What does it mean to be an AIG student? We tend to hear this being referred to only certain students. Parents and teachers have different views on what it means to be a gifted child. Also, AIG students and students who are not AIG differentiate in their opinions. Teachers sometimes find it challenging to teach AIG students and end up not teaching them anything. When we first hear the letters "AIG" or the words "gifted student", what comes to mind? To some those three letters do not mean anything. “When parents think of their children as gifted, they usually think of high IQ scores, high SATs, high ACTs, high grades, and the like”. AIG is an acronym for Academically/Intellectually Gifted. An academically gifted child will learn more quickly …show more content…
There are teachers that believe a gifted child should be able to do well, need little to no assistance, and should work with other less gifted students to assist them. Other myths about gifted students include “they are good at everything and should be reminded of that when they fail to perform at high levels and they do not need special programs as they will be able to perform at high levels regardless”. These myths come from not understanding gifted children. Teachers often want each of their students to gain knowledge in their classes, this can often be a challenge when having gifted students. Cathy Kroninger, a former educator from the Chatham County schools, stated that she believed that “gifted students usually learn less new material than any other group in an academic year” and this is often caused by the “lack of curriculum modification, a lack of exposure to higher level thinking skills, and lowered expectations”. To be able to teach a gifted child Kroninger suggests it is best to first identify them. There are students who are bright and students who are gifted. “A bright child enjoys school and understands ideas, while a gifted child enjoys learning and constructs abstractions. A bright child is a good memorizer, a gifted [one] is a good guesser. A bright child will work hard while a gifted child plays around, yet tests well… A bright child is pleased with his or her own learning, …show more content…
Most gifted “students [are] intrinsically motivated, earn high grades, and perform well at tasks. [Also, they tend to] take pleasure from the achievement, effort, and successful completion of a task”. When interviewing Ivette Martinez, an AIG student that is currently a ninth grader attending St. Stephens High School, on what she thought it meant to be an AIG student, she responded with “the first words that come to mind are above average, high recognition, determination, and hard work”. She continued on to state she “feel[s] like it is a recognition, [she] consider[s] it a good thing when [she is] being called an AIG student because [she has] worked hard to get there. [She also feels] important because it is hard to get there. It is an overall good feeling”. When asked if she had any worries or doubts when being referred to as an AIG student Ivette said, “I feel like I have to keep up with the label by not slacking off or doing anything to not be considered an AIG student… because if I did, for example stopped doing my homework or not tried my best and gave my one hundred percent in everything I do, I feel like I would be downgraded”. Also, when asked how she viewed herself when being compared to other students who were not AIG Ivette simply stated that she “would not like to be in the same core classes as them because that would make [her] feel dumb”.
New York: Cambridge University Press. Ryser, G. R., & McConnell, K. (2003). Scales for Identifying Gifted Students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Board of Education outlawed educational segregation, the Illinois School District had created a completely different gifted program for Hispanic students, separate from the White students’ gifted program. Ford found that in 2009 and 2001, the RDCI (The Relative Difference in Composition Index) researched and concluded “at least one half million African American and Hispanic students combined are not identified as gifted” (Ford 145). While African American Students are rising to be the majority race in public education, the percentage of African Americans even being recognized as gifted or academically accelerated, is not proportionally increasing (Ford). Society hold precedents with people who have superior intelligence over those who do not, but how can superiority even be concluded when all people are not given the opportunity to have an enriching education? African Americans are not able to increase their percentage of gifted students because African American students are not given the chance to be even recognized as worthy or capable of such achievements. As society advances further academically and leaves African Americans with an unquail education, the percentage of African Americans attending college and entering professional careers
Gifted and talented programs are intrinsically valuable to many children’s education as they provide a system in which all students involved are engaged, challenged, and intellectually stimulated. In "How People Learn", Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino (1999) stress the importance of each student being given reasonable and appropriate goals based on his or her level of understanding and competency (p. 20). Gifted and talented programs help institutionalize the attempt to meet all student’s needs by providing uniquely appropriate challenges which aim to keep every student engaged, thus receiving the best chance at success. Although there are many valuable and important aspects of gifted education, there are also significant issues rooted in the base of America’s gifted and talented programs, one of which I will address throughout this paper. In my opinion, the most notable problem which troubles gifted and talented programs is the system by which students are selected to join their school’s gifted and talented program.
Based from the information provided by VanTassel-Baska, et. Al. (2009), gifted and talented students face the same issues as their regular peers but they have different way of viewing these issues and it affects them differently as well. The book discussed different issues that gifted learners face and recommendations on how to address these issues were also available for teachers, administrators and other school personnel. Also, Carol Strip Whitney (2011) in her book entitle Helping Gifted Learners Soar discussed stress as a factor that can distract and overpower anyone including gifted learners and for the gifted learners, there are many reasons and causes of stress. In this reflection, I will focus on two causes of stress, which are gifted learners as social capital and issues related to race and achievement.
There is a phenomenon happening in most schools throughout the country. Asian students as young as seven years olds are labeled as gifted and enrolled in various accelerate programs to further develop their talents. Certainly, most of these students are deserving of the honorable recognition. However, many skeptics do question how many of them are viewed as exceptional students based upon the stereotype: they are genetically smarter than their non-Asian peers.
Most gifted students have a wide range of interests. Type I enrichment will expose Jaeda to new ideas and exciting topics which will help her discover new areas of interest. Type II enrichment aims to develop cognitive and affective processes. Jaeda will be able to pursue additional training in her chosen area of interest. She will be able to engage in creative thinking and problem solving which will help her to find answers to all the questions she might have about that topic. Since students are expected to work in groups in Type II enrichment, the teacher can also use this opportunity to build on Jaeda’s team work skills. Type III enrichment is only offered to students who have interest and ability for task commitment. If Jaeda is able and willing, she could take on the role of a first hand inquirer (Renzulli and Reis, 1997). She could investigate real world problems and create an authentic product or service. This will help to develop self directed learning skills which would be beneficial not only for high school but also for her life long learning. Teacher can look for opportunities in both Type II and Type III enrichment to help Jaeda develop her leadership skills, for example, Jaeda could share her original work with an audience or teach some newly acquired knowledge to her
Gardner, H. (2000). The giftedness matrix: A developmental perspective. In R. C. Friedman, & B. M. Shore (Eds.), (pp. 77-88) American Psychological Association.
Ryser, G. R., & McConnell, K. (2003). Scales for Identifying Gifted Students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
The Integrated Curriculum Model has three main dimensions advanced content, process/product, and issues/themes. The first dimension, advanced content, is content that it at a higher level. In English Language Arts the readings are usually two grade levels above. Within advanced content, diagnostic-prescriptive approaches are used to promote new learning. Teachers are to continually pre-assess students before teaching content to make sure they are teaching at the appropriate level for the gifted students. In the second facet of the model it ensures that the students are thinking and processing information at higher complex levels. The third dimension of the Integrated Curriculum Model centers gifted and talented students learning around major issues and themes. To connect the themes and issues to real world applications is creating a deeper understanding of the material.
Author unkown (2003, March 9). In gifted classrooms is diversity lacking?. Salisbury Daily Times. Retrieved March 10, 2003, from http://www.dailytimesonline.com/new/stories/20030309/localnews/1142640.html
Nine years ago, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law. One of the chief problems with NCLB is that it required all students to meet a minimum standard but nothing above it. Therefore, funding for many gifted and other high-achievement programs has been cut. More and more, all students have been funneled through the same track so that they can meet the same minimum standards. While gifted students have never been a priority when it comes to legislation, in recent years, they have become even less of one, and this has had a very real and tangible impact on our best a...
Although genius is a word that is completely different from intelligence, people often confuse genius with intelligence, because genius is a word that is related to intelligence. Genius is an “extreme degree of creative or other ability, usually demonstrated by exceptional achievements” (APA Dictionary of Psychology: Genius), therefore genius is unable to be used as a proper tool in defining intelligence. As a result of genius being a word of those who possess great intelligence and accomplish notable intellectual achievements, people often confuse the definition of genius with the definition of intelligence. Although genius is a high level of intelligence, g...
During an observation, there three types of first grade students that were observing a gifted, typical and special need. Some common characteristics of a typical first grade student they may ask many questions, very social, interest in learning, bossy with friends, enjoy doing projects and very energetic. They also understanding of their testing behavior and interested in learning, enjoy art, riddles and poems (Responsive Classroom, 2011). Some characteristics of a gifted student have strong curiosity, high level of language and verbal development, great capacity to process information and have long attention span. Gifted students also have a higher understanding of self-awareness and persistence and goal directed (Duke University, 2008). Some
Parke, B. (n.d.). Challenging gifted students in the regular classroom. Retrieved March 1, 2004, from http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/Challenging_gifted _kids.html
The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not