Proof and Reasoning – When asked how they got an answer, gifted students often cannot say. Their thought processes are so fast they often feel that their ideas simply leap into their heads fully formed. Requiring them to retrace their thoughts and prove their reasoning can have several benefits. They learn more about how they think which can result in a sense of control and self-efficacy. The process requires students to examine their ideas and knowledge from multiple perspectives, which can solidify and extend what they learn. They may also find weak spots in their knowledge that they can then be encouraged to fill in with further research or practice. They can be asked to write a math problem in “English” without using symbols. They can be asked to describe a process, saying why each step will work. They may be asked to find text references in a novel to show evidence of their conclusions.

Self-instructional Materials, Programmed Instruction – This is the most extreme form of delivery modification using outside programs and academies to meet the needs of highly advanced students. Some students use the Florida Virtual School to take advanced classes. Other options include Stanford University’s Education Program for Gifted Youth and other outside sources. While these programs have a certain appeal, caution is highly advised. Some of these programs can be costly and they must meet the Florida state standards.

Different Resources – Students who are able can be given more challenging sources of information. Instead of reading the textbook account of a period of history, the student could read and compile information from primary source documents. Or a student could do research on a science topic from journal articles.

Open Ended Questions – Students may be given a series of questions to use to explore the topic independently. This strategy can be combined with the Different Resources strategy to give students the opportunity to discover the topic on their own while being guided on their learning path by the series of questions they answer.

Independent Novel Studies – Students could be offered novels at higher Lexile levels that match the themes being taught with a class novel. They might read both novels and compare protagonists, discuss author’s intent, themes, etc.

Teacher Conferences – Students participating in alternate delivery methods still need opportunities for peer and teacher interaction. Teacher conferences allow the student to articulate their understanding and practice their knowledge. These conferences can also be used for teacher assessment of the effectiveness of the alternate delivery method.

Creative Thinking Opportunities – Provide tasks that involve imagination. Students could role-play to put themselves in the shoes of someone else – someone in the field being studied or in the novel being read, or in the situation in history. Ask them to explore “what if?” scenarios to explore cause and effect or to apply their knowledge to another domain. Have them create a visual representation of an abstract concept from science, social studies or math. These tasks require higher-order thinking to analyze and evaluate knowledge so that it can be applied to the imaginative scenario.

Problem-Solving – Have students apply their knowledge by solving problems. Doing so can solidify their learning and provide many avenues to extend it as well. Providing real-world problems that may take days to work through is an appropriate way for gifted students to learn. Formal problem-based learning has been employed in medical schools and business schools for years. It is most effective when done in homogeneous ability groups where students also learn so-called soft skills in communication, cooperation and group dynamics. If done in groups, there should be opportunities for both group interaction and independent investigation.

Mentorships – This is another extreme measure that puts the students into the hands of an expert in a field for part of their learning. This is highly effective in advancing student learning – and can be a highly affective experience as well. Implementing such an approach is fairly impractical, but research shows that students engaged in these experiences can advance their knowledge at more than 1.5 times the rate of same-ability students in a regular classroom situation. If the right situation can be found there can be substantial benefit to the student.

Simulations and Games – Many such enrichment activities are available on the Internet and good ones will provide opportunities to discover topics and extend learning. Unfortunately there are also numerous weak, incomplete, unstable, inaccurate Internet-based activities that would not be appropriate. Again, caution is advised. I have used several math, social studies, science and reading sites that I would recommend (and know of several to avoid). Our faculty has so many teachers using these tools that finding something suitable is probably just a matter of asking around. If you would like help finding something I am happy to oblige.

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Take a look here: iTunes U

There are lots of teacher resources for nearly every subject and grade level.  You can download audio files, videos, primary sources, and even lesson plans.
 
Many universities and colleges even have portals to all sorts of great teaching materials. For example, the University of South Florida, College of Education, provides reading resources (audio along with printed transcripts) for all grade levels and reading abilities.  Check this one out here: Lit2Go. Notice there are tabs for every grade level!
 
I’m just getting started with iTunes U, but I am very excited this teacher resource.
 
Hope you find it useful…
 
Best Wishes,
Adam Waxler
Teaching Tips Machine. LLC

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Are you looking for more teaching tips?

For effective teaching tips that you can start applying to your very next class make sure read 52 Teaching Tips @ www.52TeachingTips.com

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There never seems to be enough time in a day to get everything done. That’s why I am always on the lookout for teacher resources that will actually save me time.

One great time-saving resource you may have heard of is Stevan Krajnjan’s site called Timesavers for Teachers. The site is filled with resources that will help teachers save time…such as printable, often-used classroom forms, report card comments, spelling activities, practical teacher tools, worksheets and downloadable teaching materials…all designed to save teachers valuable time.

Well, here’s some great news…

I have just been in contact with Stevan and he has offering a generous discount to all my subscribers. For the next two weeks only, you can get a 20% discount on any product offered through Stevan’s site. Simply use the coupon code “adamwaxler” during checkout (without the quotes).

Here’s the site: TIMESAVERS for TEACHERS.com

Just remember, this coupon code is only good for 2 weeks!

Best Wishes,
Adam Waxler

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Well, here are 5 more ways teachers can differentiate instruction by changing the pace of instruction:

1. Tiered Activities - Students who have higher abilities can approach the learning concepts using different methods. These activities can have a higher level of complexity, less structure, more sophisticated materials, a different number of steps, or a lower level of dependence than other students’ activities.

2. Most Difficult First - Identify for students the most difficult problems in a problem set and allow gifted or highly able students to show mastery by doing only those problems. These students can then proceed to applications of content or other extension activities.

3. Learning Contracts or Independent Study - Instead of participating in all class instruction, students who know the material can do alternative work or do their own research on a topic based on a contract.

4. Anchor Activities - These are ongoing assignments students can return to when they complete their work. These activities should be in areas of high interest for the students.

5. Discovery Learning - This is a method where highly able learners are given the tools and resources to discover on their own the material being taught to the class. The pace of learning slows down for the gifted student, but usually meshes well with overall class pacing due to their ability to move through material. The personal inquiry and slower pace allow the student to have a deeper experience of the topic. This type of student inquiry is useful only for highly motivated students who are already skilled at learning. It works well for a problem-solving topic or for one that lends itself to student research.

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TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Don’t forget to sign up for the Needs-Focused Program while it still lasts and while it’s still just $1. For more information visit: http://teaching.crowdpullersnee.click2sell.eu

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For many gifted students, their school experience is like a stairway with lots of landings. They go up a few stairs, then wait on the landing while everyone else catches up. What we try to do for these students is keep the stairway continuous, so they can keep learning instead of waiting on the landings, wasting their opportunity to learn while they wait for everyone else to catch up.

So, what can teachers do to keep these students learning? Think about changes in these five areas: pace, delivery, product, depth, and breadth/complexity.

Over the next several weeks I will be posting information on how to differentiate instruction in these five areas.

Today’s tip is on changing the pace of learning. There are a number of ways to change the pace of instruction for gifted students, but the first step is curriculum compacting.

Curriculum Compacting involves pre-testing students to identify those who already know the material of a lesson or unit, or to identify students who can learn the material with fewer repetitions of the material.

Students who already know the material are then offered different ways to extend their knowledge of the topic. Students who learn the material quickly can also be offered these opportunities once they have mastered the material. They do the extension activities instead of the regular assignments…they get different work, not more work.

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Don’t forget to sign up for the Needs-Focused Program while it’s still just $1. For more information visit: http://teaching.crowdpullersnee.click2sell.eu

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