Monday, July 9, 2012

Session 4 - Question 3

Would you recommend this book to your colleagues? Why or Why not?

42 comments:

  1. I would defiantly would recommend this book to my colleagues. This book was broken down very thoroughly and really had great examples. The tip sheets, student examples, parent examples and teacher dialogue we all good. I think this book is a good resources for staff and parents. I am glad I took the course.

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    1. In response to StaceyL's post of July 13, I agree that the tip sheets, student and parent examples and teacher dialogue were informative and helpful.

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    2. @ StaceyL, I would like for administrators to embrace this and create a common language that staff would use with GT students. Some staff deal well with GT students by naturally embracing many of these ideas. But not all know how, so a staff meeting would be an excellent tool for helping this population.

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    3. skippyjohn jones, that is a great idea--counselors as well! I think so often colleagues who don't actually teach these students think they are all high-achieving students who can just coast along and do well--this would be a good eye-opener!

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    4. In response to StaceyL:
      I completely agree. I even think these checklists and tip sheets would work for kids that are not in GT. Some of the stories sound like they could work with kids from all backgrounds.

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  2. I would highly recommend this book to my colleagues.
    • It would be a valuable resource for teachers, librarians, counselors, and administrators. For campuses using “Love and Logic,” this material segues right into the concept of guiding/coaching students to own and solve their own problems.
    • Many of the strategies for helping teachers/parents identify and cope with explosive behaviors and for assisting gifted students in managing their emotional intensities can be applied to *all* students.
    • It’s a great resource for understanding the home environment of gifted students and how some parents of gifted students need help understanding and advocating for their student.
    • Teachers who might discount recommending a student for GT testing, because of a behavioral/learning differences/emotional issue, might see beyond those barriers with more education about how these can go hand in hand with giftedness.
    • This book study should be another strand to the 6 initial. :-)

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    1. I agree with FMoore's post of July 13. One of my biggest pet peeves has always been teachers who misunderstand bad behavior, emotional outbursts, and disruptive, perhaps loud behavior as just plain bad behavior. Do not focus on the bad behavior and discount the reasons for it like ...hey, are these the intensities of a gifted child? So how do I deal with it? The verbally gifted often exhibit tremendous "enthusiasm" - be a good coach and help to guide the "enthusiasm." Read this book.

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    2. I agree with FMoore's post of July 13. Specifically, the part about the strategies for helping teachers and parents cope and deal with explosive behaviors. You are correct in saying that these strategies can be used even with non-gifted students. All children, regardless of academic ability, can certainly benefit from adults around them who understand them and their emotional intensities.

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    3. In response to FMoore's post on July 13-
      I agree that this book would be helpful as far as the initial 6 GT hours. I found this book helpful and I wish I had this information earlier.

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  3. I recommend this book to teachers as well as parents. It does an excellent job of mixing theory with practical strategies to use with kids. The tip sheets are easy to understand and implement in a heterogeneous classroom. It helps explain an aspect of gifted children that many of us may not have understood. By shedding light about the intense emotions these children often have, the writer provides insight about how to support this group. I plan on keeping this book nearby in my classroom and believe it will be a valuable resource. The tip sheets are written in user/kid friendly language. I plan on using a number of them with my class, starting with the relaxation techniques. I believe that both new and experienced teachers would greatly benefit from reading and discussing Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students.

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  4. Fonseca has offered an excellent resource for understanding and dealing with the emotional intensities of the gifted child. I found it to be a helpful resource for students, parents, and the “coach.” The “keep it simple” approach with the tip sheets makes it easy to follow and put into practice. I plan on implementing Fonseca’s tips. Good book. I enjoyed it and would recommend this for parents and colleagues.

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    1. In response to T Healey I agree that Fonseca has presented us with an excellent resource. The tip sheets are easy to follow and just enough information so that it does not become overwhelming. The tips sheets are also quick to reference when needing them for specific purposes.

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    2. In response to THealey:
      I am all about keeping it simple. A few bullet points on a list can be the best thing for a classroom.
      I also loved the part about being a "coach".

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  5. I would definitely recommend this book. I was amazed how easily it was to get through and how much I learned. I also liked how it broke down how and how not to talk to students. The way they broke down a complete conversation and redid it in a way that would get the results desired was a great ah,ha. Also I got to see how being a parent to a G.T. student can offer challenges. This book gave me insight so that I could understand what parents have to deal with at home.

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    1. In response to Laura Boyd's post of July 16, I also thought about how challenging it must be to be the parent of a gifted child with explosive feelings. It can even be downright exhausting in some cases. I can certainly be more understanding towards my gifted kids who are intense, and this book has given us strategies to help us help our students.

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    2. In response to Laura Boyd's post,
      You are so right! One of the best aspects of the book is how many solid ideas Fonseca is able to share in very few pages. I think it is her use of the checklist and tip sheets that make it so readable.

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    3. Laura Boyd's post made me realize how I would love to have this book as a resource to give some of the parents who I work with over the year. I think it would help them, as it focused so much more on parenting than teaching.

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  6. Yes, I would recommend this book to my colleagues and parents I deal with. I wish that all teachers who work with gifted kids would have this book available to them to really understand why some students have explosive feelings. Sometimes, people who don't "get" gifted kids just attribute the explosive feelings to poor behavior or even poor parenting, and I think this book really connects the dots about the way gifted children see the world and why they react the way they do. Not only does the book do a good job of laying it all out, but also then gives practical and useful strategies for dealing with a gifted child's explosive behavior and how to then develop the child's gifts and talents. I will recommend this book to my parents at the upcoming Open House. I think it is a useful book, and I have thoroughly enjoyed this book study. Thanks to everyone for their input and ideas. The book was great, and reading and writing to others on this blog made it even better.

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    1. In response to PKassir, July 17
      I wholeheartedly agree with your statement about the fact that reading and writing to others on this blog enhanced the experience of reading the book. Reading alone is one thing, but thinking about what you’ve read in relation to questions posed, others’ responses to the questions, and putting one’s own ideas into words expands the knowledge process exponentially.

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  7. Yes, I would recommend this book to my colleagues. The tip sheets and some of the worksheets are helpful tools for teachers to share with parents when discussing some of the behaviors that cause concern. They are easy to implement, and don’t require parents to go way out of the way to achieve something. It was easy to read, with easy vocabulary and scenarios that most of us can relate with. I think it is a good resource that has information that could be applied to all students, not just the G/T students.

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    1. To CAMallette July 20
      I also loved the scenarios provided by the author. I could picture former students as I read the case studies. And yes, I agree that the information can be applied to all students. I can even see myself using what I learned through this book with my own children. What a great book!

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  8. I would definitely recommend this book to my colleagues. Parents so often come to us seeking help with their child. It is a wonderful gift to have so many tips and checklist at your fingertips to help them sort out how best way to intervene when they must deal with the more difficult aspects of giftedness.
    I enjoyed the book greatly and will encourage my colleagues to check it out.

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  9. Before that, I told my wife she needd to read it. It was a real eye opener as far as how we raise our son. What I would have like to have seen in the references section was something about dealing with one child who is gifted, and one who is delayed. Needless to say, things can get a little crazy in our house.

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    1. To Jeff July 20
      Honestly, as I read this book, I thought of how I could apply the information to how I am parenting my son before I thought of how it pertains to my teaching. I think that's just natural when you are a parent, right? Fortunately, many of the things I do as a teacher carry over to my life as a parent. So it's a win/win in my opinion. :)

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    2. I too thought of my own family before I thought of teachers. The beauty of this book is many of the tools can be used by families with and without GT students. My own son is emotionally intense and many of these ideas are being implemented in our home.

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  10. Yes, I would recommend this book to other teachers. It was very insightful to read as this author gave ideas she had used with her own children at home and then ways to apply them in the classroom. I liked the personal and friendly way she approached the topics throughout the book. The author’s writing was easy to read and understand. The “Tip Sheets” were helpful and will be useful in the classroom.

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  11. Yes, I would recommend this book to my colleagues to read. I think it does a great job of presenting a variety of scenarios from different points of view. The book shows how the gifted child is thinking in a given situation and what causes some of their reactions in given situations. The book offers a lot of great tips that can be easily incorporated into a classroom or at home. I also like that the book shows ways to teach the gifted child different ways to deal with their emotions and reactions, as well as hold them accountable for their actions.

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  12. Yes, I would definitely recommend this book to my colleagues. It is such an easy read, yet is packed with information. I like how the author includes case studies to illustrate the information given. The tip sheets and checklists will be so helpful for me in the classroom as well with parenting. I am so glad I chose to participate in this book study and will refer back to the book for years to come.

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  13. For teachers that like straightforward inservice material, this book is ideal. It is specific with excellent examples, not too extreme. I think I would recommend this more to parents. Often by the time I have their child, they have habits that work temporarily but don't create long term plans for their child as an adult. (From GT parents often come GT students-).
    Either population would love the easy flow of text.

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  14. Yes, the book has some helpful ideas, but I wished it focused on either parenting or teaching so it was more in depth on that one topic. I would have liked for the book to have included scenarios for older students, also. I think it helped me more to understand my children than to understand my students.

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  15. I am actually going to pass this along to a colleague of mine whose schedule this year is almost all exclusively GT classes. I think she'd be interested in reading it and appreciate the practical tips. I know that each year there are a few students who she struggles with for some of the reasons in here, and I think it would be a valuable resource for her.

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    1. In response to CWinegar,
      On our team, we "rotate" each year who gets the G/T kids, and I hope to convince this year's person to read this--or at least some of the parts that I have marked! There is a common misconception that if you have the G/T kids, that means you will have an easier class that year---HA! I hope that I will be able to practice some of the strategies that I've read about if the situation arises.

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  16. I would recommend this book to my colleagues. I would also recommend it to the parents of some of my students. I think the book will serve as a valuable resource to me. I will come back to it when I come across situations that I have read about.

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  17. I would absolutely recommend this book to my colleagues. It is an easy-read that has tons of helpful hints for home and school!

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  18. I would definitely recommend this book to colleagues. It is a very easy read with concrete scenarios and solutions. Each set of scenarios/dialogues has real world applications with gifted and non-gifted students alike. I am sure it will be used as a reference for the coming year and continuing forward.

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  19. I definitely would recommend this book to my colleagues, and in fact midway through the book, I did just that. I would also recommend it to parents. I think the Notes to the Teacher and the Tips, as well as the various scenarios make for a book that is easy to read, practical and can be easily practiced within the classroom. I also plan on using it as a reference for myself.

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  20. I would definitely recommend this book to my colleagues. I think the scenarios give us (as teachers) insight into what the g/t students are feeling/going through. I also found the Tip Sheets to be very helpful and will definitely incorporate the tips i found most helpful.

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    1. It should be read by anyone who feels that out job is the easiest in the school. How many of our colleagues think that we teach little sponges who come to us with no issues.

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  21. I would definitely recommend this book to my colleagues. I will also recommend this book to parents. My own child is gifted, and I found this book helpful to me as a parent and as a teacher. I recognized some familiar scenarios in the book, and I think that I will be able to deal with these types of situations more effectively in the future.

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    1. In response to NDeans,
      I am glad to know that as a parent, you find this book helpful. I have a couple of parents in mind that I thought would find the book helpful, and it's nice to have someone else's opinion that has a gifted child.

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  22. I would recommend this book to colleagues. Especially those who, based on their comments, buy into popular misconceptions of giftedness.

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    1. Read my comment to Helen. It drives me nut that administrators seem to think that because the kids are GT they come to school and they have no issues.

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