THP_Winter 2006

Teaching for High Potential
Winter 2006

The Difference is Resilience: When Trouble Hits Close to Home

Dr. Maureen Neihart discusses some strategic steps we can take when our students experience trouble in their lives or demonstrate heightened awareness about issues in the news.  Building on research in resilience, Dr. Neihart helps to put theory into practice and offers resources that educators can use.

Related Resources

• "Nuturing Social-Emotional Development in Gifted Children" by James T. Webb. ERIC Digest.
  
  
• Visit www.sengifted.org for more having to do with the social emotional needs of the gifted and talented.
  
  
• The American Psychological Association provides additional information on their web page "The Road to Resilience."
  
  
• Read a recent article, "Students Take On World's Challenges" by Stacy A. Teicher.
  
  
• Read"Developing Your Child's Habits of Success in School, Life, and Work" by Art Costa from Parenting for High Potential, March 2002. (pdf)
  

The Seven Components of Successful Programs for Mathematically Gifted Children

What do you do with a third grader who spends his evenings computing baseball statistics?  How do you challenge a sixth grader who love to talk about the big ideas in math and always seems to finish her work before her classmates?  These and many other questions are answered in Ed Zaccaro's article on developing a successful program for mathematically gifted children.

Related Resources

• Hot Topic: STEM
  
  
• Resource Round-Up: Resources for parents and kids  
  
  
• "Teaching Mathematics to Gifted Students in a Mixed-Ability Classroom" by Dana T. Johnson. ERIC Digest.
  
  
• Content Connections: Math
  
  
• Follow this link to more information from Ed Zaccaro
  

Tiered Instruction: Beginning the Process

Tiering is a readiness-based approach designed to help all learners work with the same essential information, ideas, and skills-but at a degree of difficulty "just a little too hard" for each learner.  In this article, Dr. Bertie Kingore summarizes the beginning steps in planning tiered instruction and the benefits for teacher and student. 

Related Resources

• More Ways to Differentiate Instruction!
  This website contains a variety of examples of tiered lessons from kindergarten to 12th grade.  These lesson plans will give you a better understanding of the different strategies you can use to tier a lesson.
  
  
• "Meeting the Needs of Gifted Learners in the Regular Classroom: Vision or Delusion?" by Dr. Carol Tomlinson. Tempo, Winter 1997.
  
  
• Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom by Diane Heacox, 2002.
  Along with other instructional strategies, this book provides templates and structure to the tiering process. 
  

Providing Kids with Challenge in Science: Scientists-In-Schools

The "Javits Works" column is designed to showcase success stories and research-based best practices from the only federal program that supports gifted education, the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. The Javits Act funds the work of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) and 28 additional research projects, reaching gifted and talented students and teachers in over 20 states. This article by Dr. Dorothy Sisk outlines a project in Beaumont, Texas designed to engage and challenge students from backgrounds frequently underrepresented and underserved in science programs.

Related Resources:

• Hot Topics: STEM
  
  
• National Science Digital Library
  Explore the Nation's free online library for education and research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
  
  
• Grants Made Under the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act
  
  
• Content Connections: Science