Can gifted students become bored? If a student is truly gifted, is there really nothing to do? What qualities constitutes as being gifted?
What are your students to do if they finish their assignment/project/activity before others? Read? Work on other assignments? Computer? Do they have to be constantly told what to do at this point? Sometimes? Or never?
Gifted students have always fascinated me....their independence, eagerness, their knowledge, how easy concepts come to them, etc. I really don't believe that true gifted students are bored in a regular classroom. By a regular classroom, I mean one that is constantly moving right along without lulls, is organized, and always positive. Which brings me to an article I read in the Sunday Fargo Forum about Liz Fitzgerald and her two young teenagers from Atlanta.
We all know the federal No Child Left Behind Law forces states to focus on bringing struggling children up to grade level. So when Liz Fitzgerald realized that her son and daughter were reading instead of doing math so the rest of the class could "catch up," she pulled them out of school and into a gifted school. And we also know that finding a gifted school is very difficult due to budget cuts. Most federal money is focused on efforts in helping low-performing, poor, and minority kids achieve basic proficiency. What about the gifted kids? The federal government spent just $7.5 million last year on research and grants for gifted programs. The bottom line is that the federal government is "ignoring" the idea of helping gifted kids reach their highest potential. Local school districts, instead of the government, are left to deal with this particular task.
Out of 50 states, only six pick up the whole tab for gifted programs. Thirteen states don't even put a dollar toward such curriculum. "In the age of Sputnik, we put money into math and science, and we ended up on the moon," said Del Siegle, a University of Connecticut researcher. "We really need to consider that again. We cannot afford as a country to ignore talent."
So did Liz have a right to move her kids to a gifted program for being ignored? Of course she did. However, Liz also made a comment about if her kids didn't have these gifted classes, they would have been bored and distracted easily with little to no challenges. Think of your gifted students...true gifted students....are they bored? Do they never have anything to do? I think, we as teachers, overly compensate to make sure our students are being productive. However, I still believe that gifted students are not bored in a classroom. Especially a classroom that is moving right along, is organized, and remains to be a positive environment for all.
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Denise,
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting thought. Frankly, anyone who thinks their children are "gifted" for reading during a math class should have their heads examined if you ask me. It sounds like the kids pulled one over on the mother for making the family think they are so talented in a subject that the teacher has ignored them. If the family actually visited the classroom daily and noticed that their children were repeatedly bored and reading a book instead of paying attention to the math lesson, or helping remedial kids, which is what a gifted child is "paid" to do in my classroom, I'd say it was a good idea to remove her children. But really, come on now, how many teachers would let a "gifted student" sit back and do anything they want during a math lesson? Not many. I would venture to say that these so called gifted children were more disruptive and disrespectful than advanced. I'd have written them up for not following or contributing to the lesson goals, which I doubt are set so low they are bored.
If anything, it could be because the states set different goals at the same grade levels. Maybe her children had completed those goals in Atlanta, but are going to be missing out on a standard by moving to North Dakota since North Dakota's standards would be different, not remedial. If anything, I found growing up in North Dakota prepared me beyond anything I'd have had opportunity to complete in North Carolina, Washington, Texas, or even California. I wouldn't doubt that Liz's kids were challenged by just shear populace of Atlanta, but highly doubt it had anything to do with standards or expectations. It's funny she would think it's cause to call her children gifted, but I suppose that's a sickness every parent catches from time-to-time. Like the flu, it can spread quickly that your family is better than other's in any area.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Randy B.
Hello Denise-
ReplyDeleteI found your post interesting because one, I was never considered a gifted student and two, the amount of money the feds spend to research something and only 13 states are doing something about it.
I don't work with students at an age were "gifted" is in issue but I remember these programs at my school growing-up and I always wanted to get in them. It made me work harder I believe. I think parents have the right to do what they feel is right and the mother in your post did just that. Should more schools offer programs? Yes, we spend millions on the kids that need extra help so why not push the ones that are bored. The last thing public schools need are boring classrooms because parents will get upset and move the student to private or charter schools.
I agree with you that I have a hard time believing a "good" teacher would allow a student who is truly gifted to become bored. Using them as peer tutors or giving them more advanced projects to challenge are common ways to prevent boredom. Granted, many teachers have to move their focus to lower-achieving students due to NCLB, but it isn't that hard to recognize students who truly are understanding or working at a higher level. However, I have on many occasions provided high achieving students in my classes an opportunity to move beyond the normal class. Many of the so-called bored, gifted students won't take advantage of the opportunities afforded them because they don't want the extra work. Do parents have the right to remove their children from a school if they think their students aren't being challenged? Sure they do, but they need to make sure the school (or teachers) are not challenging the student rather than the student choosing to not accept the challenge.
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