Famous Failures

1. Famous Failures • Her family suggested Louisa May Alcott should find work as a servant or a seamstress. An editor told her she could never write anything with popular appeal. • Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer. • Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. • Charles Darwin, who gave up a medical career begun at Edinburgh, was told by his father, "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching." In his autobiography, he wrote, "I was considered by all my masters and by my father as a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect." • Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of good ideas. • Thomas Edison's teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. • Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn't read until he was seven. His teacher described him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams." He was expelled and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. • Carl Jung, who had trouble with math, was considered stupid by his teachers. His concept of himself was less intelligent, less hardworking, attentive, decent, and cleaner than many of the other boys. • Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies, 15th out of 22 in chemistry. • Rocket scientist Werner Von Braun failed ninth grade Algebra. • F.W. Woolworth's employers at the dry goods store said he had not enough good sense to wait upon customers. • Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. • Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college. • Abraham Lincoln entered the Black Hawk War as a Captain and came out as a private. • http://lucarinfo.com/inspire/dgifted.html

2. Meeting the Needs of Gifted Learners Amanda Jones At Silverwood School, we challenge our students to become confident, compassionate citizens and skilled life-long learners – literate, motivated, and intellectually adventurous.

3. Topics Covered • Identifying Gifted Traits • Academic and Emotional Needs • Teaching Strategies • Gifted Students at Silverwood • Tips for Parents • Parent Resources

4. Identifying the Young Gifted Child • Frequently reach 'milestones' such as walking and first speech earlier than average • Have a strong desire to explore, investigate, and master the environment (opens up cabinets, takes things apart) • Toys and games mastered early, then discarded • Very active (but activity with a purpose, not to be confused with ADHD) • Can distinguish between reality and fantasy (questions about Santa or the tooth fairy come very early!) • Very observant – notices things other children of the same age would miss

5. Identifying the School-age Gifted Child • Curious and enjoys learning new things • Absorb information rapidly and with less repetition • Excellent memory • Long attention span • Excellent reasoning and problem solving skills • Intense interests • Unusual and/or vivid imagination • Usually intrinsically motivated to learn • Interested in philosophical and social issues • Concerned about fairness and injustice • Energetic • Asynchronous development • Well-developed sense of humor • Perfectionistic • Prefer books and magazines meant for older children

6. Cognitive Traitsof Gifted Learners • Have well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis • Easily see cause-effect relationships • Quickly see similarities, differences, and anomalies • Can see relationships among seemingly unrelated objects, ideas, or facts  • Readily grasp underlying principles and can often make valid generalizations about events, people, or objects • Often attack complicated material by separating it into components and analyzing it systematically • Fluent thinking, generating possibilities, consequences, or related ideas • Flexible thinking, using many different alternatives and approaches to problem solving • Elaborate thinking, producing new steps, ideas, responses, or other embellishments to a basic idea, situation, or problems  • Original thinking, seeking new, unusual, or unconventional associations and combinations among items of information • Skeptical, critical, and evaluative, making them quick to spot inconsistencies

7. Social/Emotional Traits of Gifted Learners • Asynchronous development • Relate well to parents, teachers and other adults • Heightened awareness which can lead to heightened anxiety • Inability to fit in with same-age peers • Intolerance toward same-age peers • Exposure to subject matter beyond what is developmentally appropriate • Display intellectual playfulness, which shows up in a desire to fantasize and imagine • Very sensitive, emotionally and even physically • Missed social cues • Extreme need for justice • Perfectionism • Fear of failure

8. Teaching Strategies for Gifted Learners • Building relationships • Letting Go of "Normal" • Constructing curriculum based on individual interest • Compacting • Accelerating • Differentiating

9. Gifted Learners at Silverwood • Students receive instruction and guidance in study, research, and organizational skills; social and real world application of learning; critical and creative thinking skills; and goal setting. • Core curriculum is modified to allow in-depth explorations. • Students engage in critical thinking and reasoning abilities across the curriculum. • We provide an environment that encourages and fosters inquiry and challenging attitudes toward learning. • Students develop creativity through fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, problem-finding, and problem-solving exercises. • Teachers use students’ strengths and interests to determine in-depth explorations. • Affective needs are addressed through individual goal setting with an emphasis on organization and study skills. • Develop interpersonal skills of empathy and cooperation through group work and yearly school-wide, theme-centered curriculum

10. How Silverwood Teachers Differentiate • Students participate in self-assessment, goal setting, and reflection of goals for each trimester and in all core subject areas. • Critical and creative thinking skills are developed in all academic areas. • Continuous formative assessments are given to develop individualized instruction. • Students are placed beyond grade level for additional challenge in a variety of subject areas. • All grade levels participate in project-based curriculum that allows for students to select research subjects according to interest and ability.

11. Tips for Parents Discover Your Child’s Interests • Create multiple opportunities for your child to try a variety of activities • Explore your community. Actively follow the local newspapers and kid’s directories for festivals, activities, and classes in the area • Don’t be afraid to introduce your gifted child to a subject that you know little about

12. Tips for Parents Link Interests to School • Help your child to see the real-world connection between curriculum introduced at school and experiences in everyday life. • Communicate with your child’s teacher if your child is passionate about specific topics or is showing interest in a new subject or event

13. Tips for Parents Gifted Underachievers • Set up an organizational system • Discuss the difference between effort and ability • Use praise sparingly • Model your own willingness to try difficult tasks • Discuss with your child someone whom you admire and that person’s journey

14. Tips for Parents Consider Yourself to be Your Child’s Primary Educator • Take your children on “field trips” to places that will interest them or engage them higher-level thinking • Enter your child in competitions and contests • Participate in a book club with your child and engage him/her in discussions on character and plot. • Let your child plan family evenings, meals, or celebrations

15. RELAX and Let Them be Kids!!

16. Parent Resources About Us SENG is dedicated to fostering environments in which gifted adults and children, in all their diversity, understand and accept themselves and are understood, valued, nurtured, and supported by their families, schools, workplaces and communities. Mission SENG’s mission is to empower families and communities to guide gifted and talented individuals to reach their goals: intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Vision SENG envisions a world where gifted, talented and creative individuals aresupported to build gratifying, meaningful lives and contribute to the well-beingof others.  To this end, SENG reaches out to diverse communities that shareour mission across the nation and the globe. www.sengifted.org

17. Parent Resources Supporting the needs of high-potential learners An estimated 3,000,000 gifted children sit in classrooms across the U.S. today. Because learning styles and levels vary widely, the needs of "smart kids" are far too often overlooked in the logical quest to meet minimum standards.  But that begs the question:  What is a maximum standard and how can we shift the focus in the U.S.?  For over 50 years, NAGC has worked to increase public awareness about these key questions and to affect positive change. The 8,000+ members of NAGC work on behalf of these 3,000,000 students who represent a good portion of the oft-heralded "pipeline of talent." Luis J. Rodriguez, an award-winning author and Chicano activist once said "It is not enough to prepare our children for the world; we also must prepare the world for our children." We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to help prepare the world of education for gifted students. Thus, NAGC invests all of its resources to train teachers, encourage parents and educate administrators and policymakers on how to develop and support gifted children and what's at stake if high-potential learners are not challenged and encouraged. www.nacg.org

18. Parent Resources MissionCTY shares with its parent organization, the Johns Hopkins University, a three-part mission of teaching, research, and service. More specifically, CTY: Seeks students of the highest academic ability through its talent search and offers them challenging educational opportunities that develop the intellect, encourage achievement, and nurture social development. Conducts research and evaluation studies that advance knowledge about gifted education; develops best practices in educating highly able children; and disseminates its findings to parents, the education community, and policymakers. Supports educators in their efforts to meet the needs of highly able students, assists parents in advocating for their gifted children, and participates actively in community service. http://cty.jhu.edu/

19. Parent Resources What We DoThe Davidson Institute offers much-needed support to profoundly gifted young people through the following programs and services: • Davidson Fellowsscholarships • The Davidson Young Scholars is an individualized, family-oriented program that supports the educational and developmental needs of profoundly intelligent young people between the ages of 5 and 18. • The THINK Summer Institute is a three-week residential summer program • The Educators Guild is comprised of teachers, counselors and school administrators who are interested in connecting with colleagues to locate resources and discuss strategies for identifying and serving highly intelligent students • The Davidson Gifted Database is the gateway to gifted resources on the Internet. It offers everything parents need to know about each state’s gifted policies, the latest news and research in gifted education and an events calendar of conferences throughout the nation – all available free to anyone with access to the Internet. • The Davidson Academy is a free public school licensed by the state of Nevada and is located on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. • Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting our Bright Young Minds co-authored by Jan and Bob Davidson, with Laura Vanderkam about the importance of educating our nation’s brightest students. www.davidsongifted.org