Fall 2015
THP
Expectation
Overload: Helping
Multipotentialed
Students Find
Happiness
L
ike many gifted adolescents, I was interested in
everything. I took as many Advanced Placement
classes as possible, over-loaded my afternoons
with clubs and service organizations, and still went
to sleep each night mentally listing the things I hadn’t accomplished that day.
My teachers always told me I could be anything I wanted.
Science teachers encouraged me to attend medical school, or
even pursue medical research. I loved to write, and my English
and history teachers pointed me towards law and journalism.
Playing the piano allowed me to express my emotions musically, and my instructor told me to “never give up on my music.” However, I quickly became buried in the expectations of
my teachers, as well as the societal expectations that came
with being identified as a gifted student. Guest speakers asserted that gifted students had the “potential to change the
world” through careers such as research, medicine, law, and
engineering. Little emphasis was placed on pursuing our interests for the sake of personal fulfillment; we were pressured to
continually challenge ourselves to learn and improve.
Helping Multippotentialed
Students Uncover their True
Passion
Page 8: Principles and
Practices of Socratic Circles
in Middle Level Classrooms:
A Socratic Conversation
Quality Classroom Practice
for High-Abillity Students
Sarah Marie Catalana
University of Georgia
Sarah Marie Catalana is a doctoral student in
educational psychology at the University of
Georgia, with a concentration in Gifted and
Creative Education.
in diverse areas are often referred to as multipotentialed.
Although some researchers doubt the pervasiveness of
multipotentiality within the gifted population, few doubt that
multipotentialed gifted students exist (Fisher, 2010). Indeed,
few practitioners would struggle to relay stories of bright
children who seem to be curious about everything, performing well in class and immersing themselves in diverse activities outside of school.
At first glance, multipotentiality seems to be a blessing.
Students who are both gifted and interested in multiple areas can become lawyers, professional athletes, doctors, or
artists; they simply must choose which of their many talents
to pursue. From the students’ point of view, however, multiple talents may signify overwhelming decisions and looming
pressure to perform perfectly in everything they do. When
my teachers told me I could be anything, I interpreted this
encouraging comment as a command: “You have to do everything, and do it perfectly.” While I loved science, enjoyed
writing in my free time, and spent countless hours practicing the piano, my heart was set on becoming a teacher.
Ironically, teaching was seldom presented as a profession
Multipotentiality
Students who demonstrate high capabilities and interests
feature articles
Cover: Expectation Overload:
Teaching for High Potential
continued on page 17
Smart Cookies 16
inside this issue
From the Editor.................................2
Scientifically Speaking.....................3
Special Populations..........................4
The Curriculum Corner.....................6
From the National Office..................12
Buried Under Books.........................13
Heart to Heart...................................15
The Creative Classroom...................20
School Spotlight...............................23
from the EDITOR
Jeff Danielian, Editor
[email protected]
Everything is Connected
O
ne of the conclusions I have come to as an educator involves the importance of interconnectedness as it relates to the entire educational environment. To me this means we need to be looking
at environments that take into account the immense variation of social, emotional, educational, and economic backgrounds present in our schools.
The students that make up our classrooms are different
in so many ways. For example, the ways they learn, their
interests, and the ways they react and understand situations. Each variation requires numerous instructional strategies and responses to ensure that classrooms are places
where discovery and experience are at the forefront, and
where each student is treated and respected as an individual learner, with potential to succeed in any area.
I think of this interconnectedness every time I put together
an issue of THP; there is synergy in the messages from authors and columnists. Let us dig in to the contents of this
issue. Sarah Marie Catalana’s article, Expectation Overload
looks at the common issue of multipotentiality and offers
suggestions for working with students who exhibit interest
and talent in many areas. Scott Hunsaker and co-authors
engage in a Socratic dialogue to illustrate the process and
benefits of conducting Socratic Circles. THP’s columnists
add suggestions for student success as well. You will find
out about robot building in Scientifically Speaking, learn
about the importance of constructing cohorts, utilizing
mentors, and conducting cultural training in Special Populations, and learn of the many ways to increase creative
thinking with this installment of The Curriculum Corner. THP
welcomes NAGC’s new executive director, M. René Islas, to
the fold. His piece, From the National Office, serves as both
an introduction to his lengthy educational history and a call
for us all to take part in NAGC’s future. The effectiveness
of reading aloud is discussed in Buried Under Books; iMaEditorial Advisory Board
Richard Cash, Chair
Jill Adelson
Randee Blair
Jennifer Beasley
Steve Coxon
Janine Firmender
Tamara Fisher
M. Gail Hickey
Meg Hines
Marcia Imbeau
Lori Mabry
Megan Foley Nicpon
Megan Parker Peters
Connie Phelps
Susan Rakow
Jennifer Robins
Mary Grace Stewart
Sherri Wynn
editor-in-chief
Jeffrey Danielian
associate editor
C. Matthew Fugate
Teaching for High Potential (THP)
is published as a membership benefit
of the National Association for Gifted
2 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
thination tackles the age-old question, “when are we ever
going to use this?” by focusing on model-eliciting activities; and Heart to Heart delves into the trait of compassion.
A special installment, The Creative Classroom, authored by
James Fetterly and Betty Wood, dives deep into the complex nature of what it means to have a creative classroom.
School Spotlight rounds out the issue by showcasing the
unique Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at Mary
Baldwin College.
Although the articles and columns were written independently of each other, with varying ideas, perspectives,
and suggestions they all seek the same outcome: students who possess a love for learning and appreciation
for the education they receive. In this way we can truly
make education better for each student. I hope you enjoy
this issue of THP. As always, I welcome your suggestions, comments, and ideas.
Write for THP
Do you have practical classroom applications of current
research, theory, and best practices in the field of gifted
education? Are you proud of the innovative way you address
the needs of gifted students in your school or classroom?
Have you created a successful lesson or unit plan that aligns
with the revised NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming
Standards? If so, we want to hear from you! Send manuscripts
to: Jeff Danielian, Editor, THP at [email protected].
Children (NAGC), 1331 H Street, N.W.,
Suite 1001, Washington, DC, 20005;
(202) 785-4268; [email protected].
Article submission and editorial
inquiries can be made to Jeff
Danielian at [email protected].
For THP advertising information, contact
Deanne Rockola at drockola@sponsor
shipboost.com.
The content found in THP articles
follows the NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12
Gifted Programming Standards and
the NAGC-CEC Teacher Preparation
Standards. Visit the THP webpage
for more details.
The statements and opinions
expressed in the articles and columns
appearing in THP are those of the
authors and columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the association. NAGC disclaims any responsibility
or liability for such material. © 2015
ISSN 2333-5076
scientifically speaking
Steve V. Coxon
Maryville University
[email protected]
Robots Get Schooled
I
think that the most engaged learning can occur when
students think they are playing. This is certainly the case
when using robotics sets in education. When a parent
approached me more than a decade ago about starting
a robotics program together, I had no idea it would change
the way I teach and the course of my career. We started a
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team, which I coached for several
years before moving into higher education where I continue
to conduct research on children’s learning with robotics.
Play With a Purpose
Robotics competitions along with afterschool and summer robotics programs have become wildly popular over
the past decade. Robotics also can be used in the classroom to meet—and exceed—standards in science and
math. Robotics offers innumerable benefits for students
including opportunities to develop problem-solving skills,
engineering fundamentals, teamwork, computer programming basics, creativity, and perseverance. In particular,
building robots aids in developing spatial ability, foundationally important to many science fields. Spatial ability is
the ability to think in complex visual images. In fact, spatial
ability is one of the biggest differentiators between university students who are successful in STEM majors and
those who are not (Sorby, 2009).
There are a growing number of robotics kits that can be
used in education including LEGO MINDSTORMS, the TBot mechanical arm, and Tetrix, which allows students to
build sturdy robots with aircraft-grade aluminum. There are
many more robots that come pre-built, thus focusing student learning largely on programming instead of engineering, such as Dash and Sphero. The most common robotics
kit for both competition and classroom use are the MINDSTORMS sets sold by LEGO Group, now in the third generation (EV3).
Robotics Competitions
There are also a growing number of robotics competitions
available to K-12 students including FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL), FLL, Fire
Fighting Robot Contest, VEX Robotics, and Carnegie Mellon Mobot Races. The largest competition is the FLL, which
boasts over 267,000 participants across 80 countries. FLL
competitions have multiple facets. Not only do robots compete to solve predetermined challenges on a large table, but
participants also compete for awards in teamwork, robot design, and a presentation on a public service research project
that they conduct before the competition on a current topic
www.nagc.org
in science. Such research projects are always based in a
current science topic of importance, from exploring Mars to
the intricacies of the human body.
Robots in After-School and Summer Programs
Over the past several years, I have developed a summer program at my university for high-ability students ages 4-15 that offers around 75 courses annually with an emphasis on robotics.
We offer 5 different robotics platforms and a structured program
of advancement of increasing complex coursework. Similar robotics programs exist across the country, often run by university
gifted centers and local school district gifted programs. These
programs offer excellent opportunities for bright, engaged students to work with ability peers to solve problems with robots.
Robots in the Classroom
Not only do robotics competitions offer a wealth of potential learning opportunities, but using robotics in the classroom
also offers ample opportunities to meet standards in science
as well as math. My collaborators and I have just completed
a controlled experimental evaluation study of a fully integrated
STEM math curriculum unit on measurement. We created to engage diverse 3rd and 4th graders in Common Core-based math
through real-world science problem solving. The students are
engaged as stakeholders in the unit, which has a cohesive, unitlong storyline based on having the students act as real-world
scientists and engineers. This and other units help teachers to
use the engagement of robotics to leverage learning.
Robotics use may help to develop future scientists, including their spatial ability. Teachers can run teams outside of the
regular school day or incorporate curriculum into their classrooms to tap into the engaging power of robotics. Not only
will students likely be more interested, but also more likely to
succeed in STEM fields as a result. THP
Resources
FIRST: www.usfirst.org
LEGO Education: www.education.lego.com
Maryville Summer Science and Robotics Program: www.maryville.
edu/robot
VEX Robotics: www.vexrobotics.com
Coxon, S. V. (2012). The malleability of spatial ability under treat ment of a FIRST LEGO League simulation. Journal for the
Education of the Gifted, 35(3), 291-316.
Reference
Sorby, S. A. (2009). Educational research in developing 3-D spa tial skills for engineering students. International Journal of
Science Education, 31, 459-480.
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 3
special populations
Joy Lawson Davis
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
[email protected]
Optimizing Services for Diverse
Gifted Learners
W
e’ve come a long way in gifted education.
Increasingly, we are providing evidencebased gifted education training for teachers
across the nation and improving instruction to meet the needs of students. National reports are
revealing best practices and the areas where gaps remain. We continue to struggle with how to address the
complex needs of culturally diverse students, those who
are diverse by race, geography, gender, and income. In
working with school districts across the country, the
concern that many teachers have is how do we retain
culturally diverse students in programs once we have
identified them for services? This article shares three
specific strategies that may positively impact services
for diverse gifted students.
Picture this: The school year begins and three new
students will enter gifted programs for the first time.
They are Rashaad, Jordyn, and Joaquin. Rashaad
is a 6th grade, biracial male from a low-income
family. This year he will attend a new program that
serves students from varied ethnicities and incomes
from across his city. Jordyn, African American, was
grade accelerated from the second to fourth grade.
She is highly gifted in math. She attends a mid-size
suburban school with a history of providing well for
advanced students. Joaquin is entering high school
and has recently moved into a new neighborhood
from a rural district. His family are first generation
immigrants. Joaquin is gay and as a middle schooler, co-founded a LGBTQ support group. Now he
attends a large, predominately White, urban school
with an International Baccalaureate program (IB). It
is well known that he is the first student of Mexican
descent to participate in the IB program. Three students, from diverse backgrounds, yet similar needs,
entering programs that may or may not be prepared
to support them.
In today’s schools, these students are no longer atypical;
they are very much the norm. In addition to their high level
of intellectual potential they share a few additional traits.
They have a need for:
• Classrooms that provide a sense of belonging with
peers who share their experience;
• Educators who respect and value their differences and
understand the cultures, norms, and traditions they
4 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
bring to the classroom; and
• Role models from similar experiences who have over
come challenges and have been successful.
Gifted children and youth come from all communities,
and developing program models that recognize and respect
them are important. A review of affective practices reveal
three specific strategies that educators can employ to support diverse students. These strategies will not only improve
equity, but also the likelihood that students will be retained
over time, increasing their success rates and preparation
for college.
1
Cohort grouping for instruction: Stories abound
of racially and gender diverse students who have
been ostracized because they were the “only one”
or told that “you don’t belong here.” When diverse
gifted students enter new programs with a group of students who are markedly different from them in income,
race, and experiences, their self-esteem may suffer.
Students need to feel a strong sense of belonging and
acceptance. Cohort groups combat the effects of isolation, and increase assurance of a more comfortable
“fit” for diverse students to focus more on the academic
challenge and less on their need for acceptance. Educators are encouraged to develop service models that
identify small groups of students who can move through
programs together thus, a cohort is formed.
2
Mentoring Programs: When students come into
contact with successful individuals from their communities they gain a sense of hope that they too
can be successful. Mentors are adults who can
share life experiences and other positive personality
traits, including the importance of a positive racial and
gender identity. Schools are encouraged to seek out
fraternities, organizations, partnerships with colleges,
and faith-based groups to recruit mentors. The power of
mentoring programs cannot be overstated.
3
Cultural Competency Training: Nationwide,
schools suffer from a lack of teachers of color,
and those who have experiences with diverse students. This cultural mismatch affects student performance and success outcomes. Training mediates the
effects of cultural mismatch. Concepts such as implicit
bias, cultural difference, racial identity, gender difference, and culturally responsive teaching are covered in
a cultural competency training program.
Diverse gifted learners need intellectual challenge
and affective supports to fully develop their potential.
It is our responsibility as educators to look for every
resource possible to ensure that the intellectual and
affective needs of ALL gifted learners are met, regardless of their ethnicity, income, gender, or geographic
community. THP
Suggested Readings
Gordon, D. M., Iwamoto, D., Ward, N., Potts, R., & Boyd, E. (2009).
Mentoring urban Black middle-school male students: Implica tions for academic achievement. The Journal of Negro Educa tion, 78(3), 277–289.
Symanski, T., & Shaff, T. (2013). Teacher perspectives regarding
diverse gifted students. Gifted Children 6(1), From http://docs.
lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/vol6/iss1/1/
WeAreGifted2 (23 Aug. 2014) [blog]. http://wearegifted2.blogspot.
com/2014/08/too-black-to-be-so-smart-or-too-smart.html
ON-LINE box
The THP Article Library
In order to provide NAGC members with the most
efficient means of connecting the pages of Teaching for High Potential to classroom practice and
theory, the entire catalog of THP articles has been
organized into four key areas, Curriculum Content,
Classroom Practice, Meeting Student Needs, and
Special Populations, each with additional subtopics. Visiting one of them
directs you to a list of annotated articles, columns,
and special features.
Each article includes the
issue date, which you
can then locate in the
brand new Issue library.
Visit the THP homepage
for more.
http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/
nagc-publications/teaching-high-potential
www.nagc.org
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 5
the curriculum corner
Bronwyn MacFarlane
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
[email protected]
Teaching for Creative
Technical Talent
C
reative thinking is an important aspect of problem
solving and using creativity to solve current problems is a necessity in the 21st century. Professionals across the arts and sciences, business, education, and other technically advanced fields consistently
emphasize that the process for learning to think creatively
should be as important in education as in other fields. Indeed, the topic of creativity provides an essential foundation to the purpose of gifted education in helping learners
become creative individuals who can make creative contributions to society. The challenge for educators is how to
best integrate creativity into the classroom and cultivate
creative results.
Creativity and Innovation
The history of creativity and the study of productive and
innovative thinking is a fascinating and fun topic to explore
with students. Understanding creative mental abilities such
as fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, and problem
sensitivity and practicing these abilities with strength-building exercises helps students take a practical approach to
thinking creatively. The use of specific instructional strategies such as the Wallas Model, the Creative Problem Solving
(CPS) Model, SCAMPER, and other mental techniques support a structured step-by-step approach to creative thinking
with a disciplined process focused less on basic content
knowledge and more on a sequenced approach leading to
unusual idea generation and synthesis.
Every creative person employs methods for personal creative thinking. Many creative thinkers use analogical thinking to base an idea creatively within a familiar setting. For
example, the colorful red box video rental business found
on sidewalks outside many neighborhood stores employs
two major analogous ideas—offering an automated movie
rental service in a vending machine! This use of analogical thinking is one example of mental techniques used by
many innovators. Einstein referred to his process as “mental
experiments” and da Vinci reportedly observed life in his
surroundings as inspiration for his innovations. Technically
talented creators apply a variety of creative thinking strategies, combining and reversing ideas to generate new ideas,
products, and ways of looking at a problem.
In addition to the four instructional strategies above,
other well-known creative thinking techniques include (1)
brainstorming, (2) attribute listing, (3) morphological synthesis, (4) idea checklists, (5) synectic methods, and (6)
implementation charting. When using these creative thinking strategies, an individual benefits from having a good
6 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
knowledge base in order to
build upon creative contributions in specialized areas,
such as those within technically advanced STEM fields.
In the new NAGC co-publication from Prufrock Press,
STEM Education for High-Ability Learners: Designing and
Implementing Programming, contributing chapter authors
discuss the special curricular details associated within
each domain of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics and the education needed to develop technically advanced talent among gifted students. To cultivate
creative thinking in technical subject areas such as STEM,
an increase in focused attention on developing students’
creative abilities is needed. Strengthening creative literacy
among gifted students can be accomplished by incorporating the arts, artistic design, architectural examples of
elegant mathematical symmetry, and regular practice with
STEM-related convergent and divergent thinking activities
and experiments.
Curriculum Environs to Support Creativity
Developing talented, technically advanced, creative professionals to problem solve, create new innovations, find
cures, and fill high-skill positions is the perpetual work of
the educational system. Desirable creativity outcomes in
general as well as specific to technically advanced STEM
fields can and should be integrated into educational curriculum and instruction. To nurture creative technical talent, specific goals and outcomes should be established
in STEM curriculum planning. There also must be a plan
to measure the goals and outcomes attained. Creative
learning goals such as these can be integrated into existing curriculum plans, as well as extracurricular activities such as Science Olympiad, Odyssey of the Mind, and
Destination Imagination (MacFarlane, 2016). Learning
creative thinking habits should not be pushed to the side
of a technically advanced curriculum. Instead, creative
thinking outcomes should be integrated at a synthesis
level for demonstrating understanding and growth across
the educational continuum. THP
Recommended Reading
MacFarlane, B. (Ed.). (2016). STEM education for high-ability learn ers: Designing and implementing programming. Waco, TX: Pru
frock Press.
Treffinger, D., Schoonover, P., & Selby, E. (2013). Educating for creativ ity and innovation: A comprehensive guide for research-based
practice. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Principles and
Practices of Socratic
Circles in Middle
Level Classrooms: A
Socratic Conversation
A
Socratic Circle is a discussion method that inspires
participants to complete
deep reading of a text and
engage in meaningful discussion of
that text. In this article, the authors
(a teacher educator and two English
Teachers) engage in a Socratic conversation about the rationale, processes, and outcomes of Socratic
Circles. The teacher educator acts
as the questioner in this conversation, while the teachers serve as experts who have implemented Socratic
Circles in their respective 7th and 9th
grade Honors English Classes. Both
teachers serve in a school district in
which both these grades are housed
in junior high schools.
Questioner: To the best of your
understanding, what is the Socratic
method?
Experts: We think of the Socratic
method as questions used to stimulate critical thinking, which is the ability to analyze ideas in a manner that
applies them to students’ personal experiences and to other texts and other
circumstances. It also opens students’
minds to other perspectives, providing
the opportunity to understand multiple
points of view and clarify their own positions on issues and ideas. We also
think it’s important, within the Socratic
method, to avoid argument and humorous remarks.
8 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
Scott L. Hunsaker, Utah State University,
Christen C. Rose and Elinda R.
Nedreberg, Davis School District, Utah
Dr. Scott Hunsaker is a Distinguished Associate
Professor of Honors Education at Utah State
University in Logan, UT.
Christen Rose is an Honors English Teacher at
South Davis Jr. High in Davis School District,
UT.
Elinda Nedreberg is an Honors English Teacher
at Legacy Jr. High in Davis School District, UT.
Questioner: But aren’t you charged
to teach argumentative writing?
Experts: Yes, that’s true. Argumentative writing is the ability to see at least
two sides of an issue and put forth
claims and evidence to support one of
those sides. However, when middleschool students think argument, what
they often end up with is more heated
conflict where one person has to be
right and the other person has to be
wrong. We don’t want that. We want
them to be looking at others’ perspectives. If they’re arguing or maintaining
that they’re right, they’re not open to
looking at somebody else’s viewpoint.
Questioner: With an already overcrowded curriculum, why would I want
to use a method that engenders protracted discussion?
Experts: Oh, we get that! When we
first read about Socratic Circles, we
were terrified it would be a waste of
time. We have so many objectives we
can’t meet them all; we have so many
texts we can’t read them all. We had to
take the risk that it would be worth it,
and it was. We have learned that the
method is timeless and goes across
age groups.
Many language arts objectives are
met through Socratic Circles: speaking and listening skills, reading and
writing skills, learning how to respond
in discussions, as well as the ability to
make connections. Integrating knowledge and skills across content areas
is extremely important. In addition, the
discussions and questions lay a great
foundation for future writing assignments; we can see that Socratic Circles help students write more thoughtful and thorough essays.
The Basics of Socratic Circles
Questioner: So, what are the basics of Socratic Circles, and what resources might I turn to if I want to use
this strategy?
Experts: The best source is Copeland’s (2005) book Socratic Circles.
Basically, we teach students how to
read closely and annotate with short
texts such as poems, short stories,
and non-fiction articles. For example,
an opinion piece about the tooth fairy
(www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/02/
tooth.fairy.penny.pincher) has worked
really well with our 7th graders. The
poem “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab
Nye (www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/
kindness) has worked well with our 9th
graders. The annotation tool we prefer
to teach is called Reading with your
Pen Pallette (Goble, Fardig, & Davis,
2010). With the text and annotation
tool in hand, the students are ready for
close reading.
When the students come to class
with their annotated texts prepared
for the discussion, we organize two
circles—an outer circle and an inner
circle—each facing into the middle.
The circles can be organized by generating a random list using a classroom
seating chart program or by dividing
the students based on some random
element such as a color they are wearing or some individual preference like
skiing or snowboarding.
Once we’ve got the students in the
circles, the outer circle members are instructed to listen, take notes, and evaluate the discussion of the inner circle.
We then present a question from our
list to the inner circle, and students engage in discussion about that question.
New questions are posed whenever
conversations seem to wane, permitting appropriate wait time, of course,
or when prompted by the direction of
the conversation. At the end of discussion, the outer circle gives constructive
criticism to the inner circle about the
discussion, including participation and
quality of ideas. We’ve experienced
Socratic Circles as brief as 20 minutes
and as long as 60 minutes.
Questioner: What is it about Socratic Circles that makes them Socratic? For example, what are the Socratic
functions of each of the circles?
Experts: Well, for the inner circle, it
seems obvious that the students are
expressing opinions, clarifying ideas,
and responding to others. In order to
be engaged in a good discussion, you
have to be able to listen well. So, the
outer circle develops listening skills
and the ability to pay attention, to con-
sider ideas. The students in the outer
circle have more of an opportunity to
actually listen to a discussion and to
see a demonstration of a discussion
that is functional in comparison to their
talking at lunch where they’re always
interrupting one another.
Questioner: How do you choose
the subjects for discussion with deeper meaning and the questions to be
asked? What are the cautions a teacher should take in this regard?
Experts: The topics we choose are
usually related to an overarching theme
drawn from the short stories or larger
works we are reading in class. We use
non-fiction articles that connect to that
theme. So there is groundwork thinking
done in advance. Wilhelm (2012) often
talks about essential questions that
teachers use for a unit, and many English teachers are familiar with the idea
of universal themes. For example, from
the classic, The Odyssey, we could
use the theme of heroes, which would
generate a number of interesting questions to which students can respond.
The questions must be open-ended.
Students need to be able to express
multiple viewpoints and a variety of
perspectives. If the questions aren’t
broad enough, the conversation will
stall. Students need to care about the
question. If they don’t care, they’re not
going to even try to answer the question. They need to be based on concepts they can grasp from their personal life, the general class reading,
and the short text—across all three of
Theme: Heroes
aWhat is the definition of a hero?
aWhat characteristics does a hero possess?
aWhat are examples of heroism?
aMust a hero exhibit perfection? Why or why not?
aWhat flaws and faults are acceptable for heroes to possess?
aWhich flaws and faults are unacceptable for heroes to
possess?
Provide examples of admirable to imperfect heroes (from the
literature and from life).
them. Questions also must be thoughtprovoking. We intentionally include
controversial ideas for which there is,
maybe, a majority opinion held that I
want students to look at the other side
of, or have a person be brave enough to
say something that provokes thought
in the other people. For example, we
have had students express what it’s
like to be in a minority religion in their
school, or how feeling alone and ostracized because of religion might be
similar to how someone who is gay
or lesbian might feel. They can relate
to these different things from the text
that they haven’t thought of before. It
helps them develop greater empathy
and see what it’s really like to think in a
different way and have different life experiences, which they bring with them
to class. We give our students a controversial article in which the opinion of
the man who wrote the article is that
just because you go to war, that doesn’t
mean you’re a hero. It offends a lot of
the students, but some students read
it and say, “Oh, I see what he’s saying.
You have to actually go through some
sort of ordeal to be a hero.” It was a
really good discussion, and that goes
back to not having a debate or an argument, but being respectful in having a
discussion, in having a dialogue. However, even with this emphasis on being
thought-provoking, we would not use
a controversial issue for the first Circle
we held. Students would need to be
fairly familiar with the atmosphere of
the process before introducing this element. Finally, you should have a sufficient number of questions. Our experience tells us that we should have a
minimum of ten questions prepared,
as some questions are more interesting to some groups (or class periods)
than others.
Questioner: When I think about
middle-school students, what comes
to my mind is youngsters who haven’t
had much experience in or exposure to
the world at large, and who are somewhat insecure about putting themselves and their ideas forward for fear
of being wrong or being rejected. What
preparations do you make to overcome
these drawbacks?
Experts: Creating a comfortable
www.nagc.org
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 9
classroom climate is a necessity for
many risk-taking activities that teachers may want to employ in a classroom. Initially one of our goals was to
increase the number of participants
who engage in any classroom conversation. This is a problem many teachers encounter; the same three to five
hands being raised each time responses are sought. Implementing Socratic
Circles helped increase comfort.
Having said that, creating comfortable classrooms where students are
willing to take risks always starts at
the beginning of the year. So, students
learn to share frequently in their informal journal writing and, as teachers,
we share some appropriate personal
connections to the literature ourselves.
Plus, we do laugh with our students.
One student wrote in an evaluation, “I
love all of the different ways that we are
able to learn because everyone learns
in different ways. We have Socratic
Circles, worksheets, journals, group
work, and even videos. This allows a
Discussion Roles Skit
(Based on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
Characters:
Charlie Bucket – Quiet; never shares or answers a question
Augustus Gloop – Conversation hog; won’t stop talking
Violet Beauregarde – Interruptor
Veruca Salt – Always right
Mike Teavee – Distracted; not listening (has an electronic device)
Teacher: Okay, class. Thank you for finishing the poem and annotating it. We will
be working on some discussion questions in connection with the article to help
you think more about it. Your first question that you need to talk about in your
group is: What is this poem about?
Charlie sits and looks down at the floor.
Mike is looking at his phone or tablet a lot.
Augustus: Well, I think it has to do with the fact that there never seems to be
enough food. I mean, look at this poor man. He got beat up four weeks ago, and
it sounds like he has lost a lot of weight. Hospitals totally have way enough good
food for people now. When my mom had surgery last year, she shared some of
her food with me. She had—(Augustus keeps talking even though other people
are talking. List A LOT of foods.)
Violet (interrupting): I completely disagree. I think this poem is about being free
to speak your mind, even if it hurts someone else or someone disagrees with
you. This man has said he doesn’t want the people who hurt him to suffer the
consequences, and I think he’s completely batty for saying that, but he has a
right to say it.
Augustus keeps talking about food.
Veruca Salt: Violet, you are completely wrong, I am afraid. This poor man has
been through an ordeal that has challenged him mentally and physically, so THAT
is what this poem is about. Discussion over. No need to say any—
Violet (interrupting again): How DARE you say that I am WRONG, you NIT! I
ought to come over there and SHOW you you’re wrong! Augustus, SHUT UP!
(Augustus finally stops talking.)
Veruca: How dare I say that you’re wrong? Well, you ARE wrong. You haven’t
thought it through completely. Mike, Charlie, what you do say?
Mike: What? What’s going on? Stop interrupting. You’ll make me lose to this
boss.
Charlie: (quietly) I um…I don’t know who’s right. I don’t really know what the
poem was about, either. (Puts head back down.)
Veruca and Violet: AAAAAARGH!!! MRS. NED!!!!
END SCENE
10 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
wide variety of learners to all understand through these many activities.
Some teachers use the same type of
teaching every day, and for those who
don’t learn very well in that way, they
can struggle. Thanks for having a variety of learning methods.”
As we’ve mentioned, carefully scaffold the exercises with prerequisite
steps, such as Reading with Your Pen
Palette (Goble et al., 2010), starting
with short texts, short stories, and poetry at the beginning of the year. Modeling a bad conversation or “what not
to do” has also worked very well. Elinda wrote a great skit that has worked
well in both our classes. Both 7th and
9th graders get a kick out of it!
Finally, during an introductory Socratic Circle, we provide teacher and
peer feedback in a gentle and constructive manner. The text by Copeland (2005) has a good feedback and
evaluation form in the appendix.
Questioner: Even with this preparation, I anticipate some problems could
arise when discussing controversial
topics with this age group. Perhaps
some will begin to dominate discussion while others withdraw. Some will
become impassioned about the topic
while others are apathetic. Some will
worry that their beliefs and values are
being threatened while others will welcome the challenge. How do you encourage informed, reasoned, respectful participation from students?
Experts: Seventh graders are often timid and somewhat reluctant to
share. “Bounce Cards” that have a list
of sentence starters are required to be
on hand during the circles. We pulled
this idea from Roake and Varlas (2013).
Further, a wheel chart can be used to
track the number of times students
have contributed to the conversation
with a minimum of one share required.
A minimum requirement helps them
overcome that reluctance we referred
to earlier.
Ninth graders can still be shy about
participating, although there are more
students who are willing to participate,
and so with them we focus on a sharing limit. Once a student has reached
a maximum of four shares, he or she
must remain silent so others can par-
ticipate. Shy students have expressed
appreciation for this because it takes
them longer to “work up the courage”
to share.
Guiding rules are a good starting
point. We developed a list of rules that
were suggested by Copeland (2005)
such as:
1
2
Say your name before you speak.
Make your comment or ask your
question.
3
Comment on what someone else
has said if you’d like.
4
Disagree if you choose, but don’t
be mean.
5
6
Talk to each other not to the teacher.
Offer evidence, either from the article or from life, to back up what
you say.
Note that we give students the opportunity to add to or change the guiding rules. It is also important to learn to
tolerate the silences.
If students begin to argue or debate, we remind students that this is
not the appropriate time to engage in
debate, as we are interested in a variety of viewpoints and perspectives.
Many students comment after class
that they had never thought a certain
way before, and they genuinely appreciate and enjoy hearing what other people think.
Socratic Circles Make a Difference
Questioner: A middle school
teacher once remarked to me that she
didn’t like the gifted program at her
school because all the students did
was “sit around and talk.” It sounds
like Socratic Circles could fall into this
stereotype. What evidence do you
have that these discussions contribute to the attainment of curriculum
standards in your academic area in
particular? How do you know that Socratic Circles are making a difference
in your students’ academic achievements in general?
only thing we do in class. We read. We
do vocabulary. We write essays. We
learn reading strategies. We compare
and contrast media. Socratic Circles
improve essay writing. Students are
better able to include different perspectives, which make the writing
more thoughtful. We could point to the
performance of our students on grade
level criterion reference tests, on which
more than 90% met grade level objectives, but that’s not what is most important to us.
Students continue to think, ponder, and discuss ideas from Socratic
Circles well beyond the class period.
The students are thinking more deeply.
On one memorable occasion, a group
of boys found a classmate in the hall
and, due to confusion with a text they
had read for homework, they formed
a Socratic Circle right there in the hall
to discuss the reading. These kinds of
incidents are more meaningful to us
than test scores because they show
that the students are starting to think
for themselves.
The positive benefits of Socratic
Circles don’t just happen during the
discussion, but have effects in the
day-to-day functioning of the classroom community. It increases the level
of trust, even when not in a circle. We
encourage other teachers to just jump
in. Join us! THP
References
Copeland, M. (2005). Socratic circles: Fos tering critical and creative thinking in
middle and high school. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse.
Goble, R. R., Fardig, L., & Davis, E. (2010).
Reading with your Pen Palette. Allen, TX:
Allen Independent School District. Re trieved from http://theriault227.wikis
paces.com/file/view/The+Reading+With
+Your+Pen+Palette.pdf
Roake, J., & Varlas, L. (2013, December).
More than words: Developing core
speaking and listening skills. Education
Update, 55(12), 1, 4-5.
Wilhelm, J. D., & Smith, M. (2012). Oh
yeah?! Putting argument to work both in
school and out. Portsmouth, NH: Heine mann.
Experts: Socratic Circles are not the
www.nagc.org
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 11
view from the national office
M. René Islas, Executive Director
National Association for Gifted Children
[email protected]
It’s Good to Be Home
O
n April 2, 2015, the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Education (NAGC)
appointed me as its next executive director. It
is now a little over three months since I started,
and I am happy to immerse myself again in the world of
gifted and talented education. I am pleased to have the
opportunity to introduce (or re-introduce) myself to you.
Some of you may remember that I worked with the Board
and staff as a consultant to develop and execute a legislative advocacy and communications campaign between
2007-2010. I want to share with you a little more about
myself, why I feel pride and honor in serving as our organization’s executive director, and some of my
personal hopes for NAGC.
Education is the Islas family business. For
as long as I can remember my life revolved
around and in school. My grandfather served
as a distinguished teacher and principal in
nearly all of the schools in the border town
of Nogales, Arizona. My aunts and uncles
were and continue to be teachers and administrators in the Arizona public schools.
My wife is also a teacher with experience
in early childhood education and behavioral
therapy support for children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We are the parents of four bright children ranging in ages
from three to eleven years old—Maximilian,
Michaela, Myles, and Madison. Like many
of our members, we struggled this year
with the decision to move our children from our comfortable
neighborhood school to alternative learning environments
where they will receive the appropriate support and challenge needed to maximize their learning potential.
As you can imagine, I spent many evenings and weekends
in school. Classrooms, chalkboards, and student desks were
my playground when I was younger, profoundly influencing
my professional life. As a college student, I prepared for a
life of service in government. I studied the fields of political
science and sociology with a focus on education policy, and
later earned a Masters in Business Administration. My academic training led to positions in a national education policy
think-tank, the U.S. Department of Education, a government
relations firm, a non-profit membership association focused
on teacher professional learning, and leading a group that
provides direct consulting and technical assistance services
for school systems across the globe.
My life and professional career are dedicated to educa-
12 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
tion, particularly to the essential role that teachers play
in the lives of students. For this reason, I am excited to
write my first column for THP. A mentor of mine, former
Secretary of Education Rod Paige, often reminded me
that everything about schools must focus on supporting
the interaction between the teacher and the student. We
also know from research that teachers are the greatest inschool factor for increasing student achievement (RAND
Corporation, 2012).
My recent work at Learning Forward focused on creating effective professional learning systems for teachers.
This focus will continue at NAGC in coordination with our
staff and volunteers that create high-quality
learning programs for educators of students with gifts and talents like the Webinars on Wednesdays (WoW), E-Courses,
and our Annual Convention. Additionally, I
am hopeful that you continue to find THP a
powerful resource for you in teaching students with gifts and talents. Our THP editor
and resident teacher, Jeff Danielian, works
hard to bring you a thoughtful publication
with inspirational stories about successful
programs, digestible syntheses of the research on gifted education, practical tips,
and useful resources for you to use in the
classroom and for families at home and in
the community.
I am proud of the service that NAGC provides to the field of gifted and talented education, university faculty and researchers, K-12 practitioners, and parents of students with gifts and talents. NAGC
plays a critical role in supporting the research community
in ways that lead to advances in gifted education and the
organization works hard to translate this research into actionable resources for teachers in the classroom.
While I am pleased with the position of strength and
value our organization has in the field, I hope that you will
join the Board of Directors, staff, and volunteer members
to take NAGC to the next level of excellence. I invite you
to contact me directly to share your thoughts on how our
organization can better serve the community of K-12 education practitioners. Teachers are on the front lines, helping students fulfill their wildest dreams and achieve their
full potential. Please contact me via email or pull me aside
at our Annual Convention in Phoenix this November. I want
to hear from you. Our organization needs your voice! Together, we are NAGC. THP
buried under books: a reader on reading
Susannah Richards
Eastern Connecticut State University
[email protected]
@SussingOutBooks
Let Them Hear It
In Your Voice
W
ith the beginning of the new school year, there
are many decisions to make—how to arrange
the learning environment, how to get to know
the students, what teaching and learning strategies to use, and what materials will help students acquire and
utilize knowledge, skills and strategies. While all of these areas are important, the literacy environment provides a backbone for much of the learning in schools. The decisions for
the literacy environment are crucial.
The read aloud, where teachers read aloud to their students,
is a crucial component of literacy development in every grade
for readers of all levels, for it addresses and supports many
aspects of literacy development: phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It
is a time to model language development; to model fluency
with accuracy, rate, and prosody; to expose students to new
vocabulary; and to help students develop their comprehension. Students are able to comprehend text at a higher level
when they hear it than when they read it independently.
Choosing Books
When choosing books to read aloud consider a few fac-
tors—quality, diversity, language use, story structure, as well
as the interests and needs of the students. For highly able
students, it is important to choose a book that is two years
above what students may be able to read independently
(don’t forget to consider the appropriateness of the topic
and the development needs of the students). Therefore, for a
group of 5th grade students who read independently at the
4th-7th grade level, students should hear books that are at
the 5th-9th grade reading level so that they may all learn new
vocabulary and language structure. While not every book has
to be at least two years above what each student is able to
read by him or herself, there should be variety of books and
reading levels in the read aloud offerings so that each student
regularly hears something that is a pleasure and a challenge.
You may want to use audiobooks as a strategy to deliver high
level read alouds to those students who may need higher or
lower levels.
Planning
As you plan your read alouds, consider how a title might
ignite an interest in a topic. Read nonfiction aloud such as
Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey
Suggested Titles
Alexander, K. (2014). The crossover. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. New York, NY: Amulet.
Conkling, W. (2016) Radioactive! How Irene Curie and Lisa Meitner revolutionized science and changed
the world. New York, NY: Algonquin.
Engle, M. (2015). Orangutanka: A story in poems. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
Hopkins, H. J. (2015). The tree lady: The true story of how one tree loving woman changed a city forever.
San Francisco, CA: Chronicle.
Jenkins, E. (2015). A fine dessert: Four centuries, four families, one delicious treat.
New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade.
Pizzoli, G. (2015). Tricky Vic: The impossibly true story of the man who sold the eiffel tower.
New York, NY: Viking.
Rockliff, M. (2015). Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin solved a mystery that baffled all of France.
Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Silvey, A. (2015). Untamed: The wild life of Jane Goodall. Washington, DC: National Geographic.
Schlitz, L. A. (2015). The hired girl. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
Shusterman, N. (2015). Edison’s alley (Accelerati Trilogy). New York, NY: Disney-Hyperion.
Tonatiuh, D. (2014). Separate in never equal: Sylvia Mendez and her family’s fight for desegregation.
New York, NY: Abrams.
www.nagc.org
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 13
or Radioactive! How Irene Curie and Lisa Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World by Winifred Conkling. These nonfiction titles are wonderful stories about
real people who pursued interests, solved problems, and
made an impact.
Often a read aloud will motivate students to read other
works by the same author so when you choose a book
to read aloud, consider books by authors who have
more than one book, whether in a series or as multiple
stand-alone books. Such authors include M.T. Anderson, Katherine Applegate, Avi, James Dashner, Gordon
Korman, Emily Jenkins, D.J. MacHale, Andrea Davis
Pinkney, Laura Amy Schlitz, Rebecca Stead, and Jacqueline Woodson.
Think about the read aloud as a way to help students
learn about the world, both the world they know and the
ones that they do not. If you live in a rural area, read
books with urban settings and characters (and vice versa)
and read as a window and door to other worlds. Read
books with diverse characters who have diverse experiences (Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and her
Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh).
Read books that may help students learn how to problem
solve or make new friends. Read across genres and formats — graphic novels (El Deafo by Cece Bell), historical
fiction (The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz), science fic-
14 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
tion (Edison’s Alley by Neal Shusterman), novels in verse
(The Crossover by Kwame Alexander), poetry (Orangutanka: A Story in Poems by Margarita Engle), biography
(Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who
Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli), narrative nonfiction
(The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree Loving
Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins),
picture books (A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat by Emily Jenkins) and books that
take the reader to the unexpected (Mesmerized: How
Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France
by Mara Rockliff). Throughout the year, mix up the read
alouds to be sure that you expose students to many different settings, characters, plots, and voices. Read some
books over a short period (1-5 days) and others that last
longer 6-15 days). Try not to extend a book for too long,
as it is often hard to focus on a plot that is stretched out
for more than three weeks.
Take the read aloud seriously. It is as important and
serious reading business. It is a foundational teaching
strategy and should be an integral part of teaching for
all students, including highly able students who also
need exposure to literature that is above their independent reading level so that they will continue to grow as
readers. THP
heart to heart
Thomas P. Hébert
University of South Carolina
[email protected]
Surprise at the Thanksgiving Day
Table: Lessons Learned from Caroline
I
enjoyed meeting the mother of a very talented young
woman during a seminar I recently conducted. Following my presentation Vicki described her experiences
with her daughter Caroline. She explained that one year
she and her husband were curious about her leaving the
Thanksgiving Day dinner table frequently. Caroline would be
absent from the dining room for lengthy periods. When Vicki
investigated she discovered that her daughter was delivering food from the kitchen to two homeless individuals who
were camped out in the family’s garage.
Sixteen-year-old Caroline had met the couple at a nonprofit coffee shop in New Orleans where she was volunteering. She explained to her mother that she was appalled
that the local mission house served a Thanksgiving meal the
day before the holiday and she wanted to ensure that her
new friends would have a good meal on the actual day of
Thanksgiving. She had transformed the garage into a comfortable space complete with sleeping bags and a separate
dining table for the couple.
Vicki’s family had grown accustomed to Caroline’s response to the pain and suffering of others. As a young
child she insisted that the family deliver a meal from a fast
food restaurant to homeless individuals on the streets on a
weekly basis. Her mother reported that Caroline was known
to find spare change in the back seat of the family car, roll
the car windows down at busy intersections in the city and
pass out the money on to impoverished people. As a teenager she invited a family who had lost their home to a fire to
come home with her. Her parents welcomed them.
Vicki explained that she encouraged Caroline to become
involved in violin lessons and cotillion but her daughter wanted nothing to do with either. Instead she led her friends from
the high school biology club in an environmental effort to recycle Christmas trees for use as stabilizing riprap in the local
rivers. Caroline’s environmental project continued long after
her graduation from high school. Her mother reported that
following the horrific events of Katrina along the Gulf Coast,
Caroline returned to New Orleans from her new home in Florida to take care of stray animals along the coastal sandbars.
Caroline graduated summa cum laude with a degree
in cultural anthropology from the University of New Orleans and became a 5th grade teacher in a private school
where she facilitates a curriculum rich with social justice
projects. Vicki smiled as she compared Caroline to her
older, more methodical brother, a medical doctor. Proud
of both children, she indicated, “I read them the same
nursery rhymes, fed them the same milk and the same
vitamins, but they sure turned out different.”
www.nagc.org
Supporting Young Activists
Educators of gifted students celebrate that “they turn out
different.” Some become the kind of compassionate individuals who strive to bring about healthy social change.
Caroline’s story should inspire other young people to serve
those in need. It is those compassionate young people who
follow in the footsteps of Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt,
and Martin Luther King, Jr. and serve as change agents in
their society.
Vicki had many reasons to be proud of her daughter.
Within this young woman was a strong sensitivity, empathy, and compassion. At an early age Caroline discovered
her own outlets for these qualities and developed a strong
moral maturity.
“Educators serve their
students well by incorporating
opportunities to address
authentic social problems in
their communities.”
Caroline’s story serves as a reminder to educators
that gifted students have a need to apply their idealism
and the ability to conceptualize and address authentic
societal, social, and environmental issues. Through addressing such problems they realize they can become a
voice for change. Moreover, such experiences also help
to develop leadership skills that can be applied in the
future. Caroline’s environmental efforts in establishing a
Christmas tree recycling program helped her realize that
her choices mattered, her efforts made a difference, and
adults in her life valued what she did with her talents.
Such a tangible product with long-lasting impact certainly helped to build a sense of accomplishment in Caroline
and her biology club friends.
Caroline was fortunate to have parents and teachers who
supported her inclinations and efforts. Positive responses
from these adults only helped to support her emotional
well-being and validate her view of herself as a young
woman capable of making a positive difference in the lives
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 15
of others. Today in her 5th grade classroom Caroline incorporates social action projects that reach out to others
in need. Educators who recognize that today’s children are
strongly influenced by the media and are very aware of serious societal issues serve their students well by incorporating opportunities to address authentic social problems
in their communities. Bookstores and educational libraries
offer a wealth of excellent resources for teachers facilitating classroom projects in social action. I encourage readers to explore two of my favorites:
• Elizabeth Rusch (2002) Generation fix: Young ideas for a
better world. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing.
• Garth Sundem (2010). Real kids, real stories, real change:
Courageous actions around the world. Minneapolis, MN:
Free Spirit Publishing.
smart cookies
These two publications are collections of true stories
of young children and teenagers who use their intelligence, compassion, and courage to help others. They
feature profiles of ordinary kids doing extraordinary work.
Teachers who explore these resources soon discover that
aligning social action projects with curricular objectives
is relatively easy and that such important work naturally
addresses many of the required educational standards
that educators must consider when planning instruction.
Classroom discussions focused on the student-initiated
projects described in these books can help young people
realize quickly that social action projects extend beyond
the Thanksgiving holiday! As Caroline helped us see, it
is more than a soup-can drive. It is a way of life: serving
others. THP
By Bess Wilson
If we graded what really mattered in gifted classrooms…
16 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
Expectation Overload
continued from page 1
commensurate with medicine or law.
I distinctly remember my chemistry
teacher telling me it would “be a waste
if I became a teacher,” and several of
my guidance counselors encouraged
me to consider teaching after I had a
“real job.”
In attempts to fulfill multiple expectations while still pursuing my passion
for teaching, I planned to
attend medical school and
pursue a career in academic medicine, teach and perform piano on the side, and
of course raise a perfect
family with four children.
Job title? Full-time doctor,
educator, concert pianist,
and stay-at-home mom. I
did my best to fulfill the multiple expectations that corresponded with my diverse
talents and interests, but I
lost myself along the way.
There are few things more
unsettling than a teacher
asserting that a student can
do anything when that student is internally struggling
to keep her head above
water. Maxwell (2007) commented, “Sometimes counselors fail to recognize that
blessings can become a curse for these
individuals, and without essential guidance and support, gifted students are
at risk to underachieve, overextend,
and succumb to personal and societal
pressures” (p. 206). The problem arises
when teachers and mentors, eager to
encourage gifted children to develop
their many talents, inadvertently heap
pressure onto these students.
Gifted Students’ Concerns
How is it that gifted children with diverse talents and interests fall prey to
social pressures and fail to reach their
full potential? It has been estimated
that between 15% and 50% of gifted
children achieve well below their cognitive and creative potential in both their
work-related and personal lives (Morisano & Shore, 2010). Gifted, multipotentialed individuals seem to have all
www.nagc.org
the ingredients needed for success—
multiple talents, diverse interests, and
a history of academic achievement.
However, these students often carry
unique affective needs, which if overlooked can negatively affect achievement and quality of life.
Many practitioners are surprised to
learn some of their most gifted stu-
dents have negative self-concepts and
little confidence in their abilities. They
can be weighed down by perfectionism, the desire to please others, and
emotional overexcitability, any one of
which can overshadow their potential
for multiple life opportunities. I often
stay awake at night, plagued by mental
checklists that clearly illustrate these
unique characteristics of gifted, multipotentialed students. So, what are the
questions that keep gifted, multipotentialed students up at night?
Am I working hard enough?
This worry seems simple until I break
it down. Not only do I worry I’m not
working hard enough in my doctoral
studies, but I also believe I should be
similarly dedicated to everything else.
For example, I struggle with leisure activities. If I’m going on a run, I need to
run according to a marathon-training
plan. If I’m playing the piano, I must
improve my technique rather than just
play for personal enjoyment. I have to
make a conscious choice to control
my thoughts and actions, continually
reminding myself I don’t have to be the
best at everything I do.
Combining multipotentiality and perfectionism is a recipe for
disaster; students believe
they must do everything
perfectly. Fear of failure
debilitates these students,
often driving them toward
“safe choices” that guarantee success. In the eyes of a
perfectionist, multiple abilities and interests are seen
as multiple expectations
that must be fulfilled flawlessly. Perfectionists think
in extremes—one is either a
marathon runner or a couch
potato. Performance has no
gray areas.
In true zero-sum fashion,
choosing to pursue one interest means choosing to
abandon another. Gifted
multipotentialed
students
are often paralyzed by their
multiple abilities, unable to
recognize that not all of their interests
will take top billing (Colangelo, 2002).
They must be taught that although it’s
impossible to fully dedicate themselves
to everything, they can still explore many
of their interests for personal enjoyment.
What if I let someone down?
I waste an extraordinary amount of
mental energy replaying conversations
in my mind and attempting to determine if I am pleasing others. I often
become so lost in fulfilling the expectations of others (e.g., academic advisors, mentors, friends, family) that I
struggle to understand my own goals.
Unfortunately, I seldom hesitate to
compromise on fulfilling my personal
needs in order to keep others happy.
Gifted individuals are accustomed to
receiving almost constant praise. Their
parents boast about them at the dinFall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 17
ner table, and they are often known as
model students in the classroom. Many
gifted students are extrinsically motivated, depending on the approval of
others to validate their self-worth. Since
multipotentialed students have such diverse talents, they are often pressured
to fulfill contradictory expectations. For
example, consider a young woman with
extraordinary scientific and athletic talent who also has a passion for serving the elderly. She may feel pressured
to attend medical school (making her
teachers and parents happy), become
captain of the soccer team (making her
friends happy), and take a leadership
role at a local nursing home (making the
other volunteers happy). In the process
of pleasing others, she loses herself.
Simply volunteering at a nursing home
on a monthly basis is not enough. She
feels that in order to please others, she
must take a more active role, starting
new programs and dedicating many
hours a week.
Attempting to fulfill conflicting expectations is detrimental to gifted children. Not only do they fail to please
everyone, they often neglect to care
for themselves. These students define success by external means; they
establish performance goals that focus on appearing successful, rather
than mastering the material. As a result, many of these students have low
self-efficacies, and believe they have
little control over their academic ability.
They would rather struggle internally
than upset someone by admitting they
need guidance (Greene, 2006).
What if I make the wrong decision
and my future is ruined?
Some people say I’m an indecisive
person, but I feel the decisions I make. I
often dwell on how intricately connected decisions are, analyzing how each
decision can affect the other. I’m sensitive to the impact my decisions have on
my future life and the lives of others.
Heightened sensitivity and awareness, often referred to as overexcitability, can intensify the decision making
process of gifted multipotentialed students. There are five main overexcitabilities observed in unique combinations
within gifted populations: psychomotor,
sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and
emotional (Maxwell, 2007). Emotional
overexcitability can be a double-edged
sword. Students often pour their hearts
into their work, finding personal meaning in intellectual endeavors. This immersion can create an intrinsic desire to
learn, thus promoting perseverance and
dedication. However, since students are
so emotionally invested in work, fear of
failure may debilitate them from challenging themselves. Increased emotional sensitivity often drives students
to overanalyze decisions, sometimes
leading to irrational conclusions.
As an undergraduate student, I attempted a triple major in biology, education, and Spanish for my first two
years. When my biology advisor informed me that in order to complete
my major, I’d have to drop some Spanish classes, I was devastated. I was
so emotionally invested in my Spanish studies that officially dropping the
major felt like abandoning my love for
Latin American culture and my passion
for learning the language. Fortunately,
Figure 1. Implications for Practitioners Working with Gifted, Multipotentialed Students
DO ask
Ask students to:
• Describe their
unique passions
• Inform you of
pressures/
difficulties
• Engage in new
activities
DO provide
DON’T assume
DON’T imply
Provide:
• Mentor-mentee
support
• Same-sex peer
support
• Opportunities to
ask questions in a
safe environment
• Opportunities to
experience various
careers in a “hands
on” environment
• Differentiated
instruction that
utilizes role models
in diverse fields,
from diverse backgrounds
Don’t assume that:
• Students who
receive high grades
will easily transition
to the real world
• Gifted students are
confident in their
ability
• Gifted students
have emotional and
social support
Don’t imply that:
• Certain careers are
more respectable
than others
• Gifted students are
always perfect
• Gifted students
have no difficulties
in the real world
18 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
my advisor helped me realize I could
continue to travel and serve abroad,
even if I didn’t earn a Spanish major.
Recognizing True Passion
Although I still struggle with the pressures that come with fulfilling multiple
expectations, I have, through the help
and support of positive mentors and
educators, learned to see my multipotentiality as an opportunity for growth.
It was a biology professor who finally
“got” me. She was the first professor who asked me what I wanted to
be in life, rather than what I wanted
to achieve. Instead of presenting certain career trajectories as “successful
paths” (e.g., medical school, dental
school, research), she required students to creatively connect personal interests to the content covered in class.
After reading my research paper on the
neuroscience of learning and teaching,
she sat me down and encouraged me
to follow my calling to be a teacher.
When my friends were applying for
medical school, she helped me find
educational research jobs and assisted
me in writing a personal statement that
illustrated how my knowledge of biology formed the foundation for my love
for learning and teaching.
How can practitioners like my biology
professor serve gifted students with such
diverse interests and talents? The NAGC
PreK-Grade 12 Gifted Programming
Standards (National Association for Gifted
Children, 2010) point to the importance of
addressing social and emotional needs of
gifted children in two ways: stressing the
development of self-understanding and
awareness of personal needs (standards
1.1-1.5), as well as personal and social
competence (standards 4.1 and 4.2).
Suggestions for counselors and educators of the gifted and multipotentialed can
be summarized by “Do’s” and “Don’ts”
presented in Figure 1.
Traditional career counseling techniques such as ability and interest assessments yield little clarity for these
students. After completing such assessments, students receive news that
they could be teachers, park rangers,
politicians, or doctors, just to name a
few. It comes as no surprise that this
multitude of choices and opportunities
paralyzes the career-decision making
process (Maxwell, 2007). Since multiwww.nagc.org
potentialed students have such diverse
talents, many researchers suggest
these students consider their passions
and emotions, along with their academic talents, when making decisions.
Differentiated curricula that encourage self-reflection and personal goal
setting are thus extremely beneficial
to these bright children. Just because
students have the ability to succeed
in multiple areas does not mean they
have a personal desire to do so. Increased self-awareness facilitates the
decision making process, encouraging
students to find personal meaning in
their academic endeavors.
As educators, it is tempting to encourage students to fulfill their potential, but
we must be sensitive to forcing our own
definition of success onto our brightest
students. Student talents are not always
indicative of passion, and students that
thrive in an academic setting will often
struggle to find direction and meaning
in the “real world.” Gifted students are
highly aware of social cues; while few
teachers would explicitly assert that certain careers are more respectable than
others, students form perceptions of
success based on implicit messages.
Thus, educators should be careful to
provide multiple illustrations of success,
pointing to diverse professions such as
the fine arts in addition to more traditional career paths. Positive mentor-mentee
relationships help students form realistic perceptions of success, and support groups composed of like-minded
individuals create safe environments in
which students can share their struggles.
Teachers should encourage students to
try things “just for fun,” stressing the importance of pursuing interests for selffulfillment, rather than for the purpose of
meeting demanding expectations.
For many years, my fantasies of
having a classroom of my own were
just that—fantasies. Many educators and other influential individuals
had implied that a teacher wasn’t on
the same level as doctors and lawyers, and as a “gifted student” I knew
I was expected to pursue a challenging career. Instead of considering my
passions when choosing among my
several interests, I became obsessed
with fulfilling the expectations of others. Once I was encouraged to look
inward and consider my passion for
teaching, I saw my multiple interests in
a new light. My identity was no longer
found in perfecting my multiple talents;
instead I used these talents to fuel my
passion for learning.
Today, this passion for learning continues to ignite my teaching as well as
my personal studies and research. I
may not find the cure for cancer. I may
not make a huge difference in policy or
become a well-renowned lawyer. But I
can tell my current and future students
that success is not based on fulfilling
expectations. Without the support of
encouraging teachers and role models,
I wouldn’t be who I am today. Success
lies in uniting interests, talents, and
passions. I’m still not exactly sure what
I want to do when I graduate, but I know
what I want to be. I want to be true to my
passions, not my expectations. I want to
be happy and live a balanced life. And
when I look beyond the many societal
expectations I face, I am confident that
I’m pursuing my personal, unique path
to success. My hope is that I can inspire
my students, encouraging them to sift
through expectations and uncover and
develop their personal passion. THP
References
Colangelo, N. (2002). Counseling gifted
and talented students (RM02150). Storrs:
University of Connecticut, the National
Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented.
Fisher, T. (2010). Multipotentiality. Unwrap ping the Gifted. Retrieved from http://
blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrap ping_the_gifted/2010/08/multipote...
Greene, M. J. (2006). Helping build lives:
Career and life development of gifted
and talented students. Professional
School Counseling, 10, 34-42.
Maxwell, M. (2007). Career counseling is
personal counseling: A constructivist
approach to nurturing the development
of gifted female adolescents. Career De velopment Quarterly, 55, 206-224.
Morisano, D., & Shore, B. (2010). Can per sonal goal setting tap the potential of
the gifted underachiever? Roeper Re view, 32(4), 249-258.
National Association for Gifted Children.
(2010). Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Program ming Standards. Retrieved from http://
www.nagc.org/sites/default/files/stand
ards/K-12%20programming%20stan
dards.pdf
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 19
the creative classroom
James Fetterly
University of Central
Arkansas
Betty Wood
University of Arkansas at
Little Rock
A Pathway for Classroom Creativity
I
magine a classroom of gifted and the talented students. It is
full of creative ideas and new processes are developed and
old ideas are repurposed to solve meaningful problems. It is
a place where teachers and students learn from each other.
Creativity is one of the most important topics for the gifted and
talented student (Davis, Rimm, & Siegle, 2011). Students with
top grades in school and at the university level were found to
have not only a high IQ, but also high creativity (Cropley & Urban, 2000). So, how do teachers create a balance between rigid
knowledge of intelligence and the fluid craft of unruly ingenuity? Little has been written about balancing the need to meet
curricular standards while also addressing the creative needs
of gifted students. Here, we attempt to explain, evaluate, and
negotiate the dynamics of meeting the needs of the students
while creating that all-important balanced classroom.
Creativity Obstacles
There are two barriers to fostering or enhancing classroom
creativity. One is intellectual uniformity. This is the classroom
with absolute regularity and consistency. The other is intellectual anarchy, which is characterized by irregularity or chaos.
In isolation, each is equally harmful to creative productivity,
but in different ways: absolute regularity denies the chance
for creativity while irregularity hampers progress and utility. In
other words, uniformity allows for utility but negates novelty,
while intellectual anarchy exploits novelty at the expense of
utility. In their respective extreme forms, neither is ultimately
productive in the creative sense (Sternberg, 2006).
Intellectual uniformity
With intellectual uniformity, novelty is stifled or eliminated
with everyone marching in lockstep. If the classroom is overly
rigid, innovation will be eliminated and so will progress. To
put it a different way, nothing is created, if nothing is creative.
Individualization is overshadowed by conformity to the norm.
Elitism is a common criticism of gifted education (Sternberg,
1996). As a result, many teachers try to avoid this by teaching
all gifted students the same—same content, same process,
and same product (Maker, 1982; Mattsson & Bengmark,
2011)—at the expense of individual expression.
Life provides many examples of extreme uniformity (although not always a negative), such as the industrial assembly line, routine procedures in the office, and the repetitive Zumba class. Extreme uniformity is like singing only the
melody to a song for an extended period of time, which may
eliminate the potential for one to hear and sing the harmony.
This uniformity is seen in academic environments with traditional straight-row lecture or in conventional mathematics
20 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
instruction such as the monotonous theorem-proof-theorem-proof mantra of the typical geometry class. Lockstep
teaching, learning, and thinking, in all likelihood, results in a
detrimental influence for creative activity.
Intellectual anarchy
In contrast, with intellectual anarchy nonconformity is the
norm, with pandemonium the only result. In other words, everything is different for the sole purpose of being different. This
is diversity at the expense of unity. Order and structure are
abandoned for the sake of the new and unique. The end result of this perpetual and total innovation is that new ideas are
firmly planted in midair. One could summarize this classroom
as the following: if everything is creative, then nothing is.
Just as life provides examples of extreme uniformity, it also
provides instances of extreme anarchy. History is replete with
revolutionaries, inventors, and artisans who have broken the
mold of traditional thought and challenged classical conventions—Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton,
and Leonardo da Vinci, just to name a few. Intellectual anarchy does not exclude precocious children with limitless appetites to learn and create. To create what their imaginations
envision, these young innovators are constantly repurposing
and reinventing the mundane, making it new. As teachers of
gifted students, we do not want to repress this type of divergent thought. Yet, in its raw form, intellectual anarchy is not
productive for students with exceptional talent.
Extreme anarchy is not like the symphony where different
instruments are playing in concert. Rather it is like the noise
of every instrument playing without a common beat, meter,
measure or melody, or conductor. This is similar to the unruly,
nontraditional classroom with purposeless group work and
aimless brainstorming without boundaries and responsibilities. In short, chaotic teaching, learning, and thinking may
foster diversity of thought but, because it is unharnessed, it
may be just as ineffective as extreme uniformity.
Intellectual Irony
In the end, both extremes produce the same result. In the
first case, unity of thought was prioritized over diversity of
ideas to the point of elimination, and in the second, diversity of ideas replaced any notion of unity. More specifically,
in the uniform environment, variation is unachievable, and
therefore creativity is unobservable. Everyone is virtually
identical. Once again, gifted education becomes the same
content, same process, and same product (Maker, 1982).
So, when learning is identical for every gifted student, the
net gain is limited. Thus, if nothing is creative, nothing is cre-
ated. Ironically, the same is true for the environment where
everything is radically different or irregular. In this scenario, neither an objective nor a subjective standard exists to
measure originality. Since everything is uniquely novel nothing stands out. Thus, nothing is creative, if everything is.
Intellectual Ingenuity
Nevertheless, the association of both barriers is not only
desirable, it is crucial to embrace and support true creativity.
In fact, one may argue that a balance of the two is the key to
forging innovative ideas. That is to say, intellectual ingenuity
is the productive merger of uniformity and irregularity.
But what does this mean? And what is the practical application of this union of intellectual ingenuity that proportionally
combines creativity with routine? Simply stated, if one comes
from an overly structured and uniform environment, then the introduction of prescribed divergent stimuli is required. The goal
of this divergence is to ignite the creative spark. Conversely,
adding structure to the chaotic environment counterbalances
and streamlines the creative process. This union transforms
inaccessible chaos and bland homogeneity into a product that
can be valued and embraced by the general public.
Intellectual Reality
In reality, most people are not drowning in a sea of creative
chaos. As stated earlier, teaching, learning, and thinking in
many classroom environments is monotonously uniform
and rigid. This hyper-regularity is often the real obstacle to
the curious and the creative. The main objective, therefore,
is to enhance creativity by providing both dissonance and
harmony to the environment. This allows ambiguity to survive, as well as respect for structure and order.
Although potentially painful, it is necessary to evaluate
one’s position with respect to these two barriers. Generally speaking, teachers are inclined toward one chasm or
the other. The solution, however, is not so much navigating
our way out of these disproportionate routines, but rather
utilizing each in tandem. This paradigm requires counter-
22 Teaching for High Potential | Fall 2015
balancing dominant and recessive dispositions. Maybe
instead of chasms, these extremes can be thought of as
stabilizing factors, like the ropes on a hand bridge. Without
both, one may fall into the abyss of doldrums or chaos. If
these chasms are perceived as ruts, one is stuck. However,
if perceived as rails or supports, creative opportunities for
students can be optimized. To clear a path for classroom
creativity, uniformity and anarchy must be harnessed and
utilized in tandem to produce intellectual ingenuity. THP
References
Cropley, A. J. & Urban, K. K. (2000). Programs and strategies for nur turing creativity. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks, R. J. Sternberg, & R. F.
Subotnik (Eds.), International handbook of research and develop ment of giftedness and talent (pp. 485-498). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
Davis, G. A., Rimm, S.B., & Siegle, D. (2011). Education of the gifted
and talented (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Maker, C. J. (1982). Curriculum development for the gifted. Rockville,
MD: Aspen Systems.
Mattsson, L., & Bengmark, S. (2011). On track to gifted education in
mathematics in Sweden. In B. Sriraman & K. H. Lee (Eds.), The ele ments of creativity and giftedness in mathematics (pp. 81-101), Rot terdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Sternberg, R. J. (1996). Neither elitism nor egalitarianism: Gifted edu cation as a third force in American education. Roeper Review, 18(4),
261-263.
Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research
Journal, 18(1), 87-98.
Dr. James Fetterly, [email protected], is an assistant professor in
the Mathematics Department at the University of Central Arkansas.
He is interested in creativity and problem posing in mathematics.
Dr. Betty Wood, [email protected], is a recently retired associate
professor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where she
was the coordinator of the Middle Childhood Education Graduate
Program. Her research interest lie in mathematics, gifted education, and creativity.
school spotlighT on high potential
An Early Start
Editor’s Note: The following column was written from a series of
interviews with the former Executive Director, Stephanie Ferguson,
before her departure in June 2015 after eight years as the head of
the program.
T
he Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) was
established in 1985 to provide the opportunity for
extraordinary young women as young as 13 to skip
all or some of their high school grades in order to
begin their college undergraduate degree. The program
started with a grant of more than $1 million and has developed over 30 years into an internationally acclaimed program for gifted females.
Acceptance into the program for female teens is highly selective and requires them to have intellectual capacity with an intense desire to learn, consistent academic achievement, social
and emotional maturity, and a serious sense of purpose. Since
early college is not always appropriate for all students, a case
study approach is used during the selection process, matching the student to the
program. Prospective
students must have
SAT or ACT scores
comparable to those
of entering college
freshmen, achievement test scores in
the 90th percentile,
and have completed
a geometry course
prior to enrollment.
Students enrolled
at PEG are treated
to the same experience as every other
college freshman, the only difference being that they never received an official high school diploma. Students register and
take the same sequence of classes, declare the same majors,
and graduate in a similar time period. They are allowed to participate in sports, join clubs and organizations and attend all
campus-related activities and events.
By entering this accelerated program, these young, remarkable students are able to live on campus with their peers. Executive Director Stephanie Ferguson explains that PEG is a
specialized school utilizing radical acceleration to meet the
cognitive needs of gifted girls while addressing the affective
domain within a unique residential community. PEG staff pro-
www.nagc.org
Jennifer Selting Troester
O’Neill (NE) High School
[email protected]
The Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at
Mary Baldwin College
Staunton, VA
www.mbc.edu/early_college/
Population: 70 students
vide supervision, programming, and emotional support at all
times. All staff is trained in meeting the academic, social, and
emotional needs of gifted girls. Part of PEG students’ residential life includes weekly goal setting and feedback meetings
that provide an opportunity to share ideas and concerns in a
small group setting. A monthly community meeting gives staff
and students the chance to conduct business, address issues,
celebrate birthdays, and strengthen relationships. PEG staff
lead evening activities, provide transportation to medical appointments and for weekend excursions and field trips.
Many may believe that entering college at age 13 or 14 is far
too young, but the prodigiously gifted females that enter the
PEG program feel the experience has changed and enriched
their lives beyond measure. Although they are away from
their families, PEG becomes their home and their peers, like
sisters. Personal growth and support are common themes
that echo among
past PEG participants. “My PEG experience taught me
to be a confident
explorer in my own
life, to approach my
own interests with an
air of discovery and
flexibility. Although
there was a strong
expectation of academic
excellence,
the PEG experience
also made room for
individual expression
and creativity,” explained past student Lisa Antoniotti. Another feeling that alumni of PEG expressed was the ability
to be more flexible than their colleagues with respect to their
career. Other students felt that the dedicated and committed
nature of PEG staff and Mary Baldwin instructors, investing
in each student’s individual success, set them on a trajectory
of high achievement. Lisa Antoniotti best sums up what the
PEG program shaped her to become, “I am a learner, I am a
leader, and I am definitely a PEG.”
You can read more about the graduates of PEG through the
25 Faces of PEG Project webpage, created to celebrate the first
25 years of the program. www.mbc.edu/faces-of-peg/ THP
Fall 2015
| Teaching for High Potential 23