as they sat silently and watched their teacher with appreciative eyes. She raced down the aisles grabbing the papers and staring at the grades.

While some might have received poor scores in her previous state, now their grades were just dandy, and she was a good teacher again, and the children had all learned their lessons and were making Adequate Yearly Progress.

Joy had returned!

The Big Conclusion

We hope that you all have enjoyed today’s scholastic allegory for the peculiar federal system that punishes states with higher academic expectations and standards. While we would love to tell you that this tale is entirely imaginary, in the new dimension of the No Child Left Behind Act, the argument is that states should set their own educational standards rather than having a national curriculum because they pay for a lot of their students’ education.

Not even Rod Serling in his heyday could paint a tableau this macabre.

Posted by Douglas Parker

In the best of worlds, students would be able to go to school each day and never have to face any of life’s grim realities. Unfortunately, that is not the way the world operates. People die, accidents happen, students and parents fall gravely ill, and unspeakable events take place in the world. Recognizing that crisis situations can and do occur at schools, preparing to handle the situation can make a huge difference in how the students deal with the issues in both the short and long term.

Here is a short list of the internal processes that should be ready to take effect the moment a crisis is announced:

Someone should activate an internal and external phone tree, and an email list, contacting all personnel internally, and contacting a designated parent to start external phone and email tree.

The phone email message should be brief and state only three things: that an event has happened to a student (or parent, teacher, etc.), the status of after-school sports and activities, and that a letter will be sent home ASAP with plans for dealing with the children.

The letter that is sent home should be prepared ahead of time and modified to fit the needs of the current crisis situation. The letter should not go into any detail beyond what the affected family requests. The letter should include names and resources of community helpers, an attached article on helping with grieving if appropriate, tips on how to focus on the child, assurances that help will be available for students who need grief counseling, and any other topics germane to the situation.

And, only one person should be designated to speak with the media.

Posted by Douglas Parker

When things begin to settle down after a crisis event, the students will invariably begin asking questions about what happened. Because middle schoolers are changing in so many different psychological and physiological ways, their curiosities can get the best of them. Further, their egocentrism can lead them to believe that they are in danger as well. Middle school teachers will need to reassure them that just because something bad happened to someone else, it does not mean that it will happen to them

To help the middle schoolers deal with a crisis, this is a list of suggestions for teachers:

-If a student needs help, don’t hesitate to send him or her to the counselor.

-Tell the students that they are safe in displaying how they feel. Have a lot of tissues available.

-Do some fun things. Play. Sing. Draw.

-Address rumors immediately. In many cases, they can be used to initiate a discussion.

-Be honest, but not to the point of telling the students too much.

-The standardized tests and unit exams can wait – cut them some time to deal with the crisis.

-Conduct large and small group discussions about dealing with stress.

-Supply as much as possible correct information to the students.

-If the crisis event was a suicide, a special protocol needs to be established. Get help!

And, always remember that the distressing pain the students feel takes a long while to heal, and that like an emotional time-bomb sometimes some students might not display a distressed reaction until much later and in a situation that is completely unrelated to the current crisis. As teachers and parents, be ready!

Posted by Douglas Parker

When schools are forced to focus on minimum standards, teachers simply don’t have the time or resources to be able to adequately educate the boys and girls that have been identified as gifted or talented.

In its Case for Developing America’s Talent report issued in 1993, the U.S. Department of Education - Office of Educational Research and Improvement estimated that many, if not most of America’s gifted children are failing to reach their full potential. While there are numerous causes for this concern, given that schools customarily place children identified as gifted in regular education classes, the focus then shifts to the teacher’s ability to monitor and adjust instruction to meet the gifted child’s needs.

Given that, schools need to assist our teachers by providing them with the right tools and resources (especially time), or as is seen in many cases today, our gifted students are simply not being challenged enough to motivate them to excel.

Studies show that high-performing students can earn straight ‘As’ by studying as little as one hour a night, and that they have learned up to half of the curriculum before they even walk in the classroom on the first day by reading ahead.

So, what can be done?

A large part of that answer can be found in the curriculum itself. By providing gifted students a more exigent curriculum and allowing for creative and expressive assessments beyond scanned pencil and paper quizzes would be a good start. Any reform along these lines also means that teachers receive the proper training necessary to help them address the needs of gifted and talented students. Then, these teachers need to be given some discretion in their lesson plans to be able to carve out some time to work with their advanced students.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Much of the modern reforms to education are borne from the 1983 report, “A Nation at Risk,” in which the education commission concluded that the educational performance of American schools was abysmal, and that America had to do a better job in educating its children. Since that time, numerous educational reforms have come into favor and then disappear from sight in an attempt to provide quality educational opportunities for all children and to boost the high school graduation rates. Having each boy and girl achieve at his or her potential is a worthy goal; however, is the No Child Left Behind Act the best way to achieve this result?

The answer to that question may exist on the level of standards. As educators know, along with local school district or county academic standards, there exist numerous national, international, and collegiate standards that have been created after long periods of examination and discussions for each field of study. Many independent schools and magnet schools across the world have examined these standards and have chosen the best set of standards and benchmarks to meet the needs of their students. For example, if a school focuses on math and science, there are curricula available that best meets their needs.

The government needs to take a leadership role in establishing a set of well-established, uniform standards for all disciplines, including math and reading, and help the states by appropriately funding and supporting each state’s efforts to raise students’ levels of achievement. Tests need to be used to adjust a school’s curriculum and to help develop a learning plan for boys and girls, and not to just hold them back.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Once families have identified the fact that they have a gifted child, not only can important academic decisions be made, but also vacation time can take on a new focus. It is important tot take that first step of identification, however. On the whole, the one major reason a family would have a child tested for giftedness is to provide him or her with a different kind of educational program that would best meet his or her needs.

Space Camp Rocks!

Once the identification has been made and the school issues are resolved, it’s time to think about some enriching playtime. As a teacher and as a principal, I have taken thousands of students on fieldtrips over the years, and I have seen some very good enrichment programs and some really bad ones. Of all the places I have taken kids over the years, Space Camp will always stand out for me as the best destination yet.

According to their information, “Space Camp uses space to excite and educate children ages 9-11 in the fields of math, science and technology. Teamwork, self-confidence and communication will be achieved through state-of-the-art simulations, missions, rocket building and robotics.”

I simply cannot imagine a more stimulating and exciting opportunity for gifted middle school boys and girls than attending Space Camp. Campers learn all about astronaut training as they prepare for a final blastoff mission. As one of the adults for these trips, I can’t recommend a better experience for the chaperones as well, as the big people get to experience the program right along with the students. I mean, how often do adults get to spin around on a Multi-Axis trainer?

It is worth your time to investigate.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Students in middle grades and high school should be asked several times during the year to work with classmates in reviewing and commenting on each other’s work. Here is a procedure for making that happen. First, separate the students into groups of four or five. If possible, try to include a student from a GATE program in each cooperative group. After students have prepared their rough drafts in whatever class you are teaching, have them take a full sheet of paper and divide it with horizontal lines into four equal sections. On the top section put the student's name, the work and author, and briefly state the thesis. For sections two, three and four, write at the top of the section:

Reader # ____’s Comments. Reviewed By ____________________.

Instruct the students: Paper clip this work sheet on top of the rough draft. Remember to number and date each draft. Keep all of your drafts together and attach them to your final graded paper.

Next, say this to the students: Feel free to offer whatever insights you feel may help the writer reach a best piece. You may want to consider major issues such as: logical organization, focus of the thesis, meaning of the paper, supporting materials via cuttings from the piece, appropriate research, and voice and tone. You may also want to narrow your vision) and zero-in on grammar, diction and use of English, spelling, paragraph construction. Peer review comments must be recorded on the review. Please do not write on the original draft!

Take at least one class period to conduct peer editing sessions for each major paper that is assigned. As students work with each other, call each student to your desk to discuss the paper to keep you in the loop.

Posted by Douglas Parker

In public schools, individualized education refers to a student being assigned an IEP, or an Individualized Education Program. According to today's research, what some schools that value gifted education mean by Personalized Instruction is that each student has a special relationship with an adult, either as an advisor or homeroom teacher, that will work with him or her, his or her parents, and the school in making the best possible academic and social decisions.

What does this kind of school culture look like, and what does it mean? Personalized Instruction means being there for the students with special needs – making the instruction appropriate and meaningful for the learners, communicating with parents, tutoring, providing extra help, having teachers being trained to address the learning styles that gifted children employ, knowing about ADD and 2e learning disabilities and the individual learning needs of all children. For example, a school that focuses on personalized instruction offers individualized plans, helps with homework, reading and math diagnostics, and all aspects of supplemental education in a safe, nurturing environment. The school understands when a student has a time conflict due to pullouts and makes individual arrangements with the families. The school uses Computer Assisted Instruction to help with individually monitored and designed independent practice of the teachers' curriculum, a 24x7 interactive computer network server for communications between students and their teachers, and improved physical and technological infrastructures through the syllabus.

And like most important changes in a school, it all begins with the curriculum.

Posted by Douglas Parker

More so than others, gifted students need to have a strong, positive relationship with a caring adult that will work with him or her in making the best possible academic and social decisions as a function of personalized instruction. In this regard, many schools have advisors or coaches for students. Rather than making this report an expository declaration, I decided instead just to list off some of the behaviors of being a good advisor that I have observed over the years.

Some of the qualities of good advising include:

-Being the adult connection with the student.

-Helping the student want to stay in school.

-Communicating often with the parents. Will call well ahead of end of marking period if the student is in any danger of failing or dropping a significant amount.

-Having the “big picture” about a student.

-Helps with college counseling.

-Provides a safe place for students to vent their concerns.

-Helps break down cliques.

-Has an easy sense of humor.

-Is not critical, yet gives honest feedback.

-Provides a place for a student to belong.

-Advocates for the student.

-Works with the assistant principal on any and all discipline issues.

-Will initiate peer-mediation when conflicts arise.

-Reads research on gifted education, and understands the special needs.

-Is aware of local and national gifted issues.

-Always is on the lookout for chances for differentiated instruction.

-Tries to enrich every teaching assignment.

-Provides academic and personal advisement.

-Coordinates and records all grades, special projects, accomplishments, etc.

Posted by Douglas Parker

For over a year now, national organizations that support gifted children, including the umbrella organization of almost all other programs, the National Association of Gifted Children, or NAGC, have been warning everyone about the U.S. Department of Education’s plans to emasculate the only federal program that supports gifted students.

The fact of the matter is that the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1994 was written and designed to support children who have been identified as gifted and talented. While some of the principals of gifted education can help some other students in the classroom, the spirit behind the Act has been to support gifted children.

It Does Not Stop There...

Further, the president has once again proposed cutting the Javits Act altogether in the 2009 budget, claiming that the work is already being done by the states. This seems like an expos facto argument, however. If the federal government were doing anything to support our greatest national resource, gifted and talented children, the states wouldn’t have to shoulder the entire burden in the first place.

I have said this before - if you have a gifted child or teach a gifted child, don’t rely on big government to help you out. You have a very special and valuable ‘gift’ in your home or classroom, and your good efforts will help. Get as much support as you can from the advocacy groups, stay strong and stay your course!

Posted by Douglas Parker

In 1929, the Yankees became the first baseball team to use player numbers on the uniforms so the fans that were sitting high up in the stands could tell who was making a play or who was at bat. “You can't tell the players without a program,” the concession owners would bark out since then fans would want to have a list of player numbers to keep things straight.

For parents trying to navigate education issues in general, and gifted education topics in specific, sometimes they must feel like the fans up in the balcony before Babe Ruth wore number 3. To help mitigate this concern, understanding some of the more common terms and abbreviations used in gifted education is important.

Parents need to be able to understand what their teachers and administrators are talking about when entering a discussion about gifted education. Parents and teachers who have worked with gifted children know that in many cases, raising and teaching a gifted child is not an easy task, so the sooner the identification can be made, the sooner the parents and the school can get to work. It is especially important to focus on gifted children in their early years as this is when a great deal of the cognitive growth occurs.

Perhaps even more importantly, this is the age when children are forming their self-images about themselves. It is during this period when children decide if being gifted is okay for them, if it’s really bad, or somewhere in between. It might be that once identified, keeping the gifted stdeuent in the regular education class is the best option; however, without having the discussion the parents will not even know their options.

Posted by Douglas Parker

When GATE teachers attempt to integrate core content into their programs, the question arises as to how to assess those curricular strands. Is the standard evaluated in the regular classroom, or in the GATE class? If a history lesson is acted out in the GATE class to support that section being taught in social studies, where does the assessment (and grade) come from? Since these standards need to be observable and measurable, teachers need to take special care when constructing the scope and sequencing of the programs. This is the phase where several districts around the country might have some questions. Exit outcomes for all courses, and especially gifted programs need to be defined in curricular terms and not as goals in and of themselves. As they are developed, the curricular content standards can be cross-referenced to the District's exit-level standards assuring a level articulation between program designs and exit outcomes.

The first step in this process is moving the emphasis away from developing curriculum standards and more towards content standards. In this respect, through the use of rubrics, we can authentically assess if the student can do the things he or she should be able to do by their displaying an understanding of a piece of the content standard.

Specifically, by asking the student to demonstrate a skill, we can observe, record, and assess the content piece. The students can also be asked to display small subsections of the content standard in benchmarks. For example, a gifted student may be asked to display three out of five benchmarks under a certain content standard as an exemplar to be assessed as understanding the standard on a quality, or mastery, level – which is then recorded and reported as the assessment.

Posted by Douglas Parker

When asking a gifted student to demonstrate a skill, we can observe, record, and assess the content piece. The teacher will then place the materials demonstrating the students' mastery of the individual benchmarks in that student's portfolio for further assessment. Once again, the use of rubrics for evaluating and reporting on performance assessment devices is pivotal to the success of the program. This is another issue altogether - that rubrics and benchmarks can be used effectively on report cards that reflect if the students are obtaining the standards.

It is at the benchmark level where schools can make connections with nationally established standards, such as the learning goals that are found in Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy. By following this approach schools can assure each gifted student's progress towards exit-level standards by providing observable and measurable outcomes that fit within the curriculum and are substantiated by national standards! Any number of assessment devices can be used to substantiate a student's progress towards exit-level standards including the use of portfolios, rubrics, self-evaluations, traditional testing materials, teacher/student conferences, computer technologies, running records, literature logs, peer conferences, journals, logs, and a number of other similar tools.

Because each student needs to move towards these standards, individualized performance standards and performance targets can be established by GATE and regular classroom teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators for each student according to his or her developmental level by using a different combination of benchmarks as exemplars. When the school has done a quality job of producing assessment and content standards that are valid, reliable, measurable, and observable; and when these standards have been explained well enough to all staff members, all of the community members will have a responsibility to assess the gifted students against the standard of "personal best."

Posted by Douglas Parker

This is a reproducible lesson plan that GATE teachers, and teachers with students prepared for the challenges of public speaking can use as an introduction to learning how to evaluate their speech.

Once you have your five or so "hoops," or criteria, through which the speech must jump, you can then build an assessment rubric, or graphic chart, to help your classmates' evaluate your speeches. To construct your grid, you should draw a rectangle with six columns and seven rows.

Across the top row, write the following from left to right into the six squares:

1 2 3 4 5 6

Below each number in the same boxes from left to right, add the terms:

Rating:, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Basic, Score:

Below Excellent, write: 4 Points

Below Very Good, write: 3 points

Below Good, write: 2 Points

Below Basic, write: 1 Point

(4 points is the highest rating for each criterion and 1 point is the lowest)

Down the left side, write the five criteria starting in row two, square one:

#1 The Speech will Demonstrate __________

#2 The Speech will Demonstrate __________

#3 The Speech will Demonstrate __________

#4 The Speech will Demonstrate __________

#5 The Speech will Demonstrate __________

In the box at row seven, column five write: “Total Score =”

In each of the boxes under the ratings, you should write in the descriptions and observable traits of each criterion at each point level, so that your classmates can use this tool to rate how each criterion is progressing. The students can then assign the point value in the “Score” column that best assesses the progress for each. By adding the scores together and dividing by five, you have an overall numerical performance assessment for seeing how well your speech went, and what needs to improve.

Posted by Douglas Parker

Role-playing is a way of telling a story in which students play a central character. The story has a basic skeletal outline at the beginning, but it is up to students and their peers to decide where the story's plot line goes from there. Students can develop a story where each person portrays a character in a plot that is unfolding in front of them. In role-playing, they adopt a person's individuality other than their own, which means that they are free to be as expressive as they wish without revealing any of their own personal feelings.

Along with improvisation, role-playing has become extremely popular in the past few years in GATE classes. Role-playing is regarded as a critical developmental activity in formal training programs for almost every professional occupation. Students can play out various scenarios that could occur in "the real world," and then step back and analyze what worked and what did not work in the safety of their own learning environment. Role-playing has also become enormously popular in computer and Internet games as many people enjoy acting out ideas without actually putting themselves in harm's way. This is an important skill for gifted students to develop as they progress as a public speaker since many of the speeches they will encounter in this text and in real-life involve role-playing in one form or another.

Not surprisingly, most people prefer role-playing games that involve a narrative that has some kind of danger attached to it. Role-playing an action-packed trip to the grocery store in the family minivan just doesn't compare to trading bullets with a desperate villain deep in the mysterious tropical forest.

Resource:

Parker, Douglas A. Basic Public Speaking, 2nd Edition - The Roadmap to Confident Communications! (ISBN: 0-7388-5619-3). 2001. Xlibris, Random House Ventures.

Posted by Douglas Parker

After 'surviving' the plane crash role-play, students will need to defend their positions using problem-solving techniques such as these:

1) State the issues that are involved and why it is important that everyone listens to your speech. What are the variables that you can control? What are the variables that you cannot control?

2) State what differentiates your position or solution from anyone else's position. Why is your stance unique? In this scenario, what can you do better than anyone else can, or what can you offer that is superior?

3) List ahead of time your perceptions of your strengths and your weaknesses. Accentuate your strengths and downplay your weaknesses. In this scenario, even if you are a young child you could think of something of value to offer the group.

4) Examine your audience. What do they need and what can you provide to make sure that you are part of a "win-win" outcome?

5) Choose your words carefully. Use language that befits the situation. For example in this scenario, having your character threaten passengers with subsequent retaliation would be pointless if you were not among the survivors. So, after hearing bullying words why would anyone vote for your character?

Posted by Douglas Parker

For generations, it has seemed as if there have always been numerous agencies and organizations that supported children with learning disabilities. In 1975, the Federal Government enacted Public Law 94-142, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, which instructed each of the states to develop programs to meet the needs of all students with disabilities or face loss of funding. This was a major movement in developing the compensatory programs that all schools use to this day. The Law, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, informs the states about their roles in educating children with disabilities of all kinds. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million.”

While students with disabilities are protected under this Federal mandate, the same cannot be said for the gifted component of twice-exceptional children as there are no federal statutes that safeguard the civil rights of gifted children. Further, aside from some competitive grant money available through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1994, the federal government does not fund gifted education. The most reliable academic resources for parents and teachers who are concerned about gifted education are their state and national gifted advocacy groups. On the national level, the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is the umbrella organization for all of the groups. The NAGC’s basic mission is to, “support and develop policies and practices that encourage and respond to the diverse expressions of gifts and talents in children and youth from all cultures, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups.”

Posted by Douglas Parker

Since differentiating, or modifying instruction can be one of the most difficult components of any instant classroom assessment of gifted children, keeping track of each child’s progress along a set of competencies and remembering individual student’s learning styles becomes extremely important. Even harder than that is knowing when they have mastered one skill set and are ready to develop another. A tool that can be used to help with this as well as serve many other assessment purposes is a Key Ring Card File. This was developed because as teachers we were finding it very hard to remember what tools the students were using to help themselves learn, and what parts of learning were giving them trouble. We needed to find a way to make note of all the changes that were going on for each individual student that was both easy do and readily available at all times. Many of us used our grade books, but they could become clumsy at times. The recording tool needed to be portable and simple, and the Key Ring Card File fit the bill. I personally used it and it made my job that much easier and it made me a more effective teacher.

What is a Key Ring Card File? Basically it is a 1 or 2 inch circular key ring that has index cards with holes punched in them attached to it. Use the sticky round support circles tabs to make the holes stronger. Each card has a student’s name on it and comments about him or her. As more comments are recorded more cards can be added. The Key Ring Card File is small enough to be carried around while you observe the students working and when you are conferencing with the student to use more effective learning techniques.

Posted by Douglas Parker

One very observant reader sent me a link to a new article right before the holidays, and it turned out to be a terrific present. Barbara noticed an article in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware having to do with gifted education and the effect the No Child Left Behind legislation has had on state’s efforts to provide for their gifted children.

The thesis of the article was that gifted children are so bored out of their minds in the younger grades that they do not develop the skills they need to handle more rigorous classes when they reach middle and high school. And why are gifted children bored in the younger grades? Because they are unchallenged, and have been for so long by the time they encounter a class that requires some extra effort, they have not developed the habits of mind to be successful. Consider that twenty percent of students who dropout of school are gifted children.

The stark reality and bitter irony of No Child Left Behind is that while it is achieving some success for underperforming children, there are clearly children being left behind – way behind. The academic bar is often set so low that there is no academic service for gifted children. The law forces school districts to pull most of their precious resources to fulfil the mandates of the NCLB, while average and gifted students receive little if any support.

Many states and local districts are doing the best they can; however, without federal mandate and support it is a tough road. The NCLB is being reevaluated in the near future – it is worth your time to find out more about its effects on your students and children, and let your legislators know how you feel.