A few days ago I wrote about labels and the inevitable 'othering' that comes with the act of labelling people. Now I want to talk specifically about one particular label: giftedness.
I mentioned in that earlier blog post that I have two children who've been labelled as gifted and that we've used the label to 'other' them into a specialised programme. Hypocritical? I can see how it might look that way. It's a bit more complicated than that though. When we're dealing with kids, it always is right?
Giftedness is an umbrella label applied to different groups of individuals depending on the organisation or educational body doing the applying. Here in South Australia the Department of Education and Child Development uses Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent to identify that "gifted individuals as those who possess a natural (innate) ability
or aptitude in at least one field or domain of ability, such as intellectual, creative, socio
affective or sensorimotor, which is manifested to an outstanding degree, positioning them
amongst the top 10% of their age peers" (DECD, 2012).
Other definitions focus on behavioural characteristics such as asynchronous development (Columbus Group, 1991) or a greater awareness (Annemarie Roeper, 2000). The problem with all of these definitions, as with any umbrella label definition, is that they paint only part of the picture.
A very cursory search of the world of mummy blogs will show that living with 'gifted' kids is often described as a minefield of much, much more than asynchronous development. Talk to any mainstream teacher and they will tell you that the rare truly gifted student they come across are usually the toughest kid in their class to reach. My 13 and 15 year old sons both have a greater awareness of some things and practically none of others that don't rate as worthy of their attention. I've been told that to think my children need different educational accommodations is pure elitism.
The thing with giftedness is that it's rarely simple, and never easy. So that's why it's a bit more complicated.
Educational outcomes for gifted children are often very low because due to disengagement with school. Many do not 'survive' our traditional methods of schooling well at all. Those who do get through secondary school with the grades to enter tertiary education often drop out.
Giftedness is a loaded label that 'others' both the kids and their parents, and carries a social stigma of elitism. I'm NOT comparing the challenges associated with parenting or teaching gifted children with the challenges associated with other special needs. The challenges are different. Qualitatively and quantitatively What I AM saying is that this label is complicated and these children deserve consideration of their special needs. Most do not get this. My two are lucky: they've got pushy parents who know their way around the education field. It shouldn't come down to luck though. It shouldn't be this complicated.
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 4 Create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Practise DOES NOT Make Perfect
I don't know about you but if I hear practise makes perfect one more time I may just scream. Let's be clear about this: practice makes PERMANENT, not perfect. Perfection - whatever that is - is harder to achieve. There are so many reasons for this.
The one that I'm focussing on with my class at the moment is that doing something the wrong (or unhelpful) way REPEATEDLY will embed that practice in the brain and make it habit. Everyone can think of examples of this: whether spelling a word incorrectly or leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor. The more we do it, the more it becomes a habit. Practise in this case does NOT make perfect but permanent.
So what are we learning does 'make perfect'? Practise WITH feedback and coaching.
If we think about the example of spelling a word incorrectly: in our room I don't correct spelling in student work but I do highlight incorrect spelling; so the student will notice the highlighted word and add it to their spelling error analysis bank (SEAB) along with the correct spelling. Students independently and collaboratively look for patterns in their SEAB and choose their focus rules/patterns/words for their spelling capacity matrix. They work through this capacity matrix with constant feedback from each other, me and in many cases their parents. And the result? An individualised spelling program that has high engagement, regular feedback and improved spelling across all writing.
It works. Sure, there's practise in there, but each time we identify something we need to improve there's feedback and coaching. So why does society persist with the notion that practise makes perfect? Is it common sense - it just makes sense that the more we do something the better we'll get? I'd counter that in most cases where this does work we are receiving subconscious or indirect feedback.
When I reflect on how this applies in my own life, I don't have to look very far. This month I've been participating in #28daysofwriting which has seen me writing (nearly) every day. Has practising (blogging) more made me better at it? No. You know what I have improved though? Coming up with blog ideas BECAUSE of my stats. I've been tracking my stats and can see which topics attract more readers. (Not that I write solely to attract readers.) I'm also better at labelling my posts, following direct feedback about how I was doing it.
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 4 Create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments
Standard 5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
The one that I'm focussing on with my class at the moment is that doing something the wrong (or unhelpful) way REPEATEDLY will embed that practice in the brain and make it habit. Everyone can think of examples of this: whether spelling a word incorrectly or leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor. The more we do it, the more it becomes a habit. Practise in this case does NOT make perfect but permanent.
So what are we learning does 'make perfect'? Practise WITH feedback and coaching.
If we think about the example of spelling a word incorrectly: in our room I don't correct spelling in student work but I do highlight incorrect spelling; so the student will notice the highlighted word and add it to their spelling error analysis bank (SEAB) along with the correct spelling. Students independently and collaboratively look for patterns in their SEAB and choose their focus rules/patterns/words for their spelling capacity matrix. They work through this capacity matrix with constant feedback from each other, me and in many cases their parents. And the result? An individualised spelling program that has high engagement, regular feedback and improved spelling across all writing.It works. Sure, there's practise in there, but each time we identify something we need to improve there's feedback and coaching. So why does society persist with the notion that practise makes perfect? Is it common sense - it just makes sense that the more we do something the better we'll get? I'd counter that in most cases where this does work we are receiving subconscious or indirect feedback.
When I reflect on how this applies in my own life, I don't have to look very far. This month I've been participating in #28daysofwriting which has seen me writing (nearly) every day. Has practising (blogging) more made me better at it? No. You know what I have improved though? Coming up with blog ideas BECAUSE of my stats. I've been tracking my stats and can see which topics attract more readers. (Not that I write solely to attract readers.) I'm also better at labelling my posts, following direct feedback about how I was doing it.
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 4 Create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments
Standard 5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Monday, 23 February 2015
Two Days Off? What?
I spent the weekend in bed. Not in the lovely "laze around in my PJs because it's the weekend and I can" kind of way, but in the "if I move I might puke or pass out" kind of way. Blurgh. It ended with a trip to the local emergency room last night for some emergency rehydration. According to the kids I was having trouble fathoming why there were eyes on the rubbish bin (there aren't), and why they wanted me to blow out the birthday candle (they didn't). Apparently dehydration can lead to confusion. Who knew? Long story short: I've spent today working hard to keep down steamed rice with the goal of stretching to dry toast later tonight. Party animal right?
Actually, the hysteria I experienced on being 'allowed' to come home from the hospital bordered on a party:
I know I'm not alone in resisting taking a sick day. It's just one of those things that we, as teachers, do. Sometimes it seems like the act of planning the day and writing up the notes for the relief teacher makes it all too hard. Sometimes the idea of what you'll 'come back to' is too much. Sometimes there's just too much to do. None of these are good reasons to not take a sick day. And yet I've heard them all already this year.
I can't think of another group of professionals that does this to themselves. So why do we? I don't think there are any easy answers. For me, it's partly a control thing, partly a workaholic thing, partly a desire to fit in as much as I can into my time with my class, partly a need to feel needed and a whole bunch of other things.
This week resistance was futile. The doctor handed the medical certificate straight to my husband and they shared one of those knowing looks. And so I'm at home. I couldn't have gone to work today and unless a miracle happens overnight I doubt tomorrow would have been an option either. I WILL be going back the following day though. I will. Probably. I hope.
Actually, the hysteria I experienced on being 'allowed' to come home from the hospital bordered on a party:
"You want me to take how many days off work? I can't do that! Are you mad?" I could feel my head starting to spin again at the ridiculous notion that the doctor was suggesting I stay home for TWO days. I turned to my husband with a 'who does she think she is?' look. He merely nodded.Of course, the fact that at that point I still couldn't keep down water wasn't playing into my thinking. Why would it? Minor point right? The fact that whilst I've been persistent in pursuing my lofty goal of digesting steamed rice today I wasn't ever likely to be overly successful wasn't even a consideration. Again... Minor point!
"Not you too! I can't stay home for TWO days! That's insane. Do you know what's going to happen in my classroom in two days? Do you know how much work I'll have to catch up on? I have meetings! I have assessments! I have... Oh! Oh!" And I sat down at that point. The stress what just too much.
I know I'm not alone in resisting taking a sick day. It's just one of those things that we, as teachers, do. Sometimes it seems like the act of planning the day and writing up the notes for the relief teacher makes it all too hard. Sometimes the idea of what you'll 'come back to' is too much. Sometimes there's just too much to do. None of these are good reasons to not take a sick day. And yet I've heard them all already this year.
I can't think of another group of professionals that does this to themselves. So why do we? I don't think there are any easy answers. For me, it's partly a control thing, partly a workaholic thing, partly a desire to fit in as much as I can into my time with my class, partly a need to feel needed and a whole bunch of other things.
This week resistance was futile. The doctor handed the medical certificate straight to my husband and they shared one of those knowing looks. And so I'm at home. I couldn't have gone to work today and unless a miracle happens overnight I doubt tomorrow would have been an option either. I WILL be going back the following day though. I will. Probably. I hope.
Margaret Wild
One of my favourite children's authors is Margaret Wild. I'm sure I've mentioned her before. In fact, I know I have at least once just recently: here. Last year my class indulged my passion by agreeing to go along with an author study focussing on her. Our school's literacy scope and sequence suggests that year 6/7s undertake an author study during term 4 so it all worked out quite nicely.
Studying an author of picture fiction enabled all of my students to access multiple texts. Last year's cohort had a reading age spread well over 10 years from well below year level. Assigning a shared text was NOT an easy option: welcome the picture fiction books of Margaret Wild!
With over 30 of Margaret Wild's book in our class library we were able to compare, contrast, respond, identify patterns, find common themes, and much much more. Different people found interviews with her (our favourite can be read here), and it was fascinating to see the different ways she is profiled on different publishers' websites.
Some of our favourites that I'm sure the VRPs would be happy for me to recommend to you:
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| What is treasure to you? This tale of a refugee child's life journey examines this beautifully. |
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| A beautiful story of family and friendship. |
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| A story about friendship, trust and betrayal told with strong imagery and descriptive writing. |
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| Guaranteed to make ME cry. Poignant story of love and death. |
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 1 Know the students and how they learn
Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 1 Know the students and how they learn
Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Chatting Over the Smorgasbord
I've been following Pernille Ripp on Twitter (@pernilleripp) for a while now and her blog is one of my must reads. Her Global Read Aloud community on Facebook is also pretty inspiring. So, last night, when one of my colleagues tweeted me a link to one of Pernille's posts I enjoyed the prompt to revisit it.
The post in question talked about giving one minute 'book chats' (you can read it for yourself here). The premise behind a book chat is to spend a minute talking up a book you love with the intention of exciting someone else (in our case: students) to read it, love it and go on to spread the love.
I remember thinking, the first time I read the post, that I loved the idea and should definitely start. Yep. Well. I didn't. You know how it goes: beginning of the year madness. And then I read it again last night and realised that I don't need to start.
I already do it.
I share my passion for books with my class all day. I regularly pull out individual books and 'sell' them. Non fiction texts about our current topic, picture books I love, novels I've enjoyed or think someone in the class will, poetry books with a hook, biographies of inspiring people... I talk about them all, and more.
The purpose for me, aside from enticing my kiddos to expand their reading diet, is to model being a broad reader. We all have our favourite genres, authors and topics but good readers feast from a smorgasbord of grand variety. A diet of plain fruit and vegetables may be healthy but it's also boring and uninspiring. We all need a balanced diet, in reading, just as in eating. We may fill up on our favourites but it's important to throw in a spicy travel tale, or sweet picture book once in a while. My book talks demonstrate being a reader who balances my book choices between all the academic books I read, the picture books I pour over, and the novels I read for book club (or just fun), and... All the others.
If I carry this metaphor through... A book chat is like a taster, so over the course of the day, my class usually receives a tasting plate!
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
The post in question talked about giving one minute 'book chats' (you can read it for yourself here). The premise behind a book chat is to spend a minute talking up a book you love with the intention of exciting someone else (in our case: students) to read it, love it and go on to spread the love.
I remember thinking, the first time I read the post, that I loved the idea and should definitely start. Yep. Well. I didn't. You know how it goes: beginning of the year madness. And then I read it again last night and realised that I don't need to start.
I already do it.
I share my passion for books with my class all day. I regularly pull out individual books and 'sell' them. Non fiction texts about our current topic, picture books I love, novels I've enjoyed or think someone in the class will, poetry books with a hook, biographies of inspiring people... I talk about them all, and more.
 |
| Image from The New York Times |
If I carry this metaphor through... A book chat is like a taster, so over the course of the day, my class usually receives a tasting plate!
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Family BBQ
One of my professional development goals this year is to establish and maintain better communication and relationships between school and home. Don't get me wrong, we developed great home/school relationships last year. It happened organically though. I'm confident that it would probably happen again this year but I want to be more proactive.
I've planned to hold one social event and one learning event for our extended VRP family each term. Last night my family and I hosted the first ever VRP Family BBQ. For anyone new to the blog: VRP is the name my class goes by.
I'm so pleased I didn't. Families of about a quarter of the class came. Nearly 40 people in the extended VRP family came together in our learning space to share a meal. My husband cooked the bbq, and everyone else brought salads to share. The adults enjoyed getting to know each other, and the young people relaxed and had a few laughs.
Before everyone arrived I pinned up the 'working papers' of a maths activity that the VRPs have been working on this week.
It was a fantastic experience. The feedback on our Facebook group has been wonderful:
There was actually very little planning involved, and the benefits far outweigh the costs. I can't wait for next term's event. (Did I mention that I love my class? And that their parents are a pretty awesome bunch? Well, if I didn't... I do. And they are.)
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 1 Know students and how they learn
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
I've planned to hold one social event and one learning event for our extended VRP family each term. Last night my family and I hosted the first ever VRP Family BBQ. For anyone new to the blog: VRP is the name my class goes by.
The story goes a little like this: our school has a single gender program alongside the mixed gender classes. In our year 6/7 unit last year there was a boys class, a girls class and then two mixed classes. I taught one of the mixed classes. Very quickly the children noticed that two of the classes had strong identities simply based on their single gender nature but the two mixed classes? Well not so much. Someone noticed that RP (I'm Mrs RP) sounds a lot like IP which through a bit of mental gymnastics lead to us becoming the VRPs.Yesterday was - in the words of most of the VRPs - stinking hot. Even with the air conditioner on, our learning space was 27C after lunch. I was a bit nervous about the number of people who might pull out because of the heat but, having bought several kilos of sausages and pre-cooked several kilos of onions (by which I mean my husband did them), I wasn't about to cancel.
I'm so pleased I didn't. Families of about a quarter of the class came. Nearly 40 people in the extended VRP family came together in our learning space to share a meal. My husband cooked the bbq, and everyone else brought salads to share. The adults enjoyed getting to know each other, and the young people relaxed and had a few laughs.
Before everyone arrived I pinned up the 'working papers' of a maths activity that the VRPs have been working on this week.
Using at least one of (+, -, x, /) and "5" exactly 4 times make 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10.Each of 0, 1, 2 etc. have their own sheet of butchers' paper on which we've been recording number sentences as we discover them. I thought it would prompt some interesting discussions between the students and their parents. It sure did. Discussions, a wee bit of confusion, and competition! It also prompted some rich conversations about how the VRPs learn: the different entry points for learners at different points on their journey; the places of mental discomfort for all; the open ended nature of the problem; the ambiguous nature of the problem; the obvious collaboration and discussion. Parents asked questions and our young people proudly demonstrated 'wisdom' as they explained their thinking and the benefits of our learning program.
It was a fantastic experience. The feedback on our Facebook group has been wonderful:
"Thank you so much for your efforts, time and food prep tonight. I really enjoyed being able to chat with some other parents, being a working Mum I haven't had much of an opportunity to do that."
"Thankyou for a lovely evening. Really nice to meet other parents, children and you (not as a teacher) and your family. Thankyou for your time and organizing this event."
"Thanks for a great BBQ Markeeta and your assistant Geoff. Good night now to go geocaching." (We had a long discussion about geocaching, and how we might get involved as a class, and possibly hold a geocaching event as our next social gathering.)
"Thank you Markeeta for a wonderful evening. We thoroughly enjoyed talking, & laughing, with other parents & students as well as you, your husband and your children. I was sooooo glad all the cakes were eaten (as our household is on a "health-kick" & dont need the temptation in the house hehe). The kids had a ball! Jackson & Amber had so much fun playing chasey with a heap of kids whilst Max liked 'chillin' with the older tweens/teens in the "Oasis". Thank you again. " (I wrote about our oasis here.)
There was actually very little planning involved, and the benefits far outweigh the costs. I can't wait for next term's event. (Did I mention that I love my class? And that their parents are a pretty awesome bunch? Well, if I didn't... I do. And they are.)
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 1 Know students and how they learn
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
Thursday, 19 February 2015
The Narrative of a Small Group
Once upon a time (today), in a classroom far far away (at my school), there was a teacher (me) who one stinking hot afternoon (today still) was left with no more than seven of her students in the classroom while the others were all busy at choir, underwater basket weaving or some such.
It had been a challenging week for the teacher with a range of things pulling her out of the classroom more than she would like and she was disappointed to be missing more time with her students. It also skuttled her carefully designed lesson plans for the afternoon. With a huge sigh and a quick eye roll, she shook it off and re-assessed the situation. She noticed that the seven smiling faces in front of her were all on either one of two lists of children needing mini-lessons or small group learning in particular areas.
Pulling them all together on the floor, she started by finishing the picture book she had started that morning during a think-aloud mini-lesson about inferring. The intimacy of the small group gave confidence to one of the children who started a discussion that lead to an observably deeper understanding of inferring in most of the children. Two of the children drew inferences that even the teacher hadn't made. She felt the sense of peace that the change plans had unsettled starting to return.
Taking advantage of the engagement in inferring the teacher modelled a reading journal entry based on inferring. The children followed with scaffolded entries of their own. She had one-on-one conversations with most of them about how to explain their thinking. They talked about recording their metacognition.
And then another couple of children turned up. The returning peace was, well, not quite shattered, but certainly cracked. Fortunately, as fate would have it, the reading journals were nearly all complete by this stage and everyone was ready to move on to something new. Those who weren't, continued at their own pace.
"Miss, can you please help me with my narrative plan? I really need some help" came the call from the corner of the room.
And so once again, gathered in a small group the children entered into personal conversations about narrative features. They co-constructed a narrative plan and compared it to their own earlier plans. They offered feedback to each other and sought the teacher's input. They made changes and then realised that what they were really discussing was the narrative structure mountain the class had created earlier in the week. The teacher pulled over the anchor chart and everyone checked their plans were complete. Knowing that the following day they were doing a narrative assessment they asked the teacher if they could write another practise plan. She smiled and nodded in encouragement.
As most of the children worked independently on their plans, with occasional clarifying questions the teacher looked across the learning space. The sense of calm and productivity she felt was a reflection of the room.
She'd been frustrated and unsettled by the change in her plans but the change had presented an opportunity to work with small groups of children on focussed tasks. As she sat down with a child who had asked to have his times tables automaticity assessed she realised what a gift she'd been given.
And they all lived happily ever after. (Until tomorrow when who knows what will happen?)
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
It had been a challenging week for the teacher with a range of things pulling her out of the classroom more than she would like and she was disappointed to be missing more time with her students. It also skuttled her carefully designed lesson plans for the afternoon. With a huge sigh and a quick eye roll, she shook it off and re-assessed the situation. She noticed that the seven smiling faces in front of her were all on either one of two lists of children needing mini-lessons or small group learning in particular areas.
Pulling them all together on the floor, she started by finishing the picture book she had started that morning during a think-aloud mini-lesson about inferring. The intimacy of the small group gave confidence to one of the children who started a discussion that lead to an observably deeper understanding of inferring in most of the children. Two of the children drew inferences that even the teacher hadn't made. She felt the sense of peace that the change plans had unsettled starting to return.
Taking advantage of the engagement in inferring the teacher modelled a reading journal entry based on inferring. The children followed with scaffolded entries of their own. She had one-on-one conversations with most of them about how to explain their thinking. They talked about recording their metacognition.
And then another couple of children turned up. The returning peace was, well, not quite shattered, but certainly cracked. Fortunately, as fate would have it, the reading journals were nearly all complete by this stage and everyone was ready to move on to something new. Those who weren't, continued at their own pace.
"Miss, can you please help me with my narrative plan? I really need some help" came the call from the corner of the room.
And so once again, gathered in a small group the children entered into personal conversations about narrative features. They co-constructed a narrative plan and compared it to their own earlier plans. They offered feedback to each other and sought the teacher's input. They made changes and then realised that what they were really discussing was the narrative structure mountain the class had created earlier in the week. The teacher pulled over the anchor chart and everyone checked their plans were complete. Knowing that the following day they were doing a narrative assessment they asked the teacher if they could write another practise plan. She smiled and nodded in encouragement.As most of the children worked independently on their plans, with occasional clarifying questions the teacher looked across the learning space. The sense of calm and productivity she felt was a reflection of the room.
She'd been frustrated and unsettled by the change in her plans but the change had presented an opportunity to work with small groups of children on focussed tasks. As she sat down with a child who had asked to have his times tables automaticity assessed she realised what a gift she'd been given.
And they all lived happily ever after. (Until tomorrow when who knows what will happen?)
This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
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