Sunday, July 1, 2012

Session 3 - Question 1

What were your "Aahs" during the reading of chapters 8-11? Give page numbers.

45 comments:

  1. Although I think I have already had this thought in my head, I loved the part on page 103. "...extroverts and introverts approach the world in unique ways...a layer of giftedness can complicate matters..."
    Our gifted kids don't understand the relationship between behavior and reaction.

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    1. In response to BChristopherson- agree on the extrovert and introverts approach. Behavior vs reaction- yes what a concept. It is a hard concept that needs to be addressed.

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  2. Pages 103-105 really spoke to me. I enjoyed learning about the ways extroverts and introverts deal with stress, express emotions, and decompress. I can really relate to pages 128-129 right now when dealing with my own child. Reading about communication roadblocks of children and adults helped me `see how being aware of my own emotional status and the way it might be coming across to my child can help with his emotional outbursts. The analysis of parent/child dialogue in chapter 11 has been my favorite part of this book so far. It really helps to see examples of effective and ineffective communication. Tip sheet 14 on page 143 regarding conflict resolution skills is something I have seen before, but I am always glad when I am reminded of the steps. I have found this guideline to be very effective in my classroom.

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    1. In response to Melanie Dulworth:
      Since we both picked this section, it has to be great! We know these types of kids (and adults) are out there but we must learn how to cope with ideas in and out of the classroom. I don't have children of my own yet, but I will carry on these great check lists and guidelines in my own life.

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  3. I really liked the part about facilated learning on p 129-133. Facilitation helps the child achieve an outcome without us doing it for them. it also helps kids become good decision makers, a life skill that is important for all of them to develop.This is similar to the idea of growing self determining learners. I agree with the idea that we want to teach our children how to think, not what to think. This will create our future leaders and problem solvers.

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    1. In response to Travelingbug:
      I completely agree about being the Facilitator versus the "Ultimate Decision Maker". We need to make sure our students know how to make good decisions and can figure out problems on their own.
      Travelingbug: you had a great quote -
      "This will create our future leaders and problem solvers." I love that sentence.

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    2. In response the travelingbug I agree with your thoughts on facilitation. This helps the child to become more independent and to be able to make their own decisions. So often, parents and teachers want to do the learning and decision making for the child, but letting them try things on their own and struggling and succeeding is part of everyday life. Kids need to be allowed to try and learn on their own at times.

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    3. I agree with traveling bug..We need to teach the kids how to achieve success and how to become independent thinkers. Too often i find myself just telling them what is the best way to do something in order to save time and get the curriculum covered. I need to allow them to do the work and just back away from being the "dictator" of my room..

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    4. In response to Traveling bug, July 10, I agree with the technique of facilitation. It is a great life skill that helps children become problem solvers by not teaching them what to think, but how to think. Of all the things I have read in this session, this was one of the most important pieces.

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  4. I found chapter 11 very interesting, especially the analysis of the dialogues of each conversation on pages 140, 144, 148, and 153. As teachers, we know we always need to be careful in how we say things, but it was very informative to see how the student “understands” the conversation with the approach used. I think this is a reminder of being careful with the approach used when talking with not only gifted students, but all students. They may interpret the conversation very differently based on the approach used.

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    1. I agree with KMuske's post on July 11th. Analysis of the dialogues was very interesting and the student's interpretation of what was said. Absolutely ...our method of commmunication, our correct choosing of words, our emotional attachment to what we say, our concern, our empathy, our "approach" is important for ALL students.

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    2. I agree with KMuske's July 11th post as well. I have witnessed this first hand when students repeat back what they heard and it is almost as if we were relaying two different conversations. I've found that for many of my intense students, this problem can be alleviated if I can give them some cooling off time, after which they seem to be more receptive to what I'm trying to say.

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  5. • Gifted children often associate performance with intelligence. Using the Proof strategy (pp. 108-109), students can learn to accurately analyze their beliefs about themselves and their competencies, so that they have a healthy/undistorted view of themselves.
    • Active listening (p. 127) involves not only eyes on the speaker (the child) and thinking about what the child is saying, but it also involves remaining quiet, reading the child’s nonverbal cues, communicating with an individualized emotional vocabulary, and emotionally detaching from the situation so emotions don’t override the conversation.

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    1. I'm glad that you mentioned the section which talked about active listening. Sometimes I get so busy and caught up with what I am doing that I forget how important it is to stop and truly listen to my students.

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    2. In response to FMoore's post of July 11th, active listening is another reason for lower class sizes, too. It is easier to really focus in on individual students when a class size is smaller.

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    3. In response to FMoore's comment, I also noted how the student associate performance with intelligence. the Proof strategy is an effective way to have students analyze their beliefs.

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    4. In response to FMoore on July 11. I really took the active listening on page 127 to heart. I've been practicing with family members all week and it is interesting how much more interesting they become when I actively listen to them.

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  6. P. 131 Effective coaching, and specifically facilitation, focuses on modeling and cueing the child to come to decisions on his own.
    I like this statement, because it allows the child to think through his/her own behaviors and work to figure out how things can be corrected. Yes, the teacher can come along side the child to help start the talking, and then let the child run with it and think through things. Children really are good at figuring out what they have done wrong. This also reduces the stress of the teacher.

    P. 135 What’s important to remember is to help the student without doing it for him.
    I think this is important for teachers to remember. I do want my students to explore and be able to come to conclusions on their own when working through skills. Only being a facilitator through this can sometimes be hard. The hard part is holding back and not giving the answer to the student. Even if they struggle, hopefully the child will have the persistence to trudge through it and come out feeling victorious.

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    1. In response to Amy L.'s posting on July 11th, I agree with her that a teacher's job as a facilitator can be difficult. We have to become skilled at giving hints, some modeling, and cues to students to point them in the right direction without providing them the answers. Tenaciy is a skill we want our children to have. Perseverance can be taught and children can develop this with practice.

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    2. In response to Amy L on 7/11...
      I agree whole heartedly that kids can figure things out. I also like for them too because learning to manage frustration and even failure is a life skill. It is easier to teach as it is occurring then to tell them it will happen one day.

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  7. "Aahs" during the reading of chapters 8-11 came from pages 129-135, talking about facilitation. This section reminded me of how i want to structure my lessons, I want the students to figure out answers/procedures/, etc..but yet many of my students will come to me for help/guidance and i find myself "telling" them how to get to the desired outcome. this section made me stop and think about the fact that I am not really helping them by giving them the easy way out..I really need to step back and allow them to figure out the correct/best method to solve their problem, no matter how painful it might be for them...If they do it themselves, they are likely to remember it much better..

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    1. To Helen July 11
      I know exactly what you mean. I have also been guilty of hand holding students too much at times. It is true that the experience of solving the problem is greater than the solution itself.

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    2. I agree with Helen Roberts. We want our students to succeed so sometimes we guide them too much. I don't want to be the one finishing ideas or sentences. I want the student to come to their own understanding of what is being taught. They will get so much more out of it if they learn how to solve their own problems.

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  8. On page 108 and 109 there are some questions to discuss with a child to decide if the mental messages are accurate or incorrect. Gifted students can be very hard on themselves and these questions are a good tool to use to help them understand that sometimes their perceptions of themselves are not correct. By having them "prove" through work samples that they are "bad" at something, but then they can't actually find proof of that statement, it helps them to be a bit more realistic about their self-talk.

    A notation that I made while reading is on page 115. It is talking about how sometimes the teams can disagree as to how to proceed with meeting the needs of a child and it reminds me of an administrator who, when we faced this kind of an issue in a STAT or parent meeting, would ask everyone at the table, "What is in the best interest of the child?" That would help us refocus on what it was that we were trying to accomplish.

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  9. On pages 106-107, I really liked the Notes to the Teacher section on ways to address the needs of introverted and extroverted gifted students. Taking the time to really getting to know your students is crucial in being able to figure out which students are introverted and which are extroverted. By understanding their students’ personalities, a teacher can use that knowledge and focus on flexible grouping as well as on planning a broad range of lessons.
    On page 121, there is a great checklist on the Team Approach overview of steps parents should use when working with others to help their child. This is a great tool to share with parents and helping them to know what to look for to make the education of their child a true collaborative effort.

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  10. On page 107, she talked about dually exceptional children. I never thought about how frustrating it could be for the dually exceptional child. Being a child is difficult enough, But, " Dealing with furstration can be more difficult, as the gifted child often associates performance with intelligence."

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  11. On pages 129 – 135 facilitation is discussed. Considering that we have a new program in place for this coming school year in our GT program for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, I have already decided that the use of Web 2.0 technology most definitely will facilitate independent thinking. The rotation of groups based on their skill needs, interests and abilities through various stations will enable students to work collaboratively or independently in solving the challenges given. I will remain the guide on the side while they explore various avenues to their successful achievements. Web 2.0 is the “architecture of participation.” I believe that my role as teacher is to create conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge, therefore, my students will be prosumers who use these interactive environments at stations throughout my classroom to create and consume content. In small groups, my students will be working collaboratively at various stations to demonstrate understanding of content using the limitless number of Web 2.0 tools available today and I will hold them accountable by accessing and evaluating their progress via rubrics and other methods of evaluation.

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    1. In response to T Healey's post of July 12, It sounds like the use of stations that students will rotate through will be a good way to differentiate for your gifted learners. I would love to hear more!

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  12. In Chapter 10 Page 125-127-What Makes a Good Coach? I like the way they state coaching your child is different than the typical authoritative that is usually implied. Stating that coaching gives the child the tools to independently work and figure things about opposed to telling the child what to do. This is a great tool for life time success. I like that this book/chapter points that out. I also agree that keeping the emotions cool will help the role between adult and child successful in communication skills.

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    1. In response to Stacey L on July 12th, I really enjoyed the whole chapter on "What Makes a Good Coach". The three traits of a good coach I think were well chosen. You can check out my post if you want to learn which on of the tree is my favorite.

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  13. In Chapter 10, I was most struck by the three traits of a good coach. Strong communicator, facilitator and someone who inspires. Sometimes I lose the idea of inspiring my students in the constant flow of lessons and assessments. What a lovely reminder to "believe profoundly in the ability of my [students] to overcome any difficulties set before them."

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    1. To Susan,
      And don't the students just beam about getting genuine encouragement from a coach! It's about being specific, and not just saying "good job". When you are specific, then not only are they proud of that accomplishment, but then they are motivated to try to continue on in that level of achievement or beyond!

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  14. In chapter 8 she writes that teaching gifted kids to relax is key to improve their ability to control emotional outbursts... This spoke volumes to me, because of my son. There were many time this past school year where I wanted to talk about his day and he was very short, while other times he was a chatter box. Now that I think about it, those time when he wanted to talk we were in the kitchen, I preparing dinner and he was propped up on a stool. We both had had time to relax and decompress the day. Also, she discussed how introverts and extroverts have differing learning styles. That got me thinking about the units I assign, was I giving them a one size fits all? Did I need to give those quiet kids a chance to feel success without a presentation? Now I will.

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  15. The idea of "facilitating learning" on pages 129-131 spoke to me. So often, in my large classes, I feel pressed for time and disregard external issues that some students face. This made me step back and think about how that doesn't help to facilitate learning for those emotionally intense kids-the ones who NEED to know more or seem to thrive on drama or just have a lot of very emotional days. It isn't enough to have a clean, well-lit place, if you will, to help students learn, especially our GT students. Checking in emotionally will help prep them to learn about themselves as well as the subject matter.

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  16. I found the section on introverted/extroverted gifted children to really be interesting. Of course we all know introverts and extroverts interact with their environment differently, but how that gets complicated with GT kids was really thought provoking. I can see how this could complicate things. I have a friend with 2 gifted children and the paragraph on page 219 (e reader) where it talks about gifted children seeing the world through a rigid lens rings true with them. They don't understand that it is their behavior that tends to turn peers off, not who they are.

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    1. In response to bboza,
      A student that I had this year definitely fits in with the extroverted group, but her behavior caused her a lot of friendship issues. She had such difficulty with any kind of school work after recess!! I am definitely sharing this book with her mom.

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  17. One of the things I liked was in Chapter 8, page 107 when the author stated that it may require teachers to let go a few of their beliefs about giftedness. She goes on to further state that not all gifted kids demonstrate their intellect in overt ways. I think this is an important point to remember that some children like to "ease into the learning environment" and it does not look like we often think GT looks like.

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  18. I thought the section,"Facilitation" on ebook pages 201-202, to be very interesting. I especially found the part about teaching gifted children to " do for themselves" instead of having others do the work for them very useful.The author uses the example of the student asking the teacher to find additional work for them. Instead of the teacher finding work additional work for them, the students can think about what interests them and come up with their own enrichment activites and projects.

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    1. @NDeans 7/12...
      I agree with the project part. It is a win-win when they have choice. I know they will find something way better than I would. Come to think of it, wouldn't everyone benefit from self choice?

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  19. In response to FMoore's post on July 11,I agree that many gifted students often associate performance with intelligence. I've noticed that when they struggle with a concept they seem to be embarrassed and try to hide it.

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  20. In Tip Sheet 8, (pages 86 and 87 ebook) remind us, "Remember, things often get worse before they get better. Don't expect a quick fix for your child."
    I think this is an important concept to remember in a variety of areas of life. Often, before our greatest success, we feel like throwing in the towel. Once a person becomes aware of an area that needs work, it may seem like that weakness or mistake is repeated even more frequently because of heightened awareness. It may appear to become worse - or it may actually be worse - while improvements and successes are just around the corner.

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  21. My aha was the whole idea a taking on the dual role of parent and coach and/or teacher and coach. It seems that the parent and teachers roles can be dominated by the need to be in control and protective. Adding the coaching aspect each of these roles seems to allow the parent and teacher to transfer control to the child as a means of teaching/coaching them life and learning experiences.

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  22. I agree with many of the posters above. I too, found myself re-reading multiple times the section on facilitating learning on. p. 129- 132. Fonseca looks at the effect of effective coaching/facilitation allowing the student to come to decisions on their own. It becomes easy in a high-stakes testing world to try to fit students to a certain mold, and while this section was aimed more at parents, the teacher plays a large role in this as well, allowing the student a safe place to learn a skill and allow the student to take ownership of their behavior and their learning.

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  23. pg. 107. I had not thought about having to deal with the frustration of a dually exceptional student. These students can become frustrated because if they do not grasp concepts quickly enough they don't think that they are smart, or should be labeled as gifted. This is why as a teacher I need to spend more one on one time with this student to not only improve the learning curve but also to alleviate their frustration. They need to know just because they are struggling with a subject it does not necessarily mean that they will struggle with everything. I would definitely need to spend time with them working on their self esteem.
    pg.l08 I liked how they developed a way for students to assess themselves called, "The Proof." Always remember to keep the parents involeved and also the entire IEP team.

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  24. p. 135 "Facilitation is really about teaching children how to think."
    I think this is so critical because this separates out the G/T from the above average children. Helping children learn to think is more challenging in that it is not rote material. The process can be more exciting.
    My nephew who is gt and in college still depends on his mother for guidance b/c he has not learned the process.

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