Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Session 2-Question 3

What were your "A-ahs" during the reading of chapter seven? Give page numbers.

19 comments:

  1. My "A-ahs" from reading chapter seven is discussed on page 131- 135. I enjoyed Robinson's quote, " Poverty is a vicious killer of potentially fine minds." At school, kids are fed and there is routine and safety, you don't factor in the "sense of belonging" and " special constraints." You just assume the kids should be able to perform and learn all instructions and teaching just as the student next to him or her. But there are a lot of issues in the minds of the low SE students, family issue being one of them. It surprised me to think that in the 21st century there are some parents who discourage college for their kids because they can't afford it. I guess that's where Robinson's quote best fits in. My parents always said " Money can buy books but it can't buy knowledge, " so take all that you can and learn and stop moping around.

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    1. I agree Sarah. Some of these students have so much more going on then we realize. It is affecting them and their school work/learning. We need to be there for them and realize we are there to help however we can.

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    2. I agreeMy A-ah was on page 132-133. Low income gifted students may have poorly developed skills and NOW people are pointing out that maybe we need multiple methods and measures to identify these kids. It only makes sense that kids that come from lower income might be behind in some skills but this doesn't mean that they wouldn't be gifted. I love that someone feels that maybe their needs to be newer and more methods of measuring this. It also said that the routine checklist are not helping but can be harmful. Hmmmm...

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  2. From chapter seven, my "A-ah" from reading under the subheading Internal Factors on page 137. "Self-concept plays a critical role in academic achievement." Gifted students of low SES seem to lack the confidence academically vs middle to upper class GT students. Low SES GT students are more worried about their life situation than about creating an original mousetrap car for a science project.
    I once had a student whom I thought could possibly be GT. But his life circumstance of homelessness, poor attendance, constant worry about how he was going home, and anxiety about missed content lead him to underachieve... or to even be identified.
    I feel the teacher's role is to continue to have high expectations for all students to help students to not underachieve and reach their potential.

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    1. I agree with Annie about high expectations being important, regardless of the situations student live with. The author also repeatedly writes about this key component for the good of the students.

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    2. I agree with A Mitch ( Annie's) comment because low SES seem to lack the confidence academically. They are more inclined to be the back seat driver rather than take the steering wheel. They aren't as determined in getting what they want at times and can be extremely shy. Or it could be because of cultural upbringings that affect that attitude.

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    3. In the book Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap by Steven Farr it talks about six principles that inevitably characterize the approach of teachers who lead their children to significant academic gains. The Teaching As Leadership framework inspires teachers to: Set Big Goals; Invest Students and Their Families; Plan Purposefully; Execute Effectively; Continuously Increase Effectiveness; Work Relentlessly. Teachers should have high expectations and goals for students despite their situation.

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    4. I agree Annie. From the vignettes of all the atypical gifted student, the one thing that was consistently expressed was their appreciation for the high expectations set by teachers.

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    5. I agree with Annie about page 137. I agree that we should always keep high expectations not matter what. We need to nurture our students and keep them going to reach their highest potential. We have so many students that have not so happy homes but we need to be there for them to keep them going and be the best they can be.

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  3. My ah-ha moment was reading page 133. I realized the multitude of ways students are tested for the SBISD GT method follows the suggestions in the book. Whole class testing, traditional and nontraditional methods are combined to try to vet out those gifted lurkers going unnoticed by us teachers.

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  4. I really liked the guidelines for practice found on pg. 148-150. Table 7.2 was summarizes everything easily -- what can be done in schools & districts and examples of how each guideline can be addressed. I like the practical suggestions that can be easily implemented in class.

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    1. I like the table as well. It is a quick hands-on resource. I plan to make a copy of it as it would not violate copyright. I wish there would have been one provided for all of the other atypical sub-pops!

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  5. I really like the part about family involvement and teacher development on page 152. They talked about how if you could get the parents on board on their students education it would go far in regards to the child and their view on education. It is so important we reach the parents and make them realize how important education is and how it will help their child in the long run. I think it was interesting how they talked about teacher bias and how the teacher doesn't even know they are doing it. We need to make sure teachers are aware of their actions positive and negative.

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  6. On page 152, my aha moment was in the section, "teacher development". Many teachers hold bias to low income children and their parents due to they don't understand their backgrounds and what they are going through. Many teachers lack awareness of this sub culture and need to be aware they are bias and learn how to teach them to promote their learning.

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  7. I agree with Sarah C, as an educator we have to be aware of all forces that are inout students lives. Sometimes it is not black or white. We have to be understanding that they have a lot going on outside of school that affect their school lives and be empathetic to that.

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  8. Sarah and Annie, I agree with you both in your statements regarding A-ahs from Ch. 7. We so often have no idea what these kids are faced with outside of school and assuming they can all learn equally is just not so because of the different factors in each child's life. We just have to be more aware and supportive in going forward!

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  9. I do agree with Melanie and Annie that no matter what, we must keep our expectations high and help them to rise up to the expectation, not the other way around - then we do nobody any good.

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  10. My A-ah is realizing that the stressors faced by Caucasians and AA are different. AA are dealing mainly with psycho-social stressors (stereotypes, fewness paradoxes, etc.) that evolve around race whereas Caucasians are dealing social services stressors (need for adequate healthcare, early childhood education, quality childcare, etc.) that evolve around poverty p. 131. Race is not the issue with them. To help these gifted kids succeed we need to be aware of these needs.

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  11. My A-ah was on page 132-133. Low income gifted students may have poorly developed skills and NOW people are pointing out that maybe we need multiple methods and measures to identify these kids. It only makes sense that kids that come from lower income might be behind in some skills but this doesn't mean that they wouldn't be gifted. I love that someone feels that maybe their needs to be newer and more methods of measuring this. It also said that the routine checklist are not helping but can be harmful. Hmmmm...

    ReplyDelete