7B Debbie Berni response to Agostino Ragozzino

This is a great paper, Agostino.  I really enjoyed reading it, and there were many things that you discussed in which I agree with.  I am an eighth grade math teacher, and I have the pleasure of having gifted children in some of my classes.  It is amazing to me to see the ways in which they excel in and out of the classroom.  One of my favorite quotes in your paper was on page 6 when you stated that “…educators of these [gifted] children need to understand their “gifts” and how to best utilize them, unfortunately not any gifted child is the same.”  I can speak from experience that it is crucial to recognize and honor the many different “gifts” that gifted students possess.  Just like children with learning disabilities, children with giftedness need to be treated in such a way that their differences will be enhanced, not ignored.  I also enjoyed your statement on page 7 that reads, “General Education teachers do challenge their students, but the lessons concentrate on standards to that specific grade level, gifted children are above those common standards, and those standards do not challenge the abilities or the levels that gifted children need to be challenged.”  I have had first-hand experience with this issue.  It saddens me to know that we are to teach to the standards so specifically that we cannot challenge our students in such a way that is developmentally appropriate.  Although we can modify lesson content based on the standards, there is more we could do if we had free reign over what it is that we teach our students. 

1.  What defines a gifted child?

One thing that defines a gifted child is evidence of high achievement.  Students may be gifted in math, reading, or the arts.  Gifted students are also unique.

2.  What are the characteristics of a gifted child?

According to your powerpoint, gifted students are rapid learners and have excellent memories.  They also enjoy solving problems especially with numbers and puzzles.  Another characteristic that you mentioned is that gifted students have unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure for their age.  They also ask probing questions, have a wide range of interests, and learn basic skills quickly and with little practice.

3.  What assessments are used to identify a gifted child?

Some of the assessments that you identified as being used to identify gifted students are the Iowa test, Bateria III Woodcock Munoz, and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales 5^th edition.

4.  What myths exist regarding gifted children?

One of the myths you mentioned is “This child can’t be gifted, he has a disability”.  This is a myth because a student can be gifted and have a learning disability at the same time.  You even mentioned in your paper how this type of student can seem “normal” because their disability and giftedness balance each other out.

Another myth is “Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by providing a role model”.  You brought up an example, in your research paper, of how gifted students basically intimidate the other students in a general education setting.  “They become the ‘know it all’ and they typical student tends to shy away from them”.  Instead of becoming a role model, they become isolated.

Another myth that you discovered is “That student can’t be gifted, he is receiving poor grades”.  You counteract this statement by providing examples of gifted students who have become bored in the general education setting and no longer work hard to achieve good grades. 

5.  What resources are available for gifted children?

One way gifted children can be accommodated in the regular education class is through differentiated instruction.  Another resource that you discussed is grade acceleration of specific content.  For example, a few years ago, I had some students in my eighth grade honors algebra class that were in seventh grade.